Communications Assistant – East Africa (Maternity Cover)

Role Overview

This is a maternity cover position sitting inside Hivos' communications function for East Africa, where the holder acts as the team's day-to-day engine for turning programme work into material the outside world can actually read, watch and share. The role is split deliberately: roughly 70% of the time goes to hands-on communications support for two flagship programmes, and the remaining 30% to corporate communications work that keeps the organisation's regional presence coherent and on-brand. The two programmes in question are EU SWITCH Kenya Green – Tujenge Pamoja, which backs Kenya's shift toward an inclusive, circular green economy by working with MSMEs led by women, youth and marginalised groups, and Rural Women Cultivating Change (RWCC), which advances rural women's rights, leadership and economic resilience through agroecology, sustainable food systems and leadership development. Because both programmes depend on visibility and credible storytelling with donors, partners and the public, this role directly affects how far their results travel.

Key Responsibilities

• Gather raw material from programme teams, partners and field visits and shape it into draft impact stories, change narratives and human-interest pieces for RWCC and Tujenge Pamoja.
• Produce and refine communications assets across formats — social copy, photo stories, programme briefs, fact sheets and presentation decks — for digital, print and multimedia use.
• Run Hivos East Africa's social channels on a daily basis: drafting and scheduling posts, responding to community interaction, and keeping website content current.
• Apply Hivos brand guidelines, tone of voice and values to every outgoing product, and make sure donor and partner visibility credits appear correctly and consistently on all materials.
• Support regional events, campaigns, international days, field visits and learning activities with both practical logistics and communications coordination.
• Track media mentions and public conversation relevant to the East Africa portfolio, maintain an up-to-date contact list of journalists, editors and outlets, and help prepare and circulate press releases, media briefs, talking points and media kits.
• Translate technical programme information into clear, accessible drafts aimed at non-specialist readers.
• Keep editorial calendars on schedule and maintain organised libraries of photographs, video, publications and other digital assets, documenting workflows clearly so the end-of-contract handover runs smoothly.

Requirements & Qualifications

• A Bachelor's degree or Diploma in Communications, Journalism, Public Relations, Marketing or a comparable field.
• One to two years of experience in communications, digital media or public relations. Internships and volunteer work in an international NGO or development setting count toward this.
• Strong writing, editing and formatting ability, including a demonstrated knack for converting rough programme updates into polished, engaging drafts.
• Practical experience managing professional social media profiles (Facebook, X/Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram) and working with content management tools.
• Basic proficiency with graphic design tools such as Canva or Photoshop, or with photo and video editing software, is highly desirable.
• Excellent organisational skills and close attention to detail, with the capacity to keep several deadlines moving at once.
• Professional fluency in written and spoken English is required; proficiency in Swahili is highly desirable.
• Genuine alignment with Hivos' values around gender equality, diversity, inclusion and human rights.

What We Offer / Why Join

This is a fixed-term maternity cover contract, which means the successful candidate steps into an established role with a defined scope and a structured handover at the close of the engagement. The position offers unusually broad exposure for its level: the holder works alongside senior colleagues across a global communications team, contributes to two multi-country programmes addressing green economy transition and rural women's leadership, and builds a portfolio spanning corporate branding, digital content, media relations and field storytelling. Because the work is split between corporate and programme communications, no two weeks look quite the same.