Communications Manager

Contract terms: Full time (though part time candidates will be considered with availability of 30+ hrs a week)
Closes: January 31 2020; Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and early applicants will be prioritised.
Projected start date: February 24, 2020
Reports to: Director, Partnerships and Community
Location: Remote working. Must work in or between US Eastern Standard Time and Central European Time time zones.
**Travel: 6-10 times per year to project locations, staff meetings, and conferences

About HOT Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) is a Washington, D.C.- based NGO and global community of thousands of volunteers working together to use maps and open data for humanitarian response and the Sustainable Development Goals. As the world’s preeminent participatory mapping NGO, HOT has fostered a global mapping community composed of more than 200,000 people with ground operations in six countries. When major disaster strikes anywhere in the world, HOT rallies this global network to create the maps and data that enable responders to reach those in need, serving humanitarian partners such as UNHCR, American Red Cross, and MSF- Doctors Without Borders.

About the Position

The Communications Manager will work closely with HOT’s Director of Partnerships and Community, Operations Manager, Executive Director, and field offices to plan and coordinate all of HOT’s external communications. As HOT expands to a greater number of countries and increasingly diverse projects, there is considerable need to keep HOT’s community (donors, partners, volunteers) updated while also raising the profile of HOT. HOT’s diverse audiences, communications channels, and geographic reach require a cohesive strategy to convey impact. This role will involve increasing the standard and reach of all HOT communications across all methods; social media, television, radio/podcast, media coverage & press releases.

About You

We’re looking for an individual well versed in ICT4D/digital development or use of ICT in a humanitarian context. Our preferred candidate is comfortable working in a very fast paced, startup-like environment with a highly motivated and unconventional team. You should have five or more years working in a communications role in a tech startup, NGO, or humanitarian/development agency. You should thrive in an environment where you direct your day-to-day tasks and build a strategy through consensus with a team of staff and volunteers. Our ideal candidate moves fluently between the styles of our partners which range from formal inter-governmental processes to informal tech speak. You can choose your own office location and should love working with remote teams as you’ll spend significant time on the phone, on Slack, and Skype.

Responsibilities:

• Develop and oversee the implementation of an overall external communications strategy including targeted campaigns periodically

• Evaluate and refine our audience segments and approach for engaging each segment

• Oversee all aspects of social media including strategy, guidelines, content development, managing Facebook and Twitter accounts (@hotosm, @themissingmaps) & metrics

• Oversee communications country office locations including directly managing the work of up to five communications specialists

• Manage creation of HOT’s monthly newsletter

• Manage HOT’s communications calendar

• Facilitate meetings and engage volunteers in all aspects of communications activities as part of a public Communications Working Group

• Contribute to hotosm.org content and editorial including coordinating and scheduling project blogs from field teams and developing guidelines for content, tone, images, etc.

• Manage creation of HOT’s Annual Report, including engaging volunteers, soliciting materials from project staff and editing content and images

• Update and maintain an external media contact list and secure new-high profile radio, television, online media interviews and stories featuring HOT and partners

• Create press releases and distribute to key press contacts for promotion of HOT’s work and new feature stories on external media

• Pilot new and innovative communications methods such as audio or video podcasts

• Assist with the development of marketing/communications materials and other information resources

Required Skills and Qualifications :

• 5+ years in similar communications management, public relations or external affairs role with desire to use digital skills for development/humanitarian relief and improving the lives of others

• Bachelor’s degree in English, Journalism, Marketing, or Communications, Emergency/Disaster Management, International Affairs, Public or Business Administration, Nonprofit Management or similar

• Clear, concise, and compelling writing skills in English

• Ability to use graphic design tools (Canva, Adobe suite, basic photo editing)

• Excellent data management, organised, and attentive to detail

Desirable Qualifications:

• Previous journalism experience

• Experience with third-party social media software such as SproutSocial or Hootsuite

• Some experience with photo editing software and/or graphic design

• Prior experience in nonprofit or startup environments

• Media contacts in the humanitarian and development space

Compensation & Benefits:

• All HOT salaries globally are set according to a framework detailed on our website: https://www.hotosm.org/salaries. HOT offers a work-from-anywhere culture, flexible working arrangements, a variety of health care options, 401k retirement savings plans, and 24 days of annual leave for all full-time employees.
• All staff working for HOT > 0.5 FTE are eligible for stipend or support for health insurance.
• Completely remote team enabling flexible work schedules.
• Generous leave for employees.