Overview
Action Against Hunger’s External Relations Department seeks a resourceful and detail-oriented Communications Associate who believes in the power of storytelling to mobilize public support for humanitarian crises and the fight to end hunger. This individual has some familiarity with international development and humanitarian issues, and excels in writing, editing, and managing projects under tight deadlines. Under the supervision of the Associate Director of Communications and working closely with the Senior Communications Officer, the Communications Associate will handle researching, writing, and editing a broad range of communications assets; organizing and taking notes during briefings with expert staff; supporting story development; producing materials to support corporate partnerships and fundraising initiatives; and managing web content.
The ideal candidate works respectfully and diplomatically with diverse teams, is energetic and thrives under pressure. This individual also brings creativity, strong writing and editing skills, and a sense of humor to work every day, and believes strongly in our mission.
The Communications Associate:
Purpose: To curate and support content development to drive the organization’s communications strategy and increase our revenue streams.
Engagement: Engage potential and existing donors on subjects related to the organization’s activities and mission. Expand outreach and promote brand awareness through creative storytelling and donor materials.
Delivery: Support the content production of creative assets to engage and grow our audience through our website, digital marketing, social media and traditional media, working closely with our teams in the field and across the organization’s global Network.
Essential Job Duties
● Under supervision of the Associate Director of Communications, supports the Communications team with editing and creating communications collateral and background documents.
● Supports the Communications team with content development and entry for website.
● Manages annual report production, including proofreading and editing materials and selecting imagery.
● Supports the Communications team in editing and reviewing video scripts, talking points, fact sheets, press releases, and other material to support issue positioning, thought leadership, and media relations.
● Contributes to weekly content meetings as well as editorial calendar across print and digital channels.
● Collaborates with digital and direct marketing team, partnerships team, events team, and major donor team on special campaigns and initiatives.
● Develops relationships with our technical and operations teams both in the U.S. and in the field to gather content and programmatic information on an ongoing basis.
● Supports special projects (media outreach, advocacy, campaigns, brand management, etc.) as needed.
Supervisory Responsibilities
● Occasionally supervising interns or external vendors such as graphic designers or freelance writers.
Physical Demands
● While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to sit for long periods and to concentrate on work, including typing, and accurately turning out heavy volumes of work with tight deadlines in a fast paced-environment. Must be able to proofread their own work accurately so that only infrequent minor corrections are needed .
● To travel to the field, the employee must attest to a level of physical fitness capable of enduring physically difficult, highly stressful situations which may include the necessity to walk long distances, carry a backpack or other equipment of up to 50 pounds, to ride long distances over very poor road/water conditions, to eat a limited diet and/or to reside in potentially uncomfortable housing or tents.
● The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Working Conditions, Travel and Environment
● The duties of the job require regular job attendance five days per week. Must be available to occasionally work outside normal office hours or on the weekends as required by contact with the missions, mission security, or other obligations.
● Must be able to travel as needed for standard domestic and international business travel as well as to the missions if appropriate. While visiting the field, the employee may be exposed to precarious settings under high security risks and/or very basic living conditions and outside weather conditions, as well as to infectious diseases.
Gender Equality Commitments & Zero Tolerance to Abuse
· Foster an environment that reinforces values of people of all genders, and equal access to information.
· Provide a work environment where people of all genders are evaluated and promoted based on their skills and performance.
· Promote a safe, secure, and respectful environment for all stakeholders, particularly for children, people we serve, and members of staff.
· Help to prevent any type of abuse including workplace harassment and sexual abuse and exploitation.
· Respect the people we serve regardless of gender, sex orientation, disability, religion, race, color, ancestry, national origin, age, or marital status.
· Value and respect all cultures.
Required Qualifications and Professional Experience
● Bachelor’s degree.
● Ideally 1-3 years in communications or public relations, or some combination as a journalist and PR/communications practitioner.
● Interest in international development and humanitarian work.
● Experience in ensuring all communications adhere to brand guidelines and editorial standards.
● Experience in the following is highly desired:
o editing short videos for social media posts
o basic graphic design skills for brochures or infographics
o writing and optimizing web content
● Experience producing communications tailored to a range of different target audiences.
● Native English speaker. Other language skills are a plus.
● Experience assisting in the production of annual reports and communications collateral is a plus.
Required Skills & Competencies
● Exceptional skills in professional writing, editing, and story development. (Writing samples will be requested and candidates may be asked to perform writing assignments as part of the job application process.)
● Highly organized with strong project management skills.
● Attention to detail.
● Familiarity with photography and videography.
● Skilled problem solver, adept at identifying challenges and recommending solutions proactively.
● Interest in translating highly technical source material into compelling, accessible content for a general audience.
● Works respectfully, collaboratively and diplomatically with diverse teams.
● Driven with high energy and thrives under pressure.
● Brings creativity, positivity and a sense of humor to work every day and believes strongly in our mission.
● Familiarity with web content management systems such as Drupal and WordPress are a plus.
● Some understanding of graphic design and printing processes is a plus.