Spark Microgrants - Communications Director

COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR NOVEMBER 2021

ABOUT SPARK MICROGRANTS Spark Microgrants believes in a world where everyone lives with dignity and determines their own positive future.

Decades of prescriptive aid have sidelined the poor from the very programs meant to uplift them. For nearly a decade, Spark Microgrants has been pioneering a new approach to international aid. We believe in local solutions and catalyzing rural villages facing poverty into action. After years of refining a community organizing and seed funding model for rural village action, we are garnering demand from emerging nations and leading civil society organizations to train and support them to adapt and deploy the approach at scale.

At the heart of Spark’s model, the Facilitated Collective Action Process (FCAP), are ‘town-hall’ style weekly meetings, in which women, men, young, old, plan together for their community’s future. Each village elects a leadership committee, establishes a village savings account, and launches a project of their choice. Members receive training on financial management, transparency, leadership, village planning, and advocacy. Each village then receives US$8,000 in seed funds to turn project ideas into reality and additional management support.

Spark is now active in 320+ villages in 6 countries, benefiting over 230,000 lives. In the next three years, we seek to accelerate the growth of this approach, through i) establishing a global Community of Practice based on cutting edge facilitation and training design, and ii) establishing a national scale program in Rwanda - our flagship program - in partnership with the Government of Rwanda. Spark is seeking an ambitious and impact-driven leader in Rwanda to scale the program and establish a national framework to be incorporated in Government policy and financing.

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THE ROLE

TITLE:

Communications Director

CONTRACT TYPE: Permanent, Full-time REPORTING TO: Development Director LOCATION:

Kigali, Rwanda; Nairobi, Kenya; New York City or Washington DC, USA

SALARY:

USA Competitive with generous benefits

Spark Microgrants is seeking a full time Communications Director to lead our branding, marketing, and content. Sparks is a leader in community-driven development and at a critical juncture, doubling in size and tripling in reach in 2021. We are looking for a mission-driven communications leader to maximize Spark’s reach and ensure our learnings and work are shared with key strategic partners to position for further growth.

The Communications Director will lead a branding effort for Spark’s methodology, the ‘Facilitated Collective Action Process’ and the Community of Practice we coordinate globally. They will be responsible for developing updated core language, ensuring training and adherence on that language with the board, staff, and partners. They will lead on the cultivation and refinement of grant proposals and reports. The Director will have the opportunity to present their work to key partners and the board, travel and work on a team that spans across continents.

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VALUES Spark’s values are what defines us and shape the work that we do. Our values are: 1.

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Facilitators. We do not impose; we enable others to generate impact.

Community-driven. The teams are motivated by what is best for the community.

Process-centered. The how of what we do is just as important as the what.

Authentic. Our vision and values live in everything we do.

Dynamic. We seek opportunities and are willing to take risks to serve our community partners better.

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RESPONSIBILITIES AND YEAR ONE DELIVERABLES BRANDING • Establish a branding approach for Spark’s FCAP model.

• Facilitate a brand strategy to achieve a cohesive presence across print, social media platforms, website, email, and more.

MARKETING • Support team members in developing op-eds and joint advocacy pieces.

• Develop and train team and board members to communicate effectively about Sparks with partners and other stakeholders.

• Coordinates press releases and announcements internally and externally

FIELD BUILDING • Steward the creation of decentralized content creation.

• Coordinate and publish joint advocacy pieces by the Community of Practice.

• Support in the creation of policy briefs.

• Compile and share learning from joint action meetings.

• Drive creative projects to experiment with open-source training, content sharing and movement building.

CONTENT • Hire and mange a grants manager.

• Support the Development Director in overall fundraising efforts.

• Cultivate decentralized story telling.

• Lead vision for social media, email, and hard mail presence.

• Attend organization led events and share content from them.

• Collaborate with the Executive Director on internal and external communications.

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REQUIRED SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS • • • • • • • • • • •

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Degree in Communications, International Development, Public Affairs, Journalism or similar field Experience and a track record of strategic communications, marketing or external engagement Experience leading and managing communications and production teams in international NGOs or creative industries.

Ability to build productive relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

A track record of managing or leading resource mobilization and fundraising campaigns.

Strategic thinker, entrepreneurial spirit and willingness to do what it takes to “get the job done” Ability to travel, both regionally and internationally, if needed Excellent written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills Thorough knowledge of international development and the communication and media industry Advanced Photo and Video production, editorial, graphic design and media skills Advanced level of computer proficiency, Mac and PC, including editing skills across Adobe and Apple software for video, photo, media, design.

Self-management/resilience and emotional maturity.

Team player

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HOW TO APPLY Before applying, please check that you can answer yes to all the following questions: • Do you have a degree in International Development / Communications / Public Affairs/ Journalism or similar field?

• Do you have 7+ years’ experience leading and managing communications and production teams in international NGOs or creative industries?

• Do you have knowledge and experience working on communications or media in the international development or for-purpose sector?

If you cannot answer yes to these questions, please do not apply, as we will be unable to progress your application.

If you can answer yes to all the above questions, then please proceed to click on APPLY NOW. There you will need to complete a short application form and submit an up-to-date curriculum vitae (of no more than 2-3 pages) in MS Word, and a cover letter. Please prepare your CV and cover letter before applying as they will be requested at the end of the application form. The cover letter should be no more than 2 pages long – bullet points are acceptable. It should explain: • • •

why you are interested in this role. why you are interested in Spark Microgrants how your skills and experience make you a good fit.

Your CV and Cover Letter should be saved in MS Word in the following format: Your First Name-Your LastName-Document Name-Date (mmyyyy) eg, Pat-Jones-CV-062021-SparkMicrogrants or Pat-JonesCoverLetter-062021-SparkMicrogrants.

TIMELINE Closing Date: First stage interviews: Final interviews:

22 November 2021 To be Confirmed To be Confirmed

EQUALITY STATEMENT Equality and diversity are at the core of Spark MicroGrants values. Staff are expected to work collectively and individually to promote a constructive and sensitive approach to others from a variety of backgrounds, where the work of others is valued and respected.

SELECTION PROCESS All candidates will be notified about the status of their applications. Shortlisted candidates may be required to undertake an additional assessment prior to the final interview.

QUERIES If you have any queries on any aspect of the appointment process, need additional information, or would like to have an informal discussion, please email spark.microgrants-comms.dir@oxfordhr.co.ke in the first instance.

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ABOUT OXFORD HR Oxford HR operates globally - mainly within the international development and charity sectors.

We carry out retained executive search mandates at board and senior management levels. We also offer human resource and organisational development consultancy.

Oxford HR has many years of experience in search as well as an extensive network of international development, social sector, corporate, public sector, and academic contacts from across the world. We carry out comprehensive and often international searches designed to meet the specific needs of our clients.

Oxford HR’s team members have significant personal experience of working in international development and the social sector as well as the corporate and governmental sectors. We are in a unique position to find and assess talented individuals from a variety of backgrounds.

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OXFORD

LONDON

AMSTERDAM

NAIROBI

46 Woodstock Road

Three Tuns House,

Korte Schimmelstraat 12

Watermark Business Park

Oxford

109 Borough High Street,

1053 SZ

Cove Court,

OX2 6HT

London

Amsterdam

1st Floor

SE1 1NL

Ndege Road off Langata Road

United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The Netherlands

Kenya

+44 (0) 1865 985 457

+44 (0)20 7939 7451

+31 (0) 621 153 452

+254 (0) 797 233 217

www.oxfordhr.co.uk | Company No. 6456325

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