About Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse, and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have long-term impact. Mercy Corps has been operating in Jordan since 2003. In partnership with civil society organizations, the private sector, and the government, Mercy Corps Jordan has reached more than 3.4 million Jordanians and displaced populations in the country. Driven by the mission to contribute to the emergence of a peaceful, resilient and prosperous Jordan which is inclusive of youth and women, we seek to build a future for Jordan in which all people feel secure, believe in the goodness of communities and institutions around them, and are on a sustainable path toward economic self-reliance. Through our programs, partnerships, and influence, we work towards four connected and reinforcing outcomes that determine people’s wellbeing: greater economic opportunities, food security, peace and good governance, and water security.
The Program
USAID Informal Livelihoods Advancement Activity (Iqlaa) is a five-year USAID-funded program that aims to put Jordan’s home-based businesses (HBBs) and Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) on a path to recovery, help them access the safety net measures in Jordan, and, most importantly, regain productivity and growth. Mercy Corps approach to Iqlaa integrates direct assistance with market systems development (MSD) interventions to support MSEs along the full journey from recovery to growth and resilience. Grounded in evidence-based, adaptive, and inclusive support, Jordan’s MSEs can emerge stronger and more resilient, transformed through new ways of doing business and improved access to finance, markets, and services. Understanding that women, youth, and people living with disabilities (PLWD) face unique constraints to starting up and leading resilient MSEs, Mercy Corps design will infuse a Gender, Youth and Social Inclusion (GYSI) lens throughout all interventions. Mercy Corps approach is committed to supporting MSEs build back, formalize, and grow, emphasizing systems-level change, equitable opportunities, and a dignified work environment for all women, men, and youth, and PLWD in Jordan. Mercy Corps leads on the implementation of Iqlaa, and weaves together technical expertise from a robust set of national, regional, and international partners.
The Position
The Communications Senior Officer will support in the development, implementation, and monitoring of communications activities to promote the Iqlaa program and maintain informative and effective communication channels with the program’s different stakeholders. The Communications Senior Officer will have a key role in the implementation of the program’s communications and public outreach strategy, and its internal information structures in line with USAID guidelines and branding and marking requirements. They will create high-end written and multi-media content capturing the impact created by the program’s activities. They will be esponsible of developing and disseminating high-quality communications tools, materials, and donor reports, ensuring style and branding compliance, backstopping our media relations and events participation, making sure our electronic presence meets the desired communications objectives, and helping in the preparation of reports as per Iqlaa’s needs and standards. They will contribute to the implementation of creative, consistent, and effective outreach
activities leveraging tools like public awareness campaigns, printed advertising, radio, website, and other
forms of electronic communications. Ultimately, the goal will be to help ensure clear communication of
Iqlaa’s message across all channels and platforms, raise awareness about Iqlaa’s work and impact, pushforward
the program’s advocacy agenda, and help develop impactful relations with Iqlaa’s key stakeholders.
Essential Responsibilities
In coordination with the Director of Communications (DOC):
● Strategic:
○ Have a key role in the implementation of Iqlaa’s communications strategies and plans in accordance with USAID rules and regulations, and as per the accounts (partners/ subgrantees/ contractors) assigned to them by DOC
○ Establish deep understanding of program progress and activities and identify potential stories or news for publishing
○ Refine and maintain Iqlaa’s desired identity throughout all channels of communication
○ Conduct regular stakeholder/ audience analysis
● Content Development & Dissemination:
○ Timely development of high-quality engaging and effective communication and media materials for internal and external dissemination, including video production, speeches, talking points, advocacy agendas, press releases, success stories, social media posts, fact sheets, and reports, etc (content submitted to DOC needs to be in its final stage requiring minimal to no feedback)
○ Apply a collective-impact approach in capturing stories and drafting reports
○ Disseminate and publish internal and external communications content online and offline
○ Assist and coordinate with relevant partners, sub-grantees, contractors and beneficiaries to produce professional photographs and videos and maintain a database of impactful project audiovisual materials.
● Social Media, Media Monitoring & Media Reach:
○ Monitor social media trends and identify new tools and innovate practices to maintain effectiveness and relevance of the applied social media approach through the Iqlaa and Mercy Corps’ social media platforms
○ Track, analyze, evaluate, and adapt social media campaigns and exposure to reach desired outcomes
○ Conduct media monitoring of local news outlets to capture important news and facts relevant to, or which may impact, the program or partners
○ Support media efforts, including reaching out to media representatives and coordinating media attendance and coverage at events, etc
○ Explore opportunities to feature Iqlaa’s activities and beneficiaries through TV, radio and magazines articles and interview
● Events:
○ Lead on the organization and execution of events assigned by DOC and develop related communications materials and coverage. Have appropriate planning in place in good time ahead of every upcoming activity/event.
● Accounts Management and Review:
○ Manage accounts assigned by DOC (partners/ sub-grantees/ sub-contractors) in terms of finalizing their communications plans, applying regular updates, and closely following up on their implementation, making sure the set activities are prepared for in good time in advance, allowing for sufficient time for review and seeking approvals
○ Review accounts’ relevant content in terms of marking, messaging, and quality, and following up on the approvals process at Iqlaa
○ Ensure program compliance with USAID communications, branding and marking requirements throughout partners/ sub-grantees/ sub-contractors and Iqlaa team’s work and material.
● Reporting:
○ Contribute to the donor reports development process including collecting information from component leads, and drafting and editing high-quality reports in a timely manner
○ Preparing the communications section in the quarterly and annual donor reports
● Collaboration:
○ Ensure collaboration and coordination within the communications team and with other functions and components of Iqlaa and Mercy Corps
○ Collaborate with technical and administrative staff to finalize communications materials
○ Support communications-related work as required
○ Provide communication-related administrative support
○ Implement creative, consistent, and effective outreach activities, in collaboration with the outreach team, leveraging tools like public awareness campaigns, printed advertising, radio, website, social media and other forms of electronic communications, in addition to events and information learning platforms
● Other:
○ Assist in drafting requests for quotations/proposals and terms of reference for communication activities
○ Initiate procurement requests as relevant to assigned work, and following up on their completion
○ Update and manage contacts databases and media contacts lists
○ Maintain up to date archiving of all relevant communications material on the dedicated online drives
● Other duties as assigned by direct supervisor and/or senior leadership
● Flexibility to work across different sites in Jordan on day missions
SAFEGUARDING RESPONSIBILITIES
• Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members
• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Communications Specialist or Director of Communications
Works Directly With: Director of Communications, Communications Team Members, Deputy Chief(s) of Party, Technical Leads and other relevant staff, partners
Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.
Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills
● BSc/BA in Marketing, Communications, Business, or a related field is desired
● 4 to 6 years of proven experience in communications and social media, preferably with experience working in USAID-funded projects
● Native Arabic speaker
● Outstanding communication abilities and writing skills with proven capacity to produce highquality briefs, press releases, reports, and other communication pieces in English and Arabic for internal and external stakeholders
● Solid editing and translating skills in English and Arabic
● Experience with management of online and social media communication
● Demonstrated expertise in dissemination of information through print, web, and email
● Daily monitoring of the media and identification of news and content relevant to Iqlaa
● Events coordination experience
● Research skills