Officer, Communications at EKOEXCEL

The EKO Excellence in Child Education and Learning programme is LASG’s statewide program to transform ECCDE and Primary education in all Lagos State government schools, bringing 21st Century education that is child-centred and enabled by modern practices and technology. The programme is designed to empower and support public school teachers and to increase learning outcomes for children in the classroom. The programme represents the largest ever investment in Lagos state’s basic education system. It is bringing equity to quality basic education, and in doing so removing the economic limitations for the hundreds of thousands of pupils in the State’s public primary school system.

The Lagos state government is unequivocal in its commitment to equity, closing the gap between the rich and the poor by ensuring access to quality education for all. Central to the programme is the successful development of more highly skilled teachers. Through training, supporting and motivating existing government teachers to succeed in their classrooms. This programme is delivering measurable results: children are learning 2x more in mathematics and 3x more in literacy than before!

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Officer, Communications

Location: Lagos

Job Description

• Working for the technical implementing partner for the programme, you will work towards preparing Lagos and its youth for a bright future with a strong educational foundation.
• Being part of this transformative programme will be a challenging but fulfilling experience. You will have the opportunity to impact young lives and help build the future of Nigeria’s “Center of Excellence”, developing the quality workforce needed for the future in Lagos State.
• The programme is one of the most exciting and ambitious education programmes not only in Nigeria, but also across Africa.
• A quality education has the power to transform the opportunities for Lagos’ youth and the State.
• In joining us, you will join a group of dynamic and passionate Nigerians taking concrete action to help ensure a better future for the children of Lagos.

Group:

• The Strategy Group is responsible for our overall direction in education service, designing our verbal and visual brand, communicating our work internally and externally, providing insight into the ecosystems within which we work, measuring the impact of our programs, engaging our government partners in programming, ensuring regulatory compliance, and expanding the reach of our services into new geographies.
• Creative, Communications, Insights, Measurement & Evaluation, Quality Assurance, Policy & Partnerships, and New Opportunities are all departments within the Strategy Group.
• Collaboration between and coordination of each of these department’s functions is critical to ensure that every child has access to an education that develops her full potential and creates the foundation for prosperity for the country.

Department:

• The Communications team is housed with the Strategy group. It collaborates across departments and programmes to create and execute compelling strategies; locally and globally.
• Communications has a wide portfolio of responsibilities including external and internal relations, advocacy, strategy, digital, reputation management and media relations.
• We are focused on ensuring that the exceptional achievements being made across a wide portfolio of programming are effectively and impactfully communicated.
• We lead, develop and support strategies in multiple programmes and continents simultaneously; shaping and influencing the external environments in which we work.
• We pride ourselves in being able to respond quickly and effectively at all times.

About the Role

• We are looking for a proactive team player to support EKOEXCEL through external and internal communications.
• You will support the objectives of the program and our government partners in the creation and delivery of proactive narrative, ensuring its broad based delivery to stakeholders via multiple platforms.
• You will be telling the EKOEXCEL story across all channels, creating content, and strengthening our interactions.
• Our ideal candidate will have a strong understanding of all mass communications channels and the ability to design content that optimises news and social media.
• The candidate should be capable of running digital media and handling websites.
• They will be an extremely effective written communicator, a planner, and creative.
• They should possess a  keen sense of ownership and quick execution.

What You will Do

• Build and maintain active relationships with media partners (i.e. education desk correspondents and editors, bloggers etc.)
• Monitor and report media trends and  activities of EKOEXCEL, key stakeholder and key issues coverage in the media.
• Using the professional camera equipment provided by the comms department, develop multimedia content and collateral generated from across our EKOEXCEL schools that tell the powerful story of what EKOEXCEL does and importantly how it does what it does.
• Support management and updating of the website regularly by creating rich and engaging content.
• Support, maintain and upload digital communications to social media platforms sharing relevant content, photographs and videos on a regular basis.
• Support and build our events and public speaking platform across Lagos & Nigeria.
• Support the team in delivering the agreed departmental strategy, plans and standards.
• Carry out research through a range of sources, including the Internet, Intranet, publications and other external contacts, including government bodies, organisations and other charities, in order to obtain relevant information that can contribute to communications strategies.
• Work within short term and long-term communications plans as conveyed by the team.
• Carry out stakeholder mapping and stakeholder lists management
• Draft and produce written correspondence such as press releases, quotes, operational notes, letters, reports and other documents as required, using word processing, databases and spreadsheets to required standards.
• Undertake specific other communications projects and activities as necessary.

What You Should Have

• Minimum of First Degree in Communications or related field.
• 3 years experience in a core communications role (in house or agency)
• An awareness of the media and political landscape both locally and nationally.
• Familiarity and experience of using digital editing tools such as Premier Pro, Adobe and   WordPress.
• Experience with professional photography using tripods, lapel mics and digital single-lens reflex cameras (DSLR)
• Understanding of state and  local government public office structures.
• Ability to build and maintain stakeholder relationships within a productive working context.
• Proven ability to produce compelling material and stories for external audiences.
• Proven ability to collate, produce and edit multimedia content.
• Well-developed written and verbal communication skills to deal effectively, efficiently and appropriately with internal and external stakeholders including the media.
• Familiarity and experience of using digital editing tools such as Premier Pro,  Adobe and Word Press.
• Ability to successfully influence and negotiate with individuals and achieve objectives through excellentrelationships.
• Experience of collecting data from various sources, and ability to analyse and present findings clearly for internal and external communications including for press releases.
• Proven ability to prioritise and organise own workload effectively and efficiently and meet deadlines.
• Well-developed ability to work well with others as part of a team, providing support as required, and    build and maintain effective working relationships.

You’re also:

• A detailed doer - You have a track record of getting things done. You’re organized and responsive. You take ownership of every idea you touch and execute it to a fine level of detail, setting targets, engaging others, and doing whatever it takes to get the job done. You can multi-task dozens of such projects at once and never lose sight of the details. Likely, you have some experience in a start-up or other rapid-growth company.
• A networking mastermind - You excel at meeting new people and turning them into advocates.  You communicate in a clear, conscientious, and effective way in both written and oral speech. You can influence strangers in the course of a single conversation. Allies and colleagues will go to bat for your ideas. You have an existing network from prior experience in the country, preferably in the regulatory, education, or business sectors.
• A creative problem-solver - Growing any business from scratch comes with massive and constant challenges. On top of that, KwaraLEARN works in often fragile, sometimes volatile low-resource communities and with complex government systems. You need to be flexible and ready to get everything done effectively, quickly, and affordably with the materials at hand.
• A relentless advocate - The children we serve and teachers we empower never leave your mind. You know them, get them, have shared a meal with them (or would be happy to in the future). You would never shrink back from shaking a parent’s hand or picking up a crying child, no matter what the person was wearing or looked like.  Every decision you make considers their benefit, experience, and value.
• A malleable learner - You believe you can always do better. You welcome constructive criticism and provide it freely to others.  You know you only get better tomorrow when others point out where you’ve missed things or failed today.
• A data-driven decision-maker - When making decisions, you don’t rely on your intuition alone. You collect data, you analyze it and make decisions with clear justifications.
• A curious investigator - You ask why a lot. You don’t just take what you see and accept it. You wonder why it is that way, and are aware that the world we see is created by human choices and actions - and it could be different. You wonder, and see the world as wonderful even when you want to change a part of it that is unjust.

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online