Switzerland: Community Engagement & Accountability (CEA) Digital Adviser

Background

The use of social media, messaging apps and other digital platforms by humanitarian organizations to engage, communicate with, and be accountable to affected people remains a key priority and opportunity for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

In September 2017, the ICRC, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) launched this brief guide on the topic.

Purpose of the post

Many delegations in the ICRC currently use social media, messaging apps and other digital platforms to engage with and be accountable to crisis affected people. How can the use of Facebook, Twitter, Telegram and WhatsApp improve the quality and effectiveness of ICRC’s operations, and do so in a manner that is safe for affected people?

To help us address these - and many other - questions, we are looking for a creative, passionate and visionary social media expert, with a strong problem-solving mindset, and a solid understanding of online engagement, customer service and content marketing.

The main objective of CEA Digital Advisor is to strengthen the capacity of delegations’ communication teams as they design, roll out and evaluate initiatives using social media, messaging apps and other digital platforms, all in the interest of affected populations.

S/he should seek to cultivate a culture of monitoring, reflection, and reporting on performance on social media platforms in order to advance the digital community engagement work of the ICRC. Ideally, s/he will have experience with humanitarian organisations, preferably in armed conflict situations.

Working closely in Geneva with the Digital Communication unit, the Accountability to Affected People (AAP) unit, the Trends Reputation Analysis and Knowledge (TRAK) unit, the Data Protection Office, the ICT department, and the ICRC’s global digital network, the CEA Digital Advisor will join the Community Engagement team - under the Policy & Support Unit - within the Public Communication Division (CIM_COM).

This role will provide practical and tactical guidance, and produce case studies for the network of communications and operational staff in delegations around the world. In close collaboration with, and in support of Protection and Assistance teams, s/he will assist delegations’ communication departments in their more systematic, structured and data-driven engagement with affected people throughout all four phases of the management cycle, ensuring that they are at the center of the ICRC’s operations.

With regular, short missions to different delegations, the CEA Digital Advisor will work on the following strategic areas. Activities may include, but are not limited to, the following:

Technical support and capacity development for delegations

• Provide strategic and operational direction to communication teams in delegations as they develop and document their digital transformation, all in order to support operations to deliver more quality and accountable programming with and for affected people.
• Produce how-to guides on key issues, new tools, guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), as per demands from delegations. This work includes engaging with tech companies, academic institutions and think tanks.
• Using a pilot approach, test and implement new community engagement projects with an agile, flexible, learning-oriented mindset.
• Support delegations to improve the design of their digital engagement strategies, in order to support operational objectives to improve quality and accountable programming. This includes, but is not limited, the following elements:
  • Using operational objectives, co-develop plans of action with the delegations.
  • Partner with TRAK to identify best platforms and outreach to affected populations.
  • Design growth and collaboration strategies for affected populations.
  • Partner with the Digital Communication unit on paid digital engagement and outreach campaigns and promotions as required by operational objectives.
• Track, understand and analyze relevant data from digital platforms and transform this data into actionable information for delegations.
• Assess and learn from pilot projects, sharing those lessons learned and recommendations for future improvements.
• Monitor, evaluate and report on the evolution of digital strategies within delegations, including on specific initiatives and campaigns. This includes generating reports on outcomes, effectiveness, engagement and key learnings, both for internal stakeholders and donors.

Partnerships and experimentation

• Coordinate with the Digital Communication unit to develop and enhance existing and new potential partnerships with major and upcoming social media and digital players at the global, regional and local levels.

Work with the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement and interagency collaboration

• Participate/support/set up a working group a CEA Digital Working Group with the IFRC and National Societies.

• Liaise with other parts of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement and members of the Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities (CDAC) Network, in order to promote cross-learning and gauge opportunities for collaboration, where relevant.

Documentation

• Contribute to the documentation and dissemination of good practices and short case studies, both for internal and external learning purposes, and support donor accountability.

Profile required

• Passion for all-digital, with an outstanding ability to understand practical digital communication methods already being used by affected populations.
• Expert knowledge in using messaging apps for content, outreach and engagement. Experience in using messaging apps for audience engagement will be a distinctive asset.
• Experience in designing, developing, launching, monitoring and evaluation communication and direct engagement channels, including customer service. Experience in humanitarian organisations will be a distinctive asset.
• Experience using advanced tools for social media publishing, monitoring and marketing (e.g. Hootsuite, TweetDeck, Radian6 or Buddy Media).
• Technical knowledge of, and experience with, Google Analytics, Facebook Insights and other social media analytical tools to inform strategy and work plans.
• Experience in delivering training, capacity development programmes and producing tools.
• Understanding of community engagement and AAP in the humanitarian sector.
• Highly motivated, self-starter, able to lead processes, engage and motivate others, and create ownership.
• Ability to work independently, while being part of a horizontal team, prioritizing different projects, issues and timelines in parallel, with tight deadlines. This includes being capable to work across siloed teams to promote multidisciplinary approaches.
• Excellent research and analytical skills.
• Strong inter-personal, networking and convening skills.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English; strong command of other languages such as Arabic, French or Spanish will be an asset.

• A good network within digital companies (Facebook, Google, WhatsApp, Twitter…) will be a strong asset.

• Ability and willingness to travel for short periods frequently throughout the year.

Experience required

• Minimum 10 years' work experience in communication-related field - and of which 5-7 were spent developing, managing and evaluating digital communications and social media platforms for public engagement, including producing social media content and managing accounts.
• Proven track record in managing social media accounts, including advanced knowledge and experience with direct communication.
• Proven track record of planning and executing successful social media and online campaigns.
• Experienced project manager able to work and coordinate with multiple stakeholders to develop and manage clear strategies and deliver joint results.
• Demonstrated leadership, interpersonal and networking skills with the ability to train, mentor and help colleagues grow.
• Ideally, field experience in managing digital platforms in humanitarian operations. Experience in armed conflicts and within the ICRC and/or the IFRC and/or a National Society will be distinctive assets.
• Understanding of and experience in the practice of Community Engagement and Accountability will be an asset.

Additional Information

Starting date: ASAP

Location: Geneva

Contract: open ended

Travel requirements: 10% - 15%

Application deadline: 11.01.2018

To apply, please visit: http://bit.ly/CommIsAid_