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Main purpose of job:
The UK is investing in and building long-term partnerships across Africa, forging closer ties with government, business and the general public, to meet global challenges, including around economic growth, improving opportunities for women and girls, health, security and climate change.
We are looking for an excellent communications and campaigns specialist with a passion for strategic communications and expertise in creative storytelling to join a high-performing pan-African team: the Africa Campaigns Hub.
The Africa Campaigns Hub – a cross-discipline team of communications specialists split between London, Abuja, Nairobi, Cape Town and Pretoria – supports UK-Africa partnerships by developing and delivering multi-media strategic communications campaigns across Africa.
Established in 2019, the Africa Campaigns Hub brings together campaigning, storytelling, digital content creation, stakeholder engagement, audience insight, evaluation, media and strategy capabilities to deliver impactful pan-African campaigns and communications that engage African audiences.
This role will be based in the British High Commission in Pretoria or Consulate-General in Cape Town, working closely with and complementing the UK Government Africa Communications Network – communicators working in British Embassies and High Commissions across Africa. Reporting to the Head of Campaigns in Cape Town, you will be responsible for designing and delivering regional campaigns, implemented through creative storytelling on social media and in traditional, to deliver on policy and communications objectives.
You will be enthusiastic, resilient and proactive; able to spot thematic links; engage with external stakeholders and implementing partners; take decisions based on audience insight, and have journalistic skills. With an eye for emerging communications trends, you will have a passion for sharing your communications skills with others – and be confident in engaging with different teams across Africa and the UK.
You should also expect to travel, across the region.
Roles and responsibilities:
- Work closely with Africa Campaigns Hub colleagues in the UK, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa to design and deliver strategic, regional media and digital communications campaigns – informed by robust audience insight.
- Work closely with the pan-African communications, policy and political teams on high profile, inward visits to support efforts to successfully deliver on communications objectives for visiting VIPs such as (but not exclusive to), the UK’s Foreign Secretary and the Minister for Development and Africa.
- Support the upskilling of communicators in the region.
- Build trusted relationships with local, national and international partners, developing and maintaining an active directory of third-party stakeholder contacts – from academia, NGOs, think tanks, campaigners, journalists and social media influencers – for supportive engagement opportunities.
- Translate business and policy objectives into communications objectives, generating ideas and plans to meet them. This includes working closely with policy colleagues in London and across the UK Government Africa Communications Network to identify excellent stories for media and digital communications that will advance our communications objectives, whilst also identifying and managing risks.
- Work with internal and external videographer and photographer teams to capture first-person human interest stories that demonstrate the impact of UK-African partnerships, including travel in the field.
- Work with evaluation teams to evaluate and analyse campaign successes and impact among intended audience.
The role is subject to change as network and policy objectives evolve.
- Postgraduate degree and/or undergraduate degree with a professional qualification
- At least four years’ professional work experience
- At least three years’ professional experience in journalism, communications or PR, with proven campaign skills
- Excellent interpersonal and communications skills, including stakeholder engagement skills to build credibility with senior government/business representatives as well as colleagues within the UK government network
- Experience of engaging with the press and securing interview slots and other media opportunities
- Strong writing skills, including for press notices, op-eds, key messages, video storyboards and scripts
- Experience of organising and delivering campaigns
- Excellent organisational and self-management skills to respond effectively to tight - and changing - deadlines and priorities
- Sound knowledge of MS Office and strong skills in digital media, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and other social networking sites
- The ability to learn quickly and work with a high degree of autonomy
- A positive “can-do” attitude that can see way through challenges
- Strong editorial judgment and ability to communicate effectively with and influence, different audiences
- Evidence of research to inform communications advice and of using evaluation to learn lessons and improve communications
- The ability to build and maintain networks with counterparts in other UK government departments and organisations
- Experience of designing and delivering proactive and reactive communications plans
- Experience of working with government departments and/or public-sector agencies
- Experience of working with videographers and photographers
- Experience of content gathering in the field
- Regional experience
- Fluency in another official working language of the African Union will be an advantage
Learning and development opportunities (and any specific training courses to be completed):
Various courses and programmes are available across a huge range of professions from communications to project management and policy. More details can be provided.
Working patterns:
This role can be based in Pretoria or Cape Town. The UK in South Africa mission have a hybrid working style.
The British High Commission pays in full for the Key Care Plus option on Discovery Health for staff including spouses/partners and dependants.
- Once you have successfully completed your probation the British High Commission will contribute 9% of your monthly salary to a Provident Fund.
- Annual leave entitlement of 25 days
- Working hours per week of 36.5
- Please complete the application form in full as the information provided is used during screening.
- Please check your application carefully before you submit, as no changes can be made once submitted.
- The British High Commission will never request any payment or fees to apply for a position.
- Employees recruited locally by the British High Commission in Pretoria are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local employment law in South Africa.
- All candidates must be legally able to work and reside in the country of the vacancy with the correct visa/work permit status or demonstrate eligibility to obtain the relevant permit.
- The responsibility lies on the successful candidate to:
- Obtain the relevant permit
- Pay fees for the permit
- Make arrangements to relocate
- Meet the costs to relocate
- The British High Commission do not sponsor visas/work permits except where it may be local practice to do so.
- Employees who are not liable to pay local income tax on their Mission salary may have their salaries reduced by the equivalent local income tax amount.
- Information about the Civil Service Success Profiles can be found on this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/success-profiles. Please note: AA=A1, AO=A2, EO=B3, HEO=C4, SEO=C5
- Reference checking and security clearances will be conducted on successful candidates.
- Appointable candidates who were unsuccessful may be placed on a ‘reserve list’. If during the reserve period of 6/12 months the same or a largely similar role becomes available, that role may be offered to the second or subsequent candidate”.
