Terms of Reference Recruitment Digital Communications Officer

• Position: Digital Communications Officer
• Duration: One (1) year, renewable
• Location: Kigali, Rwanda
• Deadline: December 11th, 2022 at 11:00 PM Kigali (GMT+2) time

1. Smart Africa

The Smart Africa Alliance is a partnership among African countries adhering to the Smart Africa Manifesto (herein after referred to as “the Manifesto”), the African Union (AU Commission, AUDA, specialized institutions and Regional Economic Communities), the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the World Bank, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the Private Sector, Academic and Research Institutions.

The Smart Africa Alliance (or Smart Africa) is a bold and innovative commitment from African Heads of State and Government to accelerate sustainable socio-economic development on the continent, ushering Africa into a knowledge economy through the usage of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT).

On 30th-31st January 2014, the Smart Africa Manifesto was endorsed by all Heads of State and Government of the African Union at the 22nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union in Addis Ababa. This development places the Manifesto at the heart of the ICT agenda in Africa beyond just the 7 original signatories at the Summit to all African countries. The Smart Africa Alliance has since grown to include 32 African countries that represent 815+ million people.

The Smart Africa Manifesto aims to put ICT at the center of the continental and national socio-economic development of Member States. This means increasing access to ICT solutions, improving accountability, efficiency, and openness through ICT, promoting the introduction of advanced technologies in telecommunication, strengthening the private sector, leveraging ICT to promote sustainable development.

The Smart Africa Alliance as an organization is the framework for implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Manifesto, designed to make it actionable. The Smart Africa Alliance is not a profit-oriented organization.

2. Duties and Responsibilities  

Under the supervision of the Head of Brand and Communications, the Digital Communications Officer contributes to the development of social media strategies and policies and takes the lead in their implementation; develops and implements social media campaigns, and toolkits. He/She provides expert reporting, analytics, and advice to increase visibility, awareness, understanding and support for the Smart Africa mandate, vision, corporate objectives, programs and sub-programs. The overall objective is to continuously raise the e-reputation of the organisation.

The Officer is responsible for managing Smart Africa social media accounts and collaborates regularly with colleagues across the organization to ensure content aligns with strategic priorities.

The Officer is also responsible for social media research (practices and trends); analytics, overall reporting, monitoring, analysing and reporting on comments and conversations on Smart Africa.

Although social media is the primary focus, the Officer will also be responsible for keeping the Smart Africa and other programs websites up to date and aligned with ongoing communications.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Develop, support and promote the Smart Africa Alliance and all its initiatives on all the organisations digital channels through message development, social media content creation, and social media outreach.
• Develop and disseminate social media materials that increase Smart Africa’s visibility among stakeholders, partners and its broader network.
• Identify target audiences and create strategies to engage through effective communications.
• Ensure digital marketing content always aligns with our brand’s identity and message, and assist with any communications campaigns as needed.
• Develop timely and accurate creative briefs to produce a wide range of graphics,  videos, and layouts for Smart Africa activities, logos, websites, banners, flyers, social media posts, Certificates, emails communications (HTML), and related communications tools;
• Project support activities including input into project planning and documentation; assistance with implementation resources, monitoring, and reporting on project progress and event communications management.
• Other responsibilities will include any other assignments or projects, which will be assigned from time to time by the line manager or the leadership of Smart Africa .

3. Key qualifications

Education:

• A Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Digital Marketing, or related field

Experience:

• A minimum of five (5) years of experience in digital communications strategy development and implementation
• Strong experience in digital marketing tactics, such as SEO and email marketing
• Good knowledge of African Tech organisations, environment, actors and challenges
• Experience working in customer relations preferred
• Experience in the use of social media such as Facebook, Linkedin, Instragram and Twitter
• Strong competence in the use of standard software productivity tools (such as Microsoft Office Suite or others)

Attributes and skills:

• Excellent critical thinking skills and the ability to exercise sound judgment and solve problems quickly and effectively
• Good interpersonal skills with experience in networking with partners at all levels;
• Creativity and problem-solving abilities;
• Ability to work under pressure with tight deadlines;
• Ability to work in a team;
• Strong communication skills

Languages:

Excellent written and verbal communication skills in both French and English.

4. Duration of the assignment

The appointment will be one (1) year renewable subject to availability of fund and performance.

5. Duty Station

The position will be based in Kigali, Rwanda.

6. Reporting requirements

The Digital Communications Officer will report directly to the Head of Brand and Communications.

Candidates should send the following documents to the following email address: [email protected], with mention of “Digital Communications Officer” in the subject line:

• A detailed CV with 3 contacts of professional referees.
• A one-page cover letter with a motivation statement in relation to the responsibilities and requirements for this position.
• Copies of academic degree, professional certificates, and other relevant training certificates

The deadline for submitting applications is December 11th, 2022 at 11:00 PM Kigali (GMT+2) time.

Only selected candidates for interview will be contacted.

Any late application will be automatically rejected.