Vacancy Announcement

Communications Specialist for Sustainable Mechanization of Value Chains through Innovative, Gender-Sensitive Business Models

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is a federally owned international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development with worldwide operations. The GIZ Office in Kigali covers GIZ’s portfolio in Rwanda and Burundi. GIZ Rwanda/Burundi implements projects on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the European Union and other commissioning authorities in the following priority areas: Sustainable Economic Development; Good Governance; Climate, Energy and Sustainable Urban Development; Digitalization and Digital Economy; and regional projects in the Great Lakes Region.

A multitude of innovative ideas in the agri-food sector are waiting to be identified and further developed and implemented with partners. The Fund for the Promotion of Innovations in Agriculture (i4Ag) of the special initiative “Transformation Agriculture and food Systems”, which is implemented for the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, works towards this end.

Within this framework, we seek and promote innovative ideas for the development of the agricultural and food sector on the topics of digitalisation, mechanisation, renewable energy, agricultural research and advisory services, agricultural policy advisory services in cooperation with the private sector. For particularly promising innovations, we bring together partners worldwide and put together suitable projects for their development and further development.

The fund´s individual measure “Sustainable Mechanization of Value Chains through Innovative, Gender-Sensitive Business Models” will be implemented jointly with Volkswagen and the Machinery Ring Foundation in Kenya and Rwanda with the objective that enterprises put innovative, sustainable solutions in the fields of mechanization and energy into value. By combining expertise on sustainable business models of mechanisation, innovations in e-mobility, external energy supply and capacity building on climate-resilient agriculture, the measure has the potential to become a role model for scaling up to the entire region.

The position, allocated within GIZ Rwanda’s Cluster on Climate, Energy and Sustainable Urban Development, will be working closely with the existing Communications Advisor on the cluster level while being responsible for developing and implementing the communication strategy of the Rwandan and Kenyan component of the global project, while closely cooperating with the project partners. The project is searching for one candidate for the position of Junior Advisor.

Candidate Profile

Location: Kigali

Fixed Term: 1 May 2025 

Responsibilities 

• Technical advice to the consortia and partner institutions on communication strategies for the project and its activities.
• Support in the coordination of project activities with public and private partners, external service providers, GIZ and KfW Projects as well as with other international organizations, especially in the areas of event management. Support in the organization of multi-stakeholder-consultations, field days and demonstrations, capacity development workshops and trainings in cooperation with external service providers.
• Support the Project Manager, technical team in Rwanda and Kenya, and the i4Ag unit at GIZ Headquarter in Monitoring & Evaluation.

Tasks

 Core tasks

• Support the Project Manager and technical team in Rwanda and Kenya in general project planning including preparation and organization of planning activities and their implementation, quality management, monitoring, evaluation, communication, and documentation.
• Development and implementation of the project’s communication and outreach strategy in close collaboration with the project partners.
• Content development and dissemination of information and messages using a variety of tools (reports, factsheets, infographics, success stories, videos, etc.) and channels including websites and social media.
• Logistical support for workshops and other events
• Support to the technical team on Monitoring and Reporting, including coordination with consortium partners to design, review and implement M&E systems with a focus on tracking project progress and its impacts, as well as documenting and disseminating lessons learned and best practices.
• Maintaining the GIZ and i4Ag tools for monitoring, communication and knowledge management
• Perform other duties and tasks at the request of the Project Manager.

Required Qualifications, Competences and Experience

1. Qualifications and professional experience 

• Master’s degree or equivalent in the field of political, social and/or agricultural sciences, public relations, development studies, or related.
• Minimum 2 years’ experience in the field of monitoring and evaluation, communication, or advisory services in the agricultural sector
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively complex topics in written form.
• Strong conceptual and analytical skills.
• Demonstrated experience working with social media accounts and/or event management.
• Professional experience in international cooperation and development.
• Ability to work in an international team setting and flexibility.
• Fluent written and oral Kinyarwanda and English.

2. Other knowledge and additional competences

• Very good working knowledge of ICT technologies (related software, phone, email, the internet) and computer applications (e.g., MS Office, Teams, Outlook)
• Experience in working with graphical material using computer assisted design tools is an asset.
• Willingness to upskill as required by the tasks to be performed – corresponding measures are agreed with management.
• Willingness to undertake short-term business trips to the intervention fields in Kenya, Rwanda and eventually international conferences is a prerequisite for the position.