Technical Copywriter - RFQ at Palladium Group

Palladium is a global leader in the design, development and delivery of Positive Impact - the intentional creation of enduring social and economic value. We work with foundations, investors, governments, corporations, communities and civil society to formulate strategies and implement solutions that generate lasting social, environmental and financial benefits.

For the past 50 years, we have been making Positive Impact possible. With a team of more than 2,500 employees operating in 90 plus countries and a global network of more than 35,000 technical experts, Palladium has improved - and is committed to continuing to improve - economies, societies and most importantly, people's lives.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Technical Copywriter - RFQ

Requisition ID: req10717
Location: Nigeria

Project Overview and Role
Technical Copywriter to produce short stories and video clips from propcom mai-karfi’s radio intervention (Individual)

Backgound
Propcom Mai-karfi (PM) is a market development programme funded with UK aid from the UK government, working primarily with the private sector in nine states (Adamawa, Borno, Bauchi, Taraba, Gombe, Yobe, Kaduna, Kano, and Jigawa) in Northern Nigeria to identify gaps in rural markets and to bring about systemic changes that make markets work better for poor people. The programme is in its second phase and aims to increase the incomes for 350,000 poor women and men in Northern Nigeria by October 2021 by stimulating sustainable, pro-poor growth in selected rural markets and improving the position of poor women and men within these market systems, to make the markets more inclusive for poor people. The rogramme currently implements 19 interventions across 3 Portfolios – Crops, Livestock, and Environment and has amassed experiences across the public, private and informal sector that will be crucial to future investments in the North, both to donors and private companies.

PM facilitated capacity building for three radio stations to create relevant agricultural radio content, market the programme to relevant stakeholders, and get paid sponsorship to sustain the programme. All three radio stations developed and aired research-based content for their audience. This led to increased listenership and sponsorship from several stakeholders.

We are recruiting a copywriter with experience in storytelling through different media to lead the conversion of our intervention results in extension services to media materials.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities
About The Work:

• The agricultural sector is dominated by smallholder farmers, most of them lack knowledge of modern practices and rely on information from friends, cooperative associations, and extension workers to improve their farming techniques. Further findings revealed four major issues with the current system as follows:
  • There is a huge disproportion of extension workers to farmers ratios in Nigeria, estimated the ratio to be 1:10,000.
  • The information provided is outdated and untimely
  • Women are excluded from this information because of cultural norms about talking to male extension workers.
  • The high cost of logistics and security challenges in the northeast. These issues continue to hinder the growth and productivity of farmers in the sector.
• To address the issues, PM rolled out a series of private-sector-led e-extension initiatives including the promotion of agricultural radio programme for farmers. Studies showed that radio stations could not develop research-based content, collect regular audience feedback and drive continuous sponsorship for agricultural programme.
• PM identified three key radio stations in the northeast and worked with Farm Radio International to build the radio station's capacity to sustainably drive e-extension services for farmers via radio. We are recruiting a copywriter to support the development of relevant products that capture the voices and stories of this model.
• In collaboration with the e-extension technical lead, the consultant will work with the radio stations to capture, analyse, and document the stories of this model.

The specific objectives of this assignment will be to:

• In a video clip, showcase the intervention targeted at the radio stations to address the identified issues limiting farmers' access to information. Highlight and extract success stories from farmers/listeners of the radio programme, implementation, and impact.

Activities
The activities may include the following, however, the programme is open to recommendations and advice from the consultant:

• Develop a concept for the approach and share it with PM
• Develop a structure and interview templates for implementation of the task
• Source for all audio and video equipment for the assignment
• Contact and interview all relevant radio station partners (including staff and management)
• Interview key beneficiaries with stories of impact. Interviews should be conducted in partnership with the radio stations.
• Carryout post-interview editing and video production
• Develop intervention story

Output / Deliverables
Output - Deadline:

• A video documentary highlighting specific objectives as listed in the ‘about the work’ section - March - April 2021
• 2 two page success STORY (radio stations) - March -April 2021
• 2 two page success story (farmers) - March -April 2021
• 2 two page success story (women-gender inclusion) - March -April 2021
• The above timeline is subject to a total of 20 input days.

Required Qualifications
Qualifications:

• University degree in Social Sciences, Journalism, Communication, or other related areas.
• Good understanding of the international development sector and related reporting styles and requirements.
• Experience in copywriting
• A proven track record of providing quality media content
• Knowledge and experience of analytical writing and storytelling
• Interpersonal skills, including being flexible and showing initiative.
• Excellent organisational and time management skills
• Outstanding communication, media production, and story-telling skills
• Excellent presentation skills
• Previous experience working in the northeast
• Proficiency in the English language

Duration of Assignment:

• The assignment will be a call contract with a maximum of 20 input days.

Criteria For Selection
The consultant will be assessed based on:

Criteria - Weight:

• Expertise / competence as demonstrated by the overall quality of technical proposal - 35%
• Quality of previous work / Consultants Profile - 30%
• Familiarity with the geographical location - 15%
• Fee Rate - 20%
• Total - 100%
• Candidates without Tax Identification Number Need Not Apply    

Method of Assessment:

• The candidates (3) with the highest scores will be invited for a verification interview and awarded the contract following a satisfactory interview

Application Closing Date
26th February 2021.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates (individual consultant(s) only) should send the following as two separate attachments in Microsoft Word or PDF to: [email protected] (Use the subject line “Technical copywriter for PM’s Radio Intervention”):

• A technical proposal including a cover letter and CV, including details of similar past work experiences and academic qualifications (both not more than 3 pages); implementation timeline; minimum of 2 samples of previous work with references (reference checks will be conducted); 3 referees and their contact details
• A financial proposal using the Excel template published with the RFQ on Propcom Maikarfi’s website (indicate fees/rate per hour, Tax Identification Number, and evidence of tax remittance)

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