Job For Communications - Media Officer at Search for Common Ground, 28th January, 2019

Search for Common Ground (Search) is an international non-profit organization that promotes the peaceful resolution of conflict. With headquarters in Washington, DC and Brussels, Belgium, Search’s mission is to transform how individuals, organizations, and governments deal with conflict - away from destructive approaches towards cooperative solutions. With more than 600 staff worldwide, Search implements projects in more than 30 countries across the globe. We are recruiting to fill the position below:     Job Title: Communications - Media Officer Location: Plateau Position Summary

• Search for Common Ground seeks a professional, motivated, and creative Media Officer who will be responsible for the coordination and implementation of all media activities under the supervision of the Media Manager and in close coordination with the Project team.
• Specifically, the Media Officer will support the implementation of all the media activities; help in conducting a media campaign to raise public awareness and knowledge around the Farmers/Herders conflict and promoting religious freedom as they relate to the local context of the target States.
• S/He will support all media activities that is focused on increasing public awareness of these issues across the target States and contribute to changing attitudes and challenging stereotypes.
• The Media Officer will provide the necessary support in overseeing all the radio production and liaising with the partner FM radio stations for broadcasting. The position will be based in Jos and will include frequent travel to the field.

• The overall objective of the Farmers/Herders project ‘Transforming the Farmer-Herder Conflicts and Promoting Freedom of Religions and Belief in Nigeria’s Middle Belt’ is to contribute to preventing violence and the destruction of lives and properties resulting from protracted violent conflicts between farmers and herders while combating impunity and promoting the freedom of religions and belief in the Middle Belt region of Nigeria.

• Objective 1: To increase collaboration between farmer and herder communities to develop joint, effective, sustainable local mechanisms for early warning response, dispute management, and violence prevention and mitigation at the community levels.
• Objective 2: To strengthen implementation of rule of laws and accountability measures by the government of focal states and relevant federal government institutions to respond to and prevent violence resulting from farmer-herder conflicts at the state levels.
• Objective 3: To enhance public understanding of the farmer-herder conflicts by promoting conflict sensitive contents and, countering hate speech, stereotypes, biases and negative narratives that fuel violence.

• Capture photos and success stories in all Search meetings, trainings and events
• Assist in editing and proofreading documents, materials
• Contribute to visibility efforts, i.e. assist in planning of media visits
• Report all media-related activities and feed into donor reports;
• Support with development of weekly context update
• Identify lessons learned, constraints, and project impacts based on determined theme and/or sector for inclusion in Quarterly Reports.
• Maintain project files, electronic files, project Library and other resources
• Assist in mobilizing media for events where necessary
• As job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, the position holder may be required to undertake other duties that are broadly in line with the above key duties.
• Support and assist the Media Manager to develop and implement an effective communication strategy
• Support the Media Manager in overseeing all the radio and television production and liaising with the partner FM radio and television stations for broadcasting.
• Work with local TV and radio stations to determine contracts for the broadcasting and production of the discussion programs, UN Women films, and promotional jingles
• Listen and report all aired episodes of radio program and provide constructive feedback to partner journalists
• Track organization’s news coverage through online and traditional sources
• Provide support in writing, formatting and editing communications/media/outreach materials
• Coordinate with the program teams to integrate program messages into media programming streams
• Coordinate activities of media staff;
• Develop relations with media actors
• Manage social media profiles relating to the project, including publishing and distributing content, running campaigns and monitoring progress

• Bachelor's degree in Peace Building, Conflict, Security Studies, Political or Social Science, International Studies, Public Administration, Development Studies and experience in a related area.

• At least 3 years of experience in coordinating media projects, programs and media teams; including television production;
• Demonstrated experience in supporting the production of television programs, feature films and/or documentaries;

• Commitment to SFCG’s aims and a clear understanding of the links between policy, lobbying, campaigning and media work and of how policy change can be achieved through effective advocacy;
• Organisational skills and attention to detail;
• Ability to manage competing priorities in a rapidly changing environment;
• Demonstrate capacity to adapt to a multi-cultural context, and tolerance and respect to issues related to gender, religion, race and nationality;
• Understand opportunities in key Nigeria media markets and thorough understanding of requirements of different kinds of media i.e. print, TV, radio, and online;
• Knowledge of civil society organisations, government agencies, private sector companies and international development agencies, with experience of working in partnership within some of these sectors;
• Written and verbal communications skills
• Experience of partnership building, with experience of influencing stakeholders and establishing and maintaining strong partnerships;
• Ability to work effectively in a team environment and strong interpersonal skills;

• Good knowledge of the local languages will be an asset.
• Resident in Jos, Plateau.

• Interested candidates will send the following items to our employment portal:
  • Current Resume
  • Cover Letter (which includes expectations of compensation and projected start date)
• The system only has the functionality to upload two documents per application. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
• Only applicants invited for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls please.