Senior Communication Officer

Organization Profile

 Founded in 2000 on the belief that World Change Starts with Educated Children®, Room to Read is creating a world free from illiteracy and gender inequality. We are achieving this goal by providing support during the two most critical time periods in a child’s education: primary school for literacy acquisition and secondary school for girls’ education. Our Literacy Program trains and coaches teachers, creates quality books and curricular materials, and establishes libraries filled with diverse children’s books in local languages that can be enjoyed at school or home. Our Girls’ Education Program helps girls build skills to succeed in secondary school and make key life decisions by providing a life skills curriculum, opportunities for mentorship and peer support, and family and community engagement.

Room to Read collaborates with local communities, partner organizations, and governments to test and implement innovative models that can be integrated into the education system to deliver positive outcomes for children at scale. To date, Room to Read has reached more than 39 million children in over 49,000 communities across Bangladesh, Cambodia, Grenada, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Rwanda, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Vietnam, and Zambia, and plans to benefit 40 million children by 2025. Learn more at www.roomtoread.org

We are currently looking for committed and enthusiastic applicants with qualifications and relevant experience to fill the following position:

Senior Communication Officer:  1 Position Based in Country Office, Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR.

Position Overview

The Sr. Communication Officer position will be based at the Room to Read Country Office in Vientiane and report directly to Country Director. In cooperation with Program Teams, the Sr Communication Officer provides overall logistical coordination to facilitate and host local and international visitors/donors for all types of site visits to support Room to Read’s (RtR) programs. Furthermore, this position leads development of promotional materials for publicity about the RtR program in Lao PDR, maximizes support of RtR programs by sourcing and communicating key information about children’s education issues to relevant audiences world-wide, and initiates and assists in the development of networks of communication with NGOs, local media, communities, government, UN agencies and donors.

Roles & Responsibilities:

Project Site Visits for Donors

• Coordinate with Room to Read Global Office and relevant local staff to timely develop and communicate site visit itineraries and logistic requirements to all concerned, including information and suggestions on hotels, restaurants and local attractions
• Develop welcome pack to provide donors with an overview and context of RtR work, organizational and cultural guidelines for visits, etc.
• Site visits: Plan, organize, implement, budget and host 5–10-day trips for groups of donors and other strategic parties.
• Manage and coordinate in-country travel agency for site visit arrangements
• Conduct site visit dry-runs and help the team delegate tasks for site preparation as required
• Develop guideline and FAQ for in-country donor visits and conduct training for staff on how to successfully host donor site visits.
• Host the visit and write donor visit reports.

Communication Responsibilities

• Review all in-country marketing materials, ensuring that program teams upload good quality photos for donor reporting
• Lead development of all marketing materials within templates provided by Room to Read Global Office, such as RtR Lao annual report and general brochures, pamphlets, newsletters and website.
• Visit projects with Lao Program Teams to keep up to date with the situation at program sites, discuss new ideas and learn from what is happening in the field and help the team to write anecdotes.
• Work to enhance the public image of the organization and generate support for RtR Lao by developing and communicating key information about the country program to relevant audiences, domestically and world-wide
• In cooperation with Global Office Communication Teams, lead and manage the development of the Communication Plan and advocacy strategy for RtR Lao and implement them accordingly
• Develop and use communication tools to train all applicable staff members on how to represent RtR and effectively communicate the organization’s mission and programs
• Respond to specific requests for communications support from Room to Read Global Office and other audiences.
• Maintain good working relationships with key media contacts and help communicate all important events to Room to Read Global Office Communications Teams.
• Monitor and manage all information flow mechanisms and assist in-country managers when necessary to write special reports for project evaluations or closures
• Attend and participate in relevant meetings and workshops with NGOs, MoES etc. as required.
• Review to ensure good quality photos are uploaded in GSD by the program teams for donor reporting.
• Provide photographic technique training to staff as time allows
• Develop and maintain photo and story bank system for easy retrieval
• Manage and constantly update short news stories of organization’s activities at project sites on the Room to Read Lao Facebook page and YouTube channel in Lao and English languages.
• Network/coordinate with the in-country Communication Working Group and other partners to explore marketing opportunities, share marketing contents/messages and conduct joint events as opportunities allow.
• Prepare and manage annual communication budget

Qualifications & Experience

Required:

• Bachelor’s or master’s Degree in relevant fields (International Relations, Communication, Journalism, Marketing etc.)
• Minimum of 2 years professional experience with relevant international organizations such as NGOs or UN agencies
• Good verbal and written communication skills in both Lao and English
• Editing, especially the ability to condense large volumes of complex information into accessible and concise communication products.
• Strong public speaking skills for training and presentations
• Good knowledge and understanding of Lao context, particularly of issues related to education, economy and development of the country.
• Ability to travel frequently to provinces throughout the country.
• Excellent inter-personal skills
• Ability to perform in a multi-tasking work environment
• Self-motivated, flexible and able to work independently without close supervision.
• Honest and trustworthy

Preferred:

• Travel / Tourism / Hospitality background
• Ability to solve problems quickly
• Diplomacy / being able to balance the needs and desires of local community with donor expectations
• Enthusiasm
• Can-do attitude
• International travel experience
• Able to work effectively in cross-cultural settings and able to support, negotiate and cooperate with those from other cultures.
• Ability to synthesize information—good judgment about what is relevant.
• Lively, enquiring, learning mind.
• Strong computer skills including word processing, Excel, Photoshop Publisher and good skills to use Internet effectively to conduct research on materials that would be useful in presenting RtR to the public.

To be successful as a member of the Room to Read team, you will also:

• Have passion for our mission and a strong desire to impact a dynamic non-profit organization
• Be an innovative and creative thinker that tries new things and inspires others to do so
• Have a very high level of personal and professional integrity and trustworthiness
• Have a strong work ethic and require minimal direction
• Work well independently as well as part of a team
• Thrive in a fast-paced and fun environment

Compensation & Benefits

Room to Read Laos values the commitment of our staff, and offers a professional & respected working environment, competitive monthly salary and other benefits such as annual salary review, a Wellbeing allowance, 13th month salary bonus, gratuity bonus, performance bonus, Staff Medical Insurance, SSO for staff and family members, annual medical check-up, phone allowance and other leave benefits based on Lao Labour Law.

Room to Read is a child-safe organization; all personnel are expected to adhere to Room to Read’s Child Protection Policy and Child Protection Code of Conduct.

Room to Read is proud to be an equal opportunity employer committed to identifying and continually developing the skills and leadership of people from diverse backgrounds.

Application Procedure

Please submit your application through our online recruiting system at the link below and include your updated resume/CV with cover letter.

https://www.roomtoread.org/about-us/careers/

(click See Current Vacancies)

Or click on: https://osv-rtr.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/RoomToRead/job/Laos—Main—Vientiane/Senior-Officer–Communications_R-02845