Nairobi, Kenya | Application Deadline: 5 August 2024

About the Organization

CLASP is the leading global authority on efficient appliances’ role in fighting climate change and improving people’s lives. With 25 years of expertise, CLASP collaborates with policymakers, industry leaders, and other experts to deliver clear pathways to a more sustainable world for people and the planet.

CLASP is a global nonprofit with offices in Europe, India, Indonesia, Kenya, and the United States. We have worked in over 90 countries since our inception in 1999. We are mission-driven and committed to a culture of diversity, transparency, collaboration, and impactful work. Find out more about CLASP.

The Ideal Candidate

CLASP seeks an experienced, creative communications professional to manage communications and advocacy for our Africa and Clean Energy Access portfolios from our Nairobi office.

CLASP’s Clean Energy Access team works in partnership with stakeholders across Africa and South Asia to improve markets for energy efficient, high-quality appliances, for energy-constrained communities. The Communications Manager will be responsible for designing, implementing and measuring communications for these portfolios, and will serve as the CLASP communications lead for the Efficiency for Access Coalition. Efficiency for Access is a global coalition working to promote high performing appliances that contribute to clean energy access for the world’s poorest people. CLASP co-manages the coalition with Energy Saving Trust in the UK.

The successful candidate will have expertise delivering impactful communications campaigns and innovative content for global audiences and understand how communications further CLASP’s mission and theory of change. We are seeking an agile, creative communications professional with well-honed listening and interpersonal skills, who is skilled at distilling complex information into clear messages and can adapt to evolving contexts and priorities.

The candidate will report to the Communications Director and work closely with CLASP’s Africa Regional Office and the Clean Energy Access Program.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership: Build strategic communications work plans in support of CLASP’s Clean Energy Access programmatic objectives and guide day-to-day project implementation.
• Project management: Strong project management skills and the ability to meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Digital Content Creation: Design and write high-quality, impact-focused articles, video scripts, newsletter posts, presentations, and social media posts to effectively communicate climate and sustainable development topics to diverse global audiences as part of ongoing communications across various CLASP brands (Efficiency for Access, Global LEAP Awards, VeraSol, and CLASP). Maintain website editorial calendars and ensure the timely dissemination of programmatic developments. Review content for clarity, meaning, organization, and impact; engage in feedback and iteration. Oversee the communications team’s contributions to the editorial process.
• Design Communication Campaigns: Design, develop, and implement innovative communications strategies and campaigns for various projects.
• Media Engagement: Develop and maintain relationships with the media and with media consultants; develop and implement plans to regularly pitch CLASP’s work.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Work closely with colleagues across CLASP and our partner organizations to deliver ongoing communication tasks and global communications campaigns. Interface with partner NGOs, government representatives and others. Design, craft and deliver compelling presentations to further CLASP’s work for external stakeholders. Prepare partner toolkits.
• Event Communications: Prepare and deliver CLASP communications at leading international events; plan webinars and events.
• Communicate Cutting Edge Research: Support our Clean Energy Access team in packaging and promoting reports for maximum impact, through press engagement, newsletters, website stories, and social media.
• Business Development: Contribute to the expansion and continuity of CLASP’s work through donor proposal development and reporting, in collaboration with colleagues in India, Kenya and the US.
• Lead CLASP’s Clean Energy Access Communications: Oversee a dedicated communications workstream for CLASP’s Clean Energy Access work, supervise and oversee the access work produced by an international team of communications staff. Facilitate ongoing training and professional development. Potential to supervise one or more direct reports.
• Plan and Budget: Work with research, program, and communications teams to develop communication budgets and schedules. Provide communications expertise – when / where is the right time/place to launch for maximal impact? Drive innovation.
• Oversee Subcontractors: Ensure CLASP communications subcontractors working in Africa are appropriately oriented and/or engaged; provide quality assurance to confirm the work produced is in line with the CLASP brand and objectives.
• Track Progress: Monitor and evaluate the performance of external communications products and identify opportunities for improvement.

Qualifications 

• 6+ Years’ previous communications experience in an international context. Preference for experience in more than one African or Asian country.
• Bachelor’s degree in communications, media, international relations, public relations, digital design or similar.
• Excellent written and digital communication skills, with a track record of professional experience in journalism, media production, advertising, or publishing.
• Candidates with experience in communicating on sustainable development (climate mitigation, climate adaptation, sustainable cities etc.) strongly preferred.
• Strong interpersonal skills and an orientation toward working in a collaborative environment. Ability to maintain composure, flexibility, and a sense of humor. Ability to provide productive feedback at multiple levels, internally and externally
• Demonstrated experience supervising and developing team members.
• Confident and polished verbal communication skills; ability to connect with and influence people in a diverse, international work environment.
• Languages: English fluency a must, French and/or Kiswahili is desirable.
• Proven experience working with the media and relationships with the media is strongly preferred.
• Proven ability to take complex, technical ideas and turn them into compelling stories in a variety of formats: web, print publications, briefing papers, digital media, and social media all a plus; experience writing funding proposals ideal.
• Good visual eye; must be able to reproduce and maintain CLASP’s brand and family of brand identities across all media products.
• Effective project and team coordination skills.
• Strong time management and organizational skills with ability to manage multiple tasks and projects at a time under deadline.
• Strong interpersonal skills and an orientation toward working in a collaborative environment; ability to maintain composure, flexibility, and a sense of humor under tight deadlines.
• Proficiency in Adobe Creative Cloud applications and Microsoft Office Suite.

Location

The Communications Manager will be based in CLASP’s Nairobi office. Preference for those that have official permission to work in Kenya. Travel (domestic and international) is required, approximately quarterly. Evening or weekend hours may be required.

To Apply

If you believe you meet the attributes and skills above, please fill in the enclosed application form (URL: https://forms.gle/VvMk4EtNhgyoUWx18). If you have any questions, kindly email mphilip@clasp.ngo. Only shortlisted candidates will be called for an interview.

CLASP seeks to fill this role as soon as possible; the deadline for application is 5 August 2024, and assessment will be conducted on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

CLASP is an equal-opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Our goal is to be a diverse workforce that is representative, at all job levels, of the citizens we serve. CLASP complies with all federal, state and local employment law in the countries we operate and is committed to providing equal opportunity for all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, disability, political affiliation, personal appearance, family responsibilities, matriculation, genetic information, military or protected veteran status, credit information or any other characteristic protected under federal, state or local law. Each person is evaluated based on personal skill and merit. CLASP’s policy regarding equal employment opportunity applies to all aspects of employment, including recruitment, hiring, job assignments, promotions, working conditions, scheduling, benefits, wage and salary administration, disciplinary action, termination, and social, educational and recreational programs.