Director of Brand and Storytelling

Role Overview

This role leads how our organization is seen, heard, and remembered across multiple countries in East and Central Africa. You will shape the narrative strategy that places entrepreneurs affected by displacement at the center of a credible, modern, and human brand—moving beyond traditional aid messaging to build genuine influence with donors, media, governments, and the communities we serve. Day to day, you focus on strategic direction, team leadership, and stakeholder alignment rather than hands-on production, ensuring every market and function tells one coherent, impactful story.

Key Responsibilities

• Set and refine the organization’s brand positioning, messaging framework, and long-term narrative priorities, ensuring they stay grounded in real client outcomes and field evidence.
• Develop annual communications and thought leadership strategies that connect quarterly priorities to broader organizational goals, then guide country teams to execute them with local relevance.
• Lead a team of communications managers across brand, digital, campaigns, and regional communications—building their capacity, clarifying decision-making, and maintaining high editorial standards.
• Shape media relations strategy across national and regional outlets, preparing CEOs, country leads, and other spokespeople for interviews, panels, and high-stakes public events.
• Provide strategic counsel to senior leadership on messaging, reputation risks, crisis communications, and external positioning—helping translate complex organizational priorities into clear public narratives.
• Oversee internal communications to keep staff across different markets informed, aligned, and connected to organizational culture, values, and impact.
• Drive collaboration with fundraising, advocacy, and program teams so that communications work actively supports donor engagement, policy influence, and resource mobilization.
• Build and maintain efficient review, planning, and approval systems that enable creative, high-quality output without creating bottlenecks or unnecessary friction.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Master’s degree in communications, journalism, international affairs, or a related discipline.
• At least 10 years of professional experience in communications, brand strategy, storytelling, media relations, or related fields.
• Proven ability to craft fresh, culturally grounded, and unconventional storytelling approaches that change how audiences perceive entrepreneurship in displacement-affected communities.
• Strong strategic thinking skills, with demonstrated experience translating organizational priorities into clear, actionable communications direction.
• Experience leading and developing high-performing, multi-disciplinary teams, including coaching managers and fostering accountability.
• Deep understanding of reputational management, thought leadership, and external visibility strategies, including media engagement, spokesperson preparation, and reactive messaging.
• Track record of working across multiple countries or markets, ideally in African or emerging-market contexts.
• Ability to simplify complex ideas into clear, compelling, audience-relevant narratives for diverse stakeholders.
• Familiarity with ethical storytelling principles, informed consent, safeguarding, and the responsible representation of clients and communities.
• Experience defining communications KPIs and using data and performance insights to refine strategy and execution.
• Comfort managing communications budgets, external vendors, agencies, consultants, and cross-market teams.
• Demonstrated ability to build trust and influence with senior leaders, country teams, donors, partners, and external stakeholders in fast-moving, mission-driven environments.

What We Offer / Why Join

This is a senior leadership opportunity inside a growing, mission-driven social enterprise working across Rwanda, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Chad. You will lead meaningful work that directly contributes to sustainable livelihoods and job creation for displaced entrepreneurs, while collaborating with diverse colleagues across the region. The organization offers a competitive salary, performance-based bonus potential, health insurance for you and your family, staff savings and provident fund options, negotiated bank rates for long-term employees, and generous annual, parental, and sabbatical leave. You will also join an entrepreneurial, inclusive team environment that values innovation, equity, and continuous learning.