1. PROJECT BACKGROUND:

The USAID Water and Sanitation project will work to ensure sustainable, safe, and affordable water and sanitation services to stem the spread of cholera and other water-borne diseases. The project will support the scaling of water and sanitation services, with the goal of helping 250,000 people gain access to basic water services and 75,000 people gain access to basic sanitation services. The project will initially target five communes and will focus on four core elements across three components: 1) supporting high-impact and financially self-sustaining water supply and sanitation infrastructure projects; 2) integrating project activities within the local water and sanitation sector; 3) systems thinking for implementing and monitoring activities; and 4) learning and adapting based on evidence and local knowledge. The project will also implement an Enterprise Acceleration Fund to scale up private sector involvement in the water and sanitation sector through subcontracts and cost-sharing grants.

2. ROLE’S PURPOSE:

The purpose of the Project Communications Manager is to support all the communications and reporting functions of the USAID Water and Sanitation Project. The Project Communication Specialist will manage the communications team, the production of Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, and Annual Reports; and will work with the Chief of Party to support development of a project communications strategy, regular success stories, and work with other team members on occasional special reports as necessary. The Project Communications Specialist will at all times work closely with USAID Water and Sanitation staff to train them to produce compliant and high-quality outputs, photos, films, documents, etc.

3. OBJECTIVES AND DUTIES:

Objectives and Duties:

The duties of the Project Communications Manager will include, but not be limited to, the following tasks:
• Oversee the BCC specialist and communications officer,



• Working with Chief of Party, serve as the primary coordinator and lead the preparation, writing and editing of periodic reports and analyses as required by the contract (quarterly and annual reports, monthly newsletters ad success stories, weekly updates and any ad hoc reports as requested by the client).
• Oversee the final layout and production of all required program reports for USAID, including weekly, quarterly, and annual reports as well as monthly newsletters, weekly blurbs, and regular success stories:
o Ensure the quality and completeness of all such formal reports for USAID;
o Work closely with the (M&E) team to ensure that results/outputs from the M&E team feed effectively into the USAID Water and Sanitation Project’s communication pieces and its reporting to USAID;
o Respond to any ad hoc reporting requests from the COP or USAID;
• Create and oversee the production of promotional material such as success stories, interviews, brochures, guides, SMS promotional messages, video clips, and other communication materials, ensure appropriate translation and facilitate their distribution; develop and manage other communications tools as needed to increase awareness of the USAID Water and Sanitation project.
• In coordination with the Monitoring and Evaluation M&E Team, act as the point person for production of all communication materials related to results including:
o Oversight of report content collection/retrieval by USAID Water and Sanitation staff;
o Support to the development of extension materials, paper and electronic (MIS SMS), and radio programs, in collaboration with technical teams;
• Edit all materials for external audiences for accuracy, spelling, grammar and syntax; oversee the day to day activities of the communications staff, and ensure that the project’s communication strategy and activities are directly linked to the objectives of the overall USAID Water and Sanitation Project;
• Provide overall support to project activities, specifically in developing all communication mechanisms and forums in close collaboration with the project’s senior management team;
• Be responsible for all the planning and implementation of all Project public and inter-stakeholder program events and communication forums.
• Highlight success stories and manage the projects communications initiatives to increase awareness of the USAID Water and Sanitation Project.
• Maintain collaborative relationships with other projects, GOH and international agencies and other stakeholder organizations that are sources of information of interest to USAID Water and Sanitation Project.
• Collect, manage and disseminate technical information, field data and lessons learned from (and to) all project activities; ensuring relevant data is available for project staff.
• Advise senior leadership team, including COP, DCOP, WSS Specialist, and Cross-Cutting Technical Services Manager on ways to improve communications;
• Work closely with USAID Water and Sanitation Project staff to train them to produce compliant and high-quality documents, reports, outputs:
o Build the capacity of local staff to understand reporting requirements and format;
o Design and deliver training for USAID Water and Sanitation Project staff as needed;
• Create the branding for and oversee production of all communication products produced by the project, including grantees;
• Undertake any other relevant tasks assigned by the Chief of Party.

Required Qualifications:
• At least five years of relevant work experience in communications, including reports writing and communications;
• Demonstrated ability to produce quality reports and other communication products, incorporate feedback from senior staff, and write and edit independently;
• Commitment to building capacity of local staff, including giving constructive feedback to local staff on their written products;
• Experience working with previous USAID projects;
• Excellent oral and written English skills, proficiency in French required;
• Knowledge of USAID branding guidelines and style manuals required;
• Bachelor’s degree in communications or a related field; and
• Proficiency with MS Office, including MS Word and PowerPoint.

Preferred Qualifications
• Experience working with local staff to build their capacity to write for reports and/or success stories preferred

Reporting: Reports to the COP

CV & Cover letter

Note: The USAID Water & Sanitation Project reserves the right to close the recruitment window before the deadline if an appropriate candidate is identified.

2019-04-26