Policy Advocacy, Communications and Partnerships Officer at Sahel Consulting Agriculture and Nutrition Limited

Sahel Consulting Agriculture and Nutrition Limited (Sahel) is a leading management consulting firm focused on the agricultural and nutrition sectors in Africa. We partner with government agencies, private sector companies and leading international development organizations to conduct research, analyze policies, develop strategies and implement programs that promote sustainable food security and improved nutrition. We have worked on a variety of projects across West Africa, including in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, and Senegal.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Policy Advocacy, Communications and Partnerships Officer

Location: Abuja (FCT)
Employment Type: Full-time

Duties and Responsibilities
The Policy Advocacy, Communications and Partnerships Officer primary responsibilities are outlined below:

Relationship Building & Management:

• Contributes to partnership building and engagement with all Stakeholders via platforms such as Agriculture Working Group, planning and facilitating events with key traditional and non-traditional partners, including government, civil society, private sector, development partners, and others new as well as conventional actors on the ALDDN Agenda
• Build and manage relations with the funder, Government of Nigeria, all implementing partners to ensure ongoing alignment, commitment and accountability to deliver on the program’s targets
• Actively engage, provide direction and oversight to all processor partners to ensure alignment on program deliverables as outlined in MOU
• Provide oversight and guidance to all program implementing partners to ensure excellent service delivery
• Identify and engage relevant private and public sector stakeholders to join the ALDDN National Advisory Committee to provide guidance, support and opportunities for collaboration

Branding & Communications:

• Supports the formulation and implementation of project communications and advocacy strategies, and supports ALDDN program development focusing on achievement of the set targets:
• Assist in coordination and communication of implementation strategies among stakeholders, particularly the processor, State government officials, and the Program Lead;
• Support to increased awareness of ALDDN's mandate and goals through the dissemination of information, press release, organization of public events;
• Extract lessons learned to support program improvement, advocate for durable solutions and policies, and facilitate knowledge building and knowledge sharing; Monitor and analyze the media in the areas related to the mandates of ALDDN as well as other issues relevant to the Dairy Development brand and positioning in Nigeria;
• Identify and assess potential issues, concerns, and risks related to communications and advocacy, and suggests corrective actions to the ALDDN Program Management Team and Field or Project officers;
• Undertake regular liaison with other partners for content development, information exchange, collaborative communication efforts, and innovative communication and advocacy tools, as assigned;
• Compile and analyze communication experiences and shares findings with other Sahel Program Management Team so that best practices benefit the Sahel Consulting's communication work;
• Prepare official briefing materials, talking points, speeches, statements, op-eds, and presentations on any development-related topic as necessary;
• Develop and maintain external and internal communications platforms such as the Sahel Consulting website, official social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, etc.), Intranet and on-line collaboration platforms, etc.;
• Provide substantive support to the ALDDN program team on joint publications ensuring high-quality standards and the correct application of the ALDDN branding guidelines and publishing standards;

Policy Advocacy:

• Provide leadership and advocacy to address policy-related issues and other challenges to ensure sustainable dairy development in Nigeria;
• Organization of publicity, advocacy, knowledge-sharing events, and promotional opportunities. Provision of logistics support to the events;
• Research, analyze and present inputs to the ALDDN strategic advocacy and program communications to boost the impact of programmatic objectives under the ALDDN program;
• Plan and facilitate the promotion of advocacy and communications as a tool for a participatory approach to ALDDN program implementation and monitoring, reflecting the views and priorities of beneficiary communities;
• Provide substantive support to the Sahel’s ICT officer on public messaging and media outreach, and assists in managing reputational risks or crises around sensitive issues;
• Assists all the ALDDN team in projecting the program's image effectively and accurately as well as promoting transparency and accountability;
• Provides substantive support to ensure that communication performance indicators are identified, incorporated, monitored, and reported on throughout the program cycles;
• Provides substantive support in significantly expanding public outreach on the Dairy Development Agenda and the Sahel Consulting's role and impact in Nigeria;

Resource Mobilization:

• Plan and facilitate resource mobilization in ALDDN and other key thematic areas;
• Advise the Program Lead on possible sources of funding and in-kind support and partnerships that could be leveraged for promoting project campaigns, galvanizing local and national support as relevant;
• Organize and conducts educational outreach activities, including the organization of national and international conferences and public speaking engagements at academic institutions;
• Evaluate results and impact of communications and advocacy initiatives promoting the ALDDN program management team's work in key thematic areas other than development, reporting the outcome to the Donor, the State government, Processor partners, and other relevant stakeholders.

Minimum Required Skills & Experience
Professional Qualifications:

• Master's Degree in Mass Communications, ICT, Public relations or related field of study
• Minimum of five years of work experience in such position with demonstrated results focus, skills and a track record of delivering beyond expectations.
• Strong communications abilities including planning and organizing events and project visibility and capturing of impacts.
• A familiarity with and commitment to advocating gender equality and inclusiveness is also required.
• Ability to shape a vision and strategy.
• Able to create positive narration of program achievements.
• Superior interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills
• Strong negotiation and diplomatic skills to support effective work through implementing partners.
• Fluency in the English language, and excellent writing and presentation skills.
• Ability to inspire confidence and create trust.
• Excellent judgement.
• Ability to understand new issues quickly and make wise decisions.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
• Preference is for candidates who has worked as a Communications and Partnerships Officer in a top consulting firm.

Application Closing Date
15th October, 2021.