Programme Officer – Communications and Advocacy

Aide et Action International (AEAI) is an international NGO, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.  AEA International began its programs in 1981 and is now working in more than 20 countries across Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, South Asia, Southeast Asia and China to support the development of sustainable education projects with our belief in the universal right to a quality education. Each AEAI intervention is based around this ethos.

In Vietnam, AEA started working in 2003. Our approaches focus on early transformation during two time periods which are most critical in a child’s schooling, Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) to basic education. Over 10 years of experiences along with local communities, partner organizations, and governments, we have implemented a number of projects in various locations. We are currently recruiting a creative, enthusiastic and innovative candidate to fill the following position.

Job Title: Programme Officer – Communications and Advocacy
Department/Group: Communication and Advocacy
Directly reports to: Country Representative
Technically reports to: Regional Head – Communications
Location: Hanoi – Vietnam
Travel Required: 25 - 40% to project sites and other countries

The incumbent will work closely with the Country Representative and Country programme team to maximise coverage of AEA Programme and campaign messages by developing and delivering advocacy and communications strategies and visibility products in Vietnam and the region. S/he will drive messaging, media relations, product marketing to raise the profile of AEA programmes in the country.

Duties and Responsibilities

  • Advocacy
    • Develop the advocacy roadmap to ensure that best practices, lessons learnt on education policy, especially on ECCE, shared with education experts, at different levels for policy improvement purpose etc.
    • Develop and draft communication and outreach materials including, press releases, policy documents, reports, briefing papers for medias and government consultations;
    • Monitor and evaluate media coverage on relevant programmes in the country and the region to draw lessons to improve coverage, and provide regular analysis on issues relevant to AEA’s programme and campaigns work.
  • Communications
    • Plan, design and implementation of internal and external strategies for communications outreach for AEA in Vietnam
    • Work closely with programme staff to implement communication activities including for public events, launching ceremonies, Global Campaign for Education etc.
    • Develop and disseminate high quality media coverage of AEA’s programme and advocacy work, primarily for Vietnamese media but also occasionally regional and international outlets; 
    • Represent and act as spokesperson for the AEA programme in media interviews if required, and brief other staff ahead of media interviews or press conferences;
    • Build relationships with media colleagues in other organisations (eg NGOs, UN agencies), to coordinate and collaborate on media projects; build and maintain excellent relationships with Vietnam media outlets and maintain a database of media contacts;
    • Regularly visit project sites to ensure a direct link between programme work and media coverage, and to identify and generate high quality media and communication opportunities;
    • Manage and coordinate all donors and sponsors visits;
    • Flexibility to work out of normal offices hours is required, recognising media is not a standard “office hours” job.
  • Branding and Material development
    • Develop and disseminate communication materials with a focus on joint branding and common message
    • Work closely with programme staff to ensure the correct brand for all out-going communication products
    • Ensure the unification of the implementation of branding regulation of the organisation’s communication materials
  • Websites and Social medias
    • Produce digital contents (stories, photos, blogs, videos) to be used on AEA and other websites and to liaise with relevant staff at regional level to maximise the use of the contents generated;
    • Regular update websites and social medias

Key Qualifications

  • Education and Training
    • A degree in the field of journalism, communications, media relations or a related field;
  • Professional Experience
    • At least 4 years working experience in related fields, especially in education policy, with progressive responsibilities;
    • Experience in advocating and lobbying government officials at policy levels
    • Experience in the usage of video and radio editing software is necessary
    • Experience in the usage of social media tools, computers and office software packages, good knowledge and experience in handling of web-based management systems.
    • Experience of practical journalism, communications, media relations combined with the national and international development areas, especially in educational issues;
  • Languages
    • Excellent command of English languages and knowledge of French is an asset.
  • Knowledge and skills
    • Good analytical and conceptual thinking skills with good strategic perspective, able to understand complex issues and information from different sources and present this clearly and simply;
    • Demonstrated in developing and implementing projects which could be either stand-alone or part of larger programmes;
    • High energy, maturity, and leadership with the ability to serve as a unifying force and to position communications discussions at both the strategic and tactical levels;
    • Good working background in a multi-cultural setting and multi-disciplinary team.
  • Preferred knowledge and skills 
    • Broad knowledge with key donors including European Union, AusAID, etc;
    • Broad knowledge in education policies in Vietnam;
    • Outstanding interpersonal and presentation skills.

AEAI vision and values

  • Vision
    A world where each person’s dignity is assured through education which is central to human development
  • Values
    Our actions are guided by the values of freedom, respect, solidarity, equity, and integrity   

Please send your application letter, CV and related qualification to email address: [email protected] no later than April 5, 2017.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for tests/interviews. 

Job Details
Organisation Name: 
Aide et Action International (AEA)
Location: 
Hanoi
Application Deadline: 
Wed, 2017-04-05