COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER

SOS Children’s Villages in Kenya is a member of the SOS Children's Villages International (CVI) Federation, a child-focused Non-Governmental Organization established in 1973 to provide care and support to children who have lost or are at risk of losing the care of their biological family.

The organization’s vision is “Every child belongs to a family and grows with love, respect, and security and its programs are driven by the mission of “building families for children in need, helping them shape their own futures and sharing in the development of their communities”. In this regard, the organization works to reduce poverty; increase access to quality education and decent work; reduce inequalities, and build strong institutions as laid out in SDGs 1, 4,8,10, and 16.

This is done through programs that are geared towards addressing the political, economic, health, and social root causes that lead to high levels of child vulnerability and put families at risk of breaking down. The programs focus on Alternative Care, Family Strengthening, Youth Empowerment, Education, Health Care and Advocacy.

SOS Children’s Villages in Kenya implements programs in five (5) of Kenya’s 47 Counties namely Nairobi, Mombasa, Uasin Gishu, Kisumu, and Meru. SOS Children’s Villages. We seek to recruit suitably qualified person to fill position of a Communications Officer to be based at the National Office in Nairobi.

COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER – 1 POSITION

Mission of the position:

The Communications Officer will lead and support the implementation of the Communications and Branding Strategy to strengthen the visibility, positioning, advocacy, fundraising, and programme impact of SOS Children’s Villages in Kenya. The role will support strategic communication for both core programmes and funded projects by developing impactful content, enhancing donor visibility, promoting organizational achievements, and ensuring consistent brand positioning across all communication platforms and stakeholder engagements.

The position holder will proactively support programme, advocacy, partnerships, and fundraising initiatives through media engagement, storytelling, digital communication, documentation of impact, and production of high-quality communication materials aligned to organizational and donor requirements.

Key performance areas and main responsibilities

1. Content Creation and Distribution

• Develop and disseminate high-quality communication materials including publications, annual reports, newsletters, donor visibility materials, brochures, banners, press releases, speeches, blogs, social media content, website articles, photographs, and videos.
• Produce compelling human-interest stories, impact stories, case studies, and success stories highlighting programme and funded project achievements.
• Support development of communication products for donor-funded projects in line with donor visibility and branding requirements.
• Coordinate timely collection and dissemination of communication materials from programme locations and facilities.

2. Project Communications and Donor Visibility

• Support communication and visibility requirements for funded projects and partnerships in compliance with donor guidelines and contractual obligations.
• Develop project communication plans, visibility materials, branding concepts, and dissemination strategies for funded interventions.
• Work closely with programme teams to ensure project achievements, milestones, lessons learnt, and beneficiary impact are well documented and communicated.
• Support donor visits, project launches, dissemination workshops, review meetings, and field missions through strategic communication and media coverage.
• Ensure all donor-funded communication products meet branding, acknowledgement, and reporting standards.

3. Social Media and Digital Communications

• Manage and maintain SOS Children’s Villages in Kenya’s social media platforms including Facebook, LinkedIn, X (Twitter), Instagram, YouTube, and website platforms.
• Proactively generate and publish engaging digital content to increase organizational visibility, audience engagement, and online presence.
• Design and implement social media growth strategies to increase followers, engagement, and reach across all platforms.
• Monitor digital communication trends and analytics to improve communication effectiveness and audience engagement.

4. Media Relations and Public Engagement

• Serve as the main point of contact for media engagement and external communication inquiries.
• Build and maintain strong professional relationships with print, broadcast, and digital media stakeholders nationally and internationally.
• Coordinate media interviews, press conferences, media briefings, and press releases to enhance organizational visibility and public image.
• Proactively facilitate positive media coverage of organizational programmes, projects, advocacy initiatives, and impact stories

5. Storytelling, Documentation and Knowledge Management

• Collect, document, and archive quality stories, photographs, videos, testimonials, and programme impact evidence from the field.
• Develop compelling storytelling content suitable for donors, partners, sponsors, and external audiences.
• Support organizational knowledge management through proper storage and organization of communication materials and media assets.
• Ensure ethical storytelling practices aligned with child safeguarding and data protection principles.

6. Strategic Communications and Brand Management

• Develop and implement internal and external communication strategies aligned to organizational goals and audience needs.
• Ensure consistent application of SOS Children’s Villages brand guidelines across all communication materials and platforms.
• Support institutional branding, reputation management, and positioning initiatives.
• Monitor communication risks and support crisis communication management where nece