Director, Communications at Edo State Basic Education Sector Transformation (EdoBEST)

The Edo State Government, led by Governor Godwin Obaseki, started the Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation (EdoBEST) programme in 2018 to stem the slide in the basic education sector in the state. Through EdoBEST, the government has transformed learning outcomes for over 370,000 children across 1,029 public primary and 232 junior secondary schools.

Between 2018 and 2022 over 16,000 teachers (novice and experienced) from the primary and junior secondary school system were re-trained to be technologically supported and empowered teachers.Over the years, the programme has developed a highly skilled teaching workforce by training, supporting, and motivating teachers to succeed in the classroom. It has also ensured that school management is data and technology-driven.Since implementation, schools have become better managed and parents (and pupils) have attested to the far-reaching impact of the reform on pupils’ academic performance and behaviour.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Director, Communications

Location: Benin City, Edo
Employment Type: Full-time

About the Role

• As Director, Communications, you will be the communications lead for a large-scale government education programme.
• You will support the government in the creation and delivery of communications strategies and ensure that the programme is being communicated effectively to a wide range of stakeholders both at a statewide, national, and international level.
• You will be able to leverage relationships to influence communications approaches and build strong advocacy platforms to further the aims and ambitions of the work.
• You will create, write and design content that is both compelling and impactful; that places your programme at the core of the group communications strategy in Nigeria.

Responsibilities
What You Will Do:

• Manage the communications for a statewide government education programme.
• Act as the communications lead for a government communications team and programme.
• Develop compelling communications strategies for the promotion of the programme within Nigeria and internationally.
• Directly manage media engagement and cultivate media contacts.
• Pitch stories to both national and local media to achieve high visibility for print, broadcast, TV, and online media outlets.
• Evaluate opportunities for communications partnerships and platforms that will strengthen the programme.
• Act as a spokesperson and represent the programme in local and national forums.
• Build a strong advocacy engagement programme with national and multinational partners.
• Write clear and compelling pitches, press releases and articles.
• Support the government to develop content strategies for digital communications.
• Identify media trends, and news cycle opportunities.
• Support internal communications initiatives to promote the programme.
• Analyze and measure results of communications initiatives.
• Work closely with the Nigerian communications group to ensure that the communications strategy for the programme is advanced and complementary to the group strategy.

Requirements
What You Should Have:

• A Master’s Degree
• 8+ year’s relevant experience in communications.
• An established network of local and national media contacts.
• Experience of being the lead external relations contact for media and stakeholders.
• A strong sense of the news agenda and ability to make issues and campaigns relevant.
• Experience in handling crisis communications.
• Experience supporting the creation and delivery of social media and digital campaigns.
• Experience working with or for the government in a communications capacity.
• Experience in Nigeria working in communications for political, campaigning, non-profit, or social enterprise.
• Experience with a multinational organization is a plus.
• Experience working within a matrixed global organization.
• Strong experience in creating and executing communications plans and strategies.
• Strong writing and editorial skills.
• A strong sense of teamwork and the ability to both manage and execute programs.
• An extremely proactive and determined attitude.
• Prior experience within a fast-paced, disruptor, metric-driven consulting or educational organization is a bonus.

Skills:
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 creative problem-solver - Growing any business from scratch comes with massive and constant challenges. On top of that, Bridge 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, 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
18th July, 2023.