Communications & Media Coordinator - Plan International

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.

We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And it’s girls who are most affected.

Working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.

We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. And we enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.

We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 80 years, and are now active in more than 70 countries.

ROLE PROFILE

PURPOSE

Plan International Ghana is presently implementing a number of programmes aimed at improving the lives of children and youths, especially girls, across the regions of Ghana. The role of the Communication and Media Coordinator is critical to ensure the visibility of the actions and impact of Plan International Ghana’s work, the role will also support behavior change and community engagement actions.  

Dimensions of the Role

Financial measures or statistics relevant to post such as budget; list of direct and indirect reports

Reporting to the Communication Specialist, the Communication & Media Coordinator will be responsible for the implementation of Communication, Information and Media related activities within Programme Impact and Influencing Areas. She/he will be responsible for the internal, external, and social media communications implemented in these areas.

S/he will work in close collaboration with Project Managers, Project Teams and implementation partners to ensure close supervision, follow up and reporting of response activities through diversified communication tools and outlets.

The Communication and Media Coordinator’s responsibilities will be to maximise positive media coverage and fundraising opportunities and support accountability to key stakeholders as well as development work, in the Programme Area.

S/he shall also supervise the quality production of Information Education and Communication materials, and the quality branding of all realizations and activities.

Accountabilities

[This section is critical for clarifying expectations of the role, providing the framework for its relationship with colleagues and providing areas of accountability against which performance can be managed.

This should include a series of brief statements that define the end results required. e.g. drive, contribute, identify, manage, responsible for, advise/coach, build, develop, provide, conduct, oversee, establish, participate etc.

Statements should ideally be worded so that they will lead to thoughts of measurement.  For example, it is better to state something like "achieve maintenance standards" than "undertake maintenance".  The former leads to a measure against the maintenance standards.]

“What” is done and “why”, but not “how”; include indicators for success

External Liaison and Communications

• Develop and amend as necessary a Communication Plan for Plan International’s programme in the Programme Area.
• Develop and maintain excellent relationships with frontline national and international media (journalists}, Communications staff and representatives of other NGOs, government institutions, UN Agencies, etc.
• Act as the main point of contact for media and respond to requests for information from journalists, NOs, and donors, including arranging interviews and field visits.
• Prepare, distribute and log press releases.
• Conduct regular field visits to interview staff and beneficiaries, write human interest stories and coordinate photos and video sessions.
• Ensure appropriate capturing and documentation of projects’ successes and challenges via fact sheets, case studies, stories, testimonies, quality pictures and videos, media products, articles, etc
• Identify frontline media outlets and suggest initiatives to promote the activities and impact of Plan International’s work in the Programme Area.
• Support key actions of the organization aimed at influencing the decision that favors the wellbeing of children and youths.
   

Internal Liaison and Communications

• Share a steady flow of information (social media updates, human interest stories, talking points and Q & As, etc.) with the Communication Specialist for internal and external dissemination as per Plan International’s communications guide.
• Coordinate the preparation of Situation Reports (SitRep) to update on the status of Plan International’s crisis response activities;
   
• Develop engaging massages to communicate key policies and values of Plan International to staff.
• Monitor print and electronic media for mentions of Plan International and other topics of interest to the organisation, and inform the Communication Specialist of anything important.
• Identify and create talking points/Q & As for potentially sensitive issues and inform the Country Director.
   

Visibility and Branding

• Ensure the correct use of Plan International’s identity and that or partners and donors, in respect to existing Brand Manuals.
• Ensure the quality production of Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials.
• Ensure the quality branding of constructions and other realisations of Plan International, with the identity of Plan International and that of partners, where applicable.
• Ensure that staff are branded during field visits and external meetings.

Training

• Support the Communications Specialist in communication and media coaching/ training to designated spokespeople and staff.
• Train media professionals and partners on safeguarding principles and the quality engagement of the media in fighting for children’s rights. 
• Offer immediate media coaching for those about to do a media interview.

Media Monitoring and Evaluation

• Work with Communication Specialist and external media service providers to produce quality audio-visual material (documentaries, spots, etc).
• Compile a log of media calls organised within the response programme
• Work with Communication specialist to monitor media and compile national/international media coverage.
• Produce a ‘lessons learned’ document and make recommendations for future operations.
• Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Safeguarding and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully understood and respected by the media professionals, partners and staff, during all communication activities.