Purpose of the Role

• Reporting to the Executive Director, the Communications Director will oversee our internal communications and broader corporate external communications.
• The Communications Director will act as a senior sounding board for the Executive Director (ED) and Senior Management Team (SMT) and support programmes to think through their strategic communications.
• They will ensure we have the right communications resources and capacity in place, and work to ensure that all members of staff feel enthused about their own roles as strategic communicators and are empowered to deliver.
• Externally, the Communications Director will support us to deepen our understanding of the sectors we operate in and our positioning within them, so that we can communicate consistent and persuasive messages that will resonate with our core audiences – to ultimately catalyze change and influence our key stakeholders.
• Very few organisations have the long-term mandate, flexibility, and risk appetite to aim as high and transformative as we aspire to. We seek to communicate our impact, influence and change how others operate – whether they are national governments, investors, peer organizations etc.
• We seek an innovator, an agent of change, a collaborator, someone who will listen to and understand the organisation, ensure high professional standards and delivery, and someone prepared to work collaboratively to help us achieve success.

Knowledge, Experience & Qualifications

• Extensive leadership of integrated internal and external communications strategies with a deep understanding of African audiences.
• International communications experience spanning stakeholder engagement, media relations, and brand management.
• Strong experience as a trusted adviser to senior leadership and boards on executive communications and organisational positioning.
• Proven ability to influence stakeholder behaviour and decisions through evidence-led, proactive communications.
• Strong track record in change communication and change
• management in complex, multi-country organisations.
• Skilled at building high-performing, inclusive, cross-cultural teams; experienced in line management, mentoring and developing colleagues, and in raising communications capability across the organisation.
• Skilled at capturing and translating programme expertise into credible content and thought leadership.
• Exceptional research, synthesis and writing skills, able to distil compleideas for diverse audiences.