Communications Specialist - Urban Practitioners' Programme (UPP)

Location

Chennai | India

Job description

About the Urban Practitioners' Programme

The UPP is an education and capacity building programme for urban practitioners spanning across disciplines and levels in public, private, academic and civil society sectors. IIHS believes that a city's transformation rests largely on the collective endeavours of practitioners who confront challenges through an informed, reflexive and creative manner. The UPP offers institutions and practitioners new frameworks of knowledge, backed by a cohesive package of skills. Our portfolio spans across sectors, disciplines and scales of practice and seeks to intervene at three levels:

• Strategic perspectives and orientation of the practitioner to urban challenges
• Knowledge frameworks employed to appraise such challenges
• Execution skills to tackle them effectively and sustainably.

Job Description

The Communications Specialist – Urban Practitioners' Programme will be a part of the core UPP team, responsible for supporting the planning and delivery of project and programme level communications and public engagement in all UPP Projects. The incumbent will have responsibility for the direction and implementation of the outreach and public engagement strategy of UPP Projects, with a focus on capacity building.

S/he will work closely with UPP staff on programme/ project communications, providing guidance for their implementation and for external communications more broadly. The role will also require working in close coordination with the IIHS Communications & Design team to ensure that project and programme communications are harmonised with the core communication strategy and design at the institutional level.

This will be a contractual position initially for the duration of 11 months, renewable on mutual consent.

Activities and Tasks

Responsibilities would include, but not be limited to, the following:

• Supporting the Manager – Outreach in the strategy, planning, development and implementation of the communications and outreach work of UPP, in the domain of capacity building;
• Helping develop, produce and disseminate content to engage and educate audiences across various channels via. newsletters, blogs, graphics, website content, and social media posts, with particular emphasis on knowledge product collaterals, based on institutional priorities;
• Helping drive online and onsite events and campaign rollouts, internal and external;
• Assisting in business development efforts, including pitch notes and presentations, as and when relevant;
• Providing support to other IIHS activities including academics, research, training, practice, operations and others, including contributions to keep the IIHS website up to date;
• Participating in all activities of institution-building at IIHS; carrying out tasks as assigned by IIHS; and travelling on IIHS work within or outside the country as and when needed.

Structure and Reporting

The Communications Specialist – UPP will be an External Consultant coordinating with the Manager – Outreach, UPP and will be required to collaborate effectively with a diverse group of internal teams and external individuals/organisations, and students.

Person Specification

An ideal candidate shall have the following:

• Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in communication, journalism, international relations, urban development, social sciences or related fields;
• 3-5 years of progressively responsible experience in marketing communications, journalism or related areas; experience in development sector communications is mandatory;
• Experience of working with multilateral or bilateral agencies, donor-funded projects, INGOs, think tanks, foundations, or consulting firms, SPVs, parastatals, or even Missions on their outreach programmes would be an added advantage;
• Previous experience in communications research and strategy, media relations, developing content for various audiences, digital engagement best practices, network management, and event planning and management are highly desirable;
• Excellent research, interviewing, writing, editing, and data-management skills; graphic design skills will be an added advantage;
• Effective communication skills in English, both oral and written; knowledge of regional languages like Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, etc. would be an added advantage;
• Ability to develop and implement a creative approach to communications and outreach, ensuring incorporation of gender perspectives in all areas of work.

This is a contractual engagement for an initial term of 11 months, renewable on mutual consent, and with the potential to turn into a regular position over time. This offer is on an exclusive basis, which implies that other professional assignments (whether compensated or not) that bear a potential conflict of interest with IIHS cannot be undertaken.

We are looking for an immediate hire. The search will remain open until the position is filled.

Location

This position is based in Bengaluru and may entail travel to other locations in India.

Review and Assessment

The role and performance of the incumbent shall be subject to normal review and assessment systems at IIHS.

Diversity Policy

IIHS is an equal opportunity employer that encourages women, people with disabilities and those from economically and socially excluded communities with the requisite skills and qualifications to apply for positions.

Contact

Please write to us at [HIDDEN TEXT] if you need any clarifications while filling the online application form.

Job tags

Salary