Societal Communications Head

Join to apply for the Societal Communications Head role at SmartStart South Africa.

Purpose

The new role of Societal Communications Head will lead the SmartStart network's efforts using social influence to collect people's efforts and change behaviours and mindsets:

1. To build and inspire a country-wide movement (wider than SmartStart) to establish early learning as a societal priority.
2. To leverage the power of the SmartStart brand to accelerate network growth and wider progress towards early learning for all focused on those most excluded.

The role is a member of the Hub Exco and reports to the Chief Ecosystem and Partnerships Officer. We are looking for a curious, creative, driven individual with extensive communications, behaviour change, marketing and outreach experience and a successful track record of managing teams.

Key Responsibilities

1. Guide coherent, clear, informative, engaging and influential communications to SmartStart's national network of practitioners, parents, and frontline staff.
2. Stimulate and influence multi-way communications within and across the network in service of SmartStart's purpose and strategy.
3. Drive the development of communications campaigns that move people themselves to influence and "convert" others to take action for the societal cause of quality early learning for all.
4. Lead the targeting and creation of appropriate communications that stimulate and reinforce changes in behaviour.
5. Engage role-players with overlapping and/or complementary interests, e.g., basic education, gender justice, employment and micro-(social-)enterprise and social justice.
6. Build a popular South African movement for early learning as a societal cause.
7. Collaborate with partners to create popular demand (economic & political) for and expectations of quality, affordable early learning for all.
8. Widely share the progress made towards, and benefits of, quality early learning for all.
9. Co-develop and communicate relevant popular education content on topics including care about and concern for children's interest; the benefits and importance of early learning for all; key practices for quality early learning; as well as inclusive education, gender justice, and social justice.
10. Lead internal-organisational communications across the network of SmartStart partner NGOs and within the network Hub organisation.
11. Co-develop and conduct appropriate SmartStart network and wider social research to yield insights for segmenting, differentiating, and/or targeting communications.
12. Develop appropriate approaches to monitor, investigate and understand the intended and unintended effects of communications and respond appropriately.
13. Strategically explore opportunities and partnerships across a few (southern) African countries.

Requirements

Qualifications and Experience

1. Master's degree (or equivalent) in a related discipline.
2. At least 8 years' relevant & diverse communications experience in complex organisational-systemic contexts, ideally in early childhood development, education, or public health.
3. At least 4 years in senior role(s) successfully leading functions and managing teams.
4. Successful track record of driving effective social behaviour-change communications campaigns.
5. Experience tracking & analysing the intended and unintended effects of communications and responding appropriately.

Knowledge And Skills

1. Demonstrated track record using communications, brand, and social network influence as well as other relevant dynamics and approaches to transform social norms and behaviours.
2. Clear evidence of curiosity and appetite for feedback.
3. Appetite to work in uncertainty and change, without recipes.
4. Ability to see the big picture and work effectively amid complexity.
5. Familiarity with and curiosity about societal scale, systems doing-and-thinking, design thinking & iterative designing.
6. Excellent at building quality, trusting relationships.
7. Commitment to SmartStart's purpose and social justice internationally.

Advantageous

Fluency in one or more African languages.

Child Safeguarding Policy

Applicants must adhere to the SmartStart Child Safeguarding Policy, which has been developed in accordance with the International Standards for Child Safeguarding, which provides a benchmark for organisations working with children. Under this Policy, SmartStart will not employ anyone whose name is on the National Child Protection Register or who has been convicted of a criminal offence involving a child.

Seniority level: Executive
Employment type: Full-time
Job function: Marketing
Industries: Non-profit Organizations