Deadline: 19 August, 2022

Location: Abuja, Nigeria

ImpactHouse Centre for Development Communication is seeking to fill the position of Operations Manager.

ImpactHouse is a tech-driven nonprofit that emphasises information and persuasion, behaviour change, social mobilisation, media advocacy and community participation for solving social problems around gender equity and justice, education and human rights, media and civil society development, and civic participation and good governance.

We privilege local contexts, culture and rely on a mix of communication tools, channels and participatory approaches for uniform comprehension and acceptance of development messages. In 2011, we launched one of our pioneering approaches to journalism and media for development (M4D), under the Development Diaries brand, thus emerging as the foremost development sector news/information service agency in Africa.

Currently, we are transitioning from an exclusive development sector news service to fully operating a self-styled advocacy journalism that transparently promotes factual analysis and rigorous and compelling reporting on responses to social problems.

The Operations Manager provides technical leadership on all aspects of ImpactHouse’s work. In addition, she brings ImpactHouse’s work to life through dynamic and compelling human stories and strong writing that move varied audiences to understand our messaging then act appropriately.

She will bring fresh eyes to day-to-day operations and special projects. The Operations Manager will act as the focal person for all operational matters, providing leadership on day-to-day operations, including but not limited to finance, human resources, procurement, communications, and monitoring and evaluation. She will also provide project management, operational and administrative support for the effective delivery of projects.

The Operations Manager will help to shape ImpactHouse’s distinct brand voice yet will always be grounded in ImpactHouse’s strategy. Nimble, strategic and creative, the Operations Manager will work the storytelling spectrum, from gathering stories in the field to packaging them for a variety of strategic purposes. The Operations Manager will be a strategic, creative and versatile screenwriter who can create ideas and bring stories to life in scripts for character-driven, emotionally engaging content (such as skits) tailored to different target audiences and advocacy goals.

She is an agile writer who can do both long- and short-form pieces for target audiences with varying levels of understanding of ImpactHouse’s work in gender equity and justice, education and human rights, media and civil society development, and civic participation and good governance. She takes feedback constructively and views writing as a collaborative process. She is an experienced interviewer, researcher, editor, and writer who can take rough and often technical content and translate it into polished, professional stories.

She is diplomatic, has good judgment and good teamwork skills, is a strong collaborator and problem solver who can also work independently, make decisions quickly on her feet and work effectively in the pre-production, production and post-production phases of multimedia storytelling.

The Operations Manager works with the Managing Editor to achieve digital engagement goals across fundraising and communications, and could be called upon to travel with minimal notice.

Responsibilities

• Translate a strategy brief into powerful copy and stories that drive a desired action
• Design, manage and document integrated process delivery, optimising the use of resources in operations and on projects
• Design and implement fundraising activities that go beyond outputs and indicators to genuine outcomes and true impact
• Organise periodic progress reviews and ensure timely preparation of progress reports
• Recommend corrective measures to overcome operational constraints
• Review and monitor organisational and project budgets and prepare revisions as required, in line with ImpactHouse and donor guidelines
• Build and maintain strong partnerships with relevant stakeholders
• Maintain close contacts with donor and partner organisations, ensuring regular communication
• Participate in relevant meetings with donors, partners and other stakeholders, negotiating programmes and project activities, and prepare reports of meetings
• Provide leadership on new project and programme design, drafting concept notes and proposals
• Prepare work plans for new project and programmes
• Support the preparation of contracts for consultants, implementing partners and vendors
• Organise and facilitate training for project beneficiaries, other staff and volunteers
• Oversee the development and implementation of communication plans and tools
• Manage the content development process (stories and copy) for integrated fundraising and advocacy campaigns
• Identify opportunities to gather content from the field in support of the editorial content strategy
• Deliver packaged content and stories for advocacy tactics
• Write scripts and develop believable plots and characters
• Write both short and long-form pieces for ImpactHouse websites, emails, newsletters and social media for the purposes of elevating our profile, raising funds, and advancing our mission

Requirements

• Minimum of master’s degree or equivalent in Development Studies, Public Administration, Nonprofit Management, Business Administration, Public Policy, Marketing, Theatre Arts, English, Journalism, Communications or a related field
• Certification in Project Management will be a plus
• A track record of successful fundraising
• Two years, minimum, of professional writing experience, preferably for a nonprofit
• Diversified portfolio of writing samples
• A track record of using purposeful storytelling to drive social change and organisational impact
• Experience translating technical material into accessible compelling human stories for a general audience
• Understanding of storytelling and social-good copywriting trends across varied media types
• Knowledge of the programming cycle and programming tools (Logical Framework and Theory of Change etc.)
• Technical competence in the application of techniques and tools that collect a wide range of inputs, and to conduct information gathering, research and analysis using digital technology
• Excellent interpersonal and communications skills with sterling ability to communicate effectively in multicultural environments and to multiple audiences
• Open to only qualified female candidates

Salary range is between N1.5 million–N3 million per annum.

To apply, email both your CV and cover letter as two, separate Microsoft Word documents to john@impacthouse.org.ng. Use ‘Operations Manager’ as your email subject.

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Photo source: WOCinTech Chat