Development Outreach and Communications (DOC) Specialist

USAID wishes to hire a Development Outreach and Communications (DOC) Specialist to work in the Program Development and Implementation Office (PDI) of USAID/East Africa. The primary purpose of this position is to manage USAID/EA’s information and outreach functions in order to provide a better awareness and understanding of United States foreign assistance to key audiences in the region, in the United States and throughout other donor countries and to produce and disseminate information about the Mission’s program and activities within the East Africa Mission, client bilateral missions and to USAID/Washington. This is a local hire position open to American Citizens resident in Kenya and Kenyan Nationals.

Major Duties and Responsibilities

The DOC Specialist is responsible for managing USAID/EA’s information materials for internal and external audiences. S/he develops and updates the Communication Strategy, consistent with directives from USAID/Washington and in coordination with U.S. Embassy’s Public Affairs Office, to set forth approaches and systems that guide the gathering, development, validation, management and dissemination of accurate information about USAID/EA’s programs and initiatives for more efficient utilization within USAID and for maximum exposure to wider local and international audiences. The DOC Specialist will develop procedures and systems to produce high quality briefing materials, press releases, success stories, feature articles, speeches and other reporting documents and takes responsibility for quality control. S/he produces a weekly newsletter covering USAID/EA program developments and develops and edits materials for the public website. S/he is the primary point of contact for public information inquiries, ensuring timely, accurate and professional referrals and responses to external audiences. S/he works closely with Embassy Public Affairs and USAID/Washington’s Legislative and Public Affairs Office, keeping current and advising on media developments and opportunities for USAID/EA. S/he also has extensive interaction with USAID/EA’s senior managers and technical officers, including the Mission Director’s Office, and with high-level USG and government offices. DOC activities are exceptionally broad in scope and complexity, requiring a sophisticated knowledge of information management, communication strategies, media relations, and journalism and a solid understanding of east Africa development issues.

Required Qualifications:

Education: (15%) A Bachelor’s degree in public relations, journalism, international relations/development, public administration or a related field (such as communications, English) is required.

Professional Experience: (35%) Must have a minimum of five years of demonstrated successful experience in public relations, or a related field. Previous work experience with the U.S. government or an international development organization is desirable.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: (30%) Demonstrated capacity in public relations and/or media campaigns and strong strategic and analytical skills to develop and disseminate messages to target audiences is required. The ability to establish and maintain relations with the press and use sound judgment in critical communications working in a multicultural environment often involving high-level officials is essential. Superior organizational management and planning skills are necessary to balance competing priorities, devise workable information management solutions and to coordinate events. Demonstrated supervisory capacity working with subordinates and multi-functional teams, overseeing workflow and diverse inputs to produce a high quality final product is required. The ability to research and gather information from multiple technical sources, to analyze and transform into a well-written, easily understood, non-bureaucratic prose, meeting short deadlines is required. The candidate must be able to work independently and manage competing priorities under pressure.

Communication Skills: (20%) Must be fluent in English and must demonstrate strong written and oral communication, and interpersonal skills. A strong customer service orientation and full proficiency in Microsoft Office applications are required. Familiarity with databases, desktop publishing, newsletter, web-site management, photography and graphic design skills is preferred.

Those fulfilling the requirements of the position should submit their application together with a detailed CV and all relevant attachments via mail to the following address:

Applications can be sent by email to: hrnairobi@usaid.gov or by post to:
Human Resources Office
Re: Development Outreach & Communication (DOC) Specialist
P.O. Box 629, Village Market 00621, Nairobi, Kenya
APPLICATIONS MUST BE IN THE USAID OFFICE BY COB JUNE 27, 2008