Head Of Communications

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced senior communications and media professional to lead International Alert’s global Communications team.

We are hiring this role at a pivotal time for Alert, as we implement our new organisational strategy. The postholder will have a unique opportunity to lead delivery of our global communications strategy, supporting the delivery of our organisational objectives and ensuring we maximise our peacebuilding impact.

The role will work in close collaboration with our country, regional and policy teams to deliver high-quality, impactful communications about peacebuilding in the places we work and on key topics such as the climate crisis, women’s and LGBT+ inclusion, and conflict-sensitive investment, centering the voices of the people and partners with whom we work.

You’ll be an excellent communicator and strategic thinker, with experience of delivery of Communications across a range of channels and media. You will be responsible for driving up Alert’s visibility and profile and maintaining relationships with journalists, bringing with you good knowledge of the media landscape and excellent contacts.

You’ll have great interpersonal skills, able to work with people inside and outside the organisation across a range of geographies and backgrounds. You’ll be comfortable advising senior leadership within Alert and adept at identifying opportunities to raise Alert’s profile. You’ll be a good people manager, able to lead and motivate a team, and have experience of managing budgets.

Role duties and responsibilities:

Strategy and planning

• Develop and implement a three year communications strategy for Alert, in line with the organisational strategy, ensuring consultation and collaboration with Alert’s global and country teams
• Work closely with country teams to support the development of in-country communications strategies, ensuring regular co-ordination with country level communications colleagues
• Set clear objectives and KPIs for Alert’s communications work, developing robust frameworks for monitoring and reporting, and linking these to delivery of the communications strategy

Media relations

• Develop and deliver a media strategy, in line with Alert’s programme priorities, influencing and funding strategies;
• Lead on cultivating new and foster existing relations with key contacts in the media, building Alert’s credibility and ensuring effective working relationships with journalists;
• Lead on delivery of media strategy for discrete projects, developing plans, drafting key messages and press releases, identifying and working with target journalists and setting parameters for success.
• Lead on Alert’s response to breaking news stories and events, working with senior staff to develop appropriate responses
• Lead on crisis communications for Alert, drafting and holding the crisis communications protocol, representing the communications team on the Crisis Management Group, supporting and advising senior staff, and ensuring regular media training for relevant staff
• Proactively identify opportunities for coverage of Alert’s work in UK, European and international media, as well as by national/regional media in countries/regions where Alert works, and maximise profile opportunities for Alert’s spokespeople and experts;
• Manage and monitor the media email account and media phone, including out-of-hours media calls.

Content, branding and profile

• Ensure robust sign-off processes, comprehensive policies and quality systems to facilitate the work of programme and/or country teams and to ensure that all Alert’s communications are consistent with Alert’s brand, coherent in tone and messages, and high in quality;
• Lead a brand review for Alert in line with the new organisational strategy, including robust audience testing
• Oversee the maintenance and implementation of Alert’s brand guidelines, supporting the marketing and publications officer to ensure brand consistency across all of Alert’s work
• Work collaboratively with other organisations and deepen relationships with donors and funders to increase the profile and visibility of Alert and the peacebuilding sector.

Events and outreach

• Ensure excellent profiling and positioning of Alert’s brand, image and impact throughout Alert’s external communications and events;
• Oversee the design, planning and implementation of specific activities or events and campaigns using a variety of media, and ensure that opportunities for contributing to Alert’s funding, media and influencing strategies and building/maintaining excellent relations with potential supporters and contacts are optimised for each event;
• Ensure that all Alert outputs are disseminated successfully, using different media and messages to reach out to and engage different target audiences, and that dissemination strategies and budgets are set for each output.

Digital communications

• Support the Senior Digital Engagement Officer to develop an annual content plan that reflects the requirements of the strategy and delivers against its objectives
• Maintain understanding of and engagement with the latest digital trends and approaches, ensuring Alert is compliant with relevant regulations
• Oversee the development of a digital plan and ensure it contributes to Alert’s programme priorities, influencing and funding strategies;
• Ensure the furthering of Alert’s reach and profile through more effective and targeted use of the website, digital marketing and social media channels

Programmatic communications

• Support programme and country teams in strengthening their communications and outreach, and facilitate the development of their own communications and influencing strategies;
• Identify deficiencies and gaps in programmes’ communications capacity, skills and materials and make plans to remedy them as appropriate;
• Ensure that quality trainings are provided for programmes, country teams and partner organisations on relevant aspects of Communications;
• Provide quality technical assistance and advice to programme and country teams for project planning, proposals and reporting, ensuring communications is incorporated into programme design and budgets.

Line management, budget management and organisational leadership

• Line manage the Communications team staff, and interns, volunteers and consultants where appropriate, setting clear and manageable workplans, ensuring structured, regular support and supervision, and tailored personal development plans;
• Ensure strong team co-ordination and support, with regular team meetings and awaydays
• Accompany, mentor and functionally supervise communications staff in programmes teams;
• Set, manage and monitor the Advocacy and Communications budget, ensuring robust oversight of spend and adherence to finance and procurement policies;
• Work closely with the Director of Policy, Advocacy and Communications to review and strengthen communications strategy and delivery, developing strong relationships with the Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer and the GPU Director to ensure advocacy and communications objectives are co-ordinated and complementary;
• Ensure efficient team-wide communications and knowledge management, and contribute to organisation-wide communications, knowledge management, events and discussions on related topics/projects;
• Deputise for the Director of Policy, Advocacy and Communications where appropriate.

Please note that the above are just some of the role requirements. For the full role requirements, view the job description.

All applicants must have existing and permanent right to work in the United Kingdom.

International Alert prides itself on being an equal opportunity employer and particularly welcomes applications from underrepresented people including women, people from the Global South, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ people, disabled people, and other historically marginalised people.

While International Alert will endeavour to contact all candidates within a reasonable time, this may not always be possible due to limited resources.  Therefore, if you have not heard from us within two weeks of the closing date, you can assume your application has, on this occasion, been unsuccessful.