Senior Communication Officer

The successful candidate will be an exceptional writer, able to conduct desk research independently, quickly synthesise complex information, and ultimately lead on the production of compelling communication products tailored to a variety of different audiences. They will also have a knack for summarising and translating often technical subject matter into crisp, clean English, and clearly communicating its relevance to a wider audience. The Senior Communications Officer will have some communications capacity building experience and the language skills to offer training and mentoring to our partners in various countries across the Arab world. They will be comfortable liaising with and pitching stories to the media, and where appropriate, identifying opportunities for media partnerships. 

The role will be fast-paced and varied, and will occasionally require working outside of office hours. In return, we offer a working environment that’s centred around employee wellbeing; the chance to be surrounded by colleagues who are committed and driven by a clear set of values; flexible working arrangements; a competitive remuneration package; and the opportunity to leaving a tangible positive impact on the communities we work with.

Requirements:

Essential: 

• Fluency in Arabic and English  
• Demonstrable commitment and alignment with Siren values: Creativity, Commitment, Integrity & courage, Perseverance, Taking responsibility, and Valuing diversity & difference. 
• 5-7 years working in communications, advocacy, journalism, and/or programme development in a humanitarian/international development context 
• Experience employing (and ideally training others on): communications strategy development; target audience analysis; social media strategies and campaigns; identifying influencers and media partners; story identification and narrative development etc. 
• Experience of briefing and working with designers/multimedia specialists to illustrate and bring to life complex topics for various audiences 
• Experience of writing and coordinating the production of blogs, op-eds, press releases and talking points  
• Experience of creating people-centred communications, adopting where appropriate a story-telling approach that emphasises the impact of projects on individual lives, rather than administrative milestones or budgets 
• Strong media monitoring, research, analytical and problem-solving skills. 
• Ability to work independently and perform well under-pressure. 
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to maintain good internal and external relationships. 

Desirable:

• Experience of networking, communications and advocacy on fact-checking, governance, digital transformation, security sector reform and/or access to justice issues in the MENA region  
• Existing networks in the MENA region with journalists, policy makers and/or practitioners operating in the governance, security sector and/or peacebuilding sectors 
• Experience organising, managing and promoting events  
• Experience scanning the horizon for strategic events relevant to project or corporate objectives and coordinating organisational presence there  
• Experience identifying opportunities to demonstrate project/corporate impact, and creating appropriate communicaton products to showcase it 
• Experience managing staff  
• Experience of matrix reporting  
• Project management qualification (e.g. PMI, PMDPRO). 
• Knowledge of gender and conflict sensitive approaches