Communication Specialist I at International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Within the framework of the Nigerian Strategy Support Program (NSSP), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is seeking a full-time Communications Specialist I to support the IFPRI Office and the NSSP Program Leader in external outreach and communications-related activities. The Communications Specialist will carry out communications functions and outreach activities for the NSSP-IFPRI Office in Abuja and is expected to be responsible in taking the lead with media relations and coverage, social media, seminars, and other events. The incumbent will work under the overall guidance of the NSSP Program Leader, but will be employed directly under IFPRI’s organizational host in Nigeria, the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC). The employer of record will be IFDC and employment policies, compensation, and benefits of IFDC will apply to this position. The position is based in Abuja, Nigeria and is a one-year, fixed-term, renewable appointment. Interested applicants must have authorization to work in Nigeria.

Essential Duties:

Specific duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Managing the development and dissemination of effective outreach products for the NSSP –IFPRI Office, including policy briefs, brochures, PowerPoint presentations, web features, blogs, newsletters, press releases, and website and social media content.
• Coordinate the editing of selected technical papers, including the preparation of short summary briefs of longer reports, with colleagues at the NSSP-IFPRI Office in Abuja and IFPRI HQs in Washington DC.
• Taking the lead in the preparation of newsletters, policy briefs and press releases as well as blog posts on NSSP news and events.
• Lead and implement NSSP’s outreach presence for conferences, workshops, policy dialogues and outreach, media, and other events.
• Develop and expand NSSP’s presence online using social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook, and others as appropriate.
• Tracking the impact of NSSP’s research by mo nitoring media and scholarly publications for citations and collecting web, social media, and other statistics.
• Facilitating within-NSSP Office learning on communication and outreach activities and working on NSSP-related and Institute-wide communication-learning activities.
• Develop relationships and links with other agriculturally related programs, tools, and knowledge platforms (within IFPRI and externally).
• Develop and expand outreach and policy influence through appropriate communications products and tools.
• Liaising and maintaining relations with partner organizations and helping to identify new partnership opportunities.
• Other duties as necessary.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Communications, International Development, or related field, plus 1-3 years’ relevant experience, preferably with an international organization. MSc degree is highly preferred.
• Excellent written and oral English communication skills.
• Ability to convey scientific and research information to diverse audiences in an engaging and concise manner.

• Ability to interact professionally with a diverse employee population and with all levels of staff and management.
• Highly output-focused and conscientious with a strong attention to detail.
• Ability to work independently and multitask under tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Knowledge of social networking and web 2.0 tools.
• Fluency in a major Nigerian language.
• Knowledge of, and interest in, international development issues.

Physical Demand & Work Environment:

• Employee will sit in an upright position for a long period of time with little opportunity to move/stretch
• Employee will lift between 0-10 pounds
• Employee is required to have close visual acuity to perform activities such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing computer terminal; extensive reading

IFPRI offers a multicultural, collegial research environment with competitive salary and excellent benefits.  IFPRI is an international and equal opportunity organization and believes that diversity of its staff contributes to excellence. We encourage women to apply.

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