Communications Manager - WEECAP - Côte d’Ivoire/Senegal/ Guinea Bissau

POSITION TITLE: Communications Manager LOCATION: Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, or Guinea Bissau GROUP: Agriculture, Resilience and Water REPORTS TO: Chief of Party Winrock International works with people around the world to increase economic opportunity, sustain natural resources, and protect the environment. Winrock is seeking a Communications Manager for a multi-country program that will facilitate the growth of a competitive market system for raw cashew processing that optimizes revenues across all segments of the processing chain and fosters equitable and sustainable employment opportunities for young women and men. Working with processors and empowered service-driven producer organizations and networks, the program will facilitate investment in production, processing, market access and supporting services needed for the sector to capitalize on the market push created by favorable global market trends and improvements to local systems over the last 15 years. Focus countries are Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, and Guinea Bissau. Purpose of the RoleThe Communications Manager will oversee and manage the communication strategy for the WEECAP project across the three focus countries (Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, and Côte d'Ivoire). The role will ensure alignment, consistency, and coherence in messaging across all countries while coordinating communication efforts with stakeholders and partners. The Communications Manager will also ensure that all communication strategies are tailored to the needs of target audiences and aligned with the Mastercard Foundation's brand guidelines. Key Responsibilities Communications Strategy Development and Coordination: Develop and implement a unified communication strategy that aligns with the goals of the WEECAP project and the Mastercard Foundation’s broader Young Africa Works Strategy. Ensure that messaging is consistent across all three focus countries (Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, and Côte d'Ivoire), and that local nuances are considered without compromising the integrity of the core message. Work closely with the project teams in each country to ensure communication efforts are harmonized, and all regions are represented fairly in global and regional communications. Lead content development and copy editing of critical communication pieces including success stories, newsletters, report narratives, press releases, and social media. Cross-Country Communication Coordination: Act as the central point of contact for all communications across the three focus countries, ensuring that key messages, updates, and reports are consistent and aligned across regions. Develop country-specific communication plans within the broader WEECAP strategy, ensuring that local needs and priorities are incorporated while maintaining a unified message. Foster collaboration between the project teams in each of the three countries, sharing resources, insights, and successful communication approaches to ensure best practices are applied across all regions. Stakeholder Engagement: Ensure consistent and clear messaging to all project stakeholders, including government entities, local communities, development partners, and financial institutions. Coordinate stakeholder communication efforts to ensure effective dissemination of the project’s achievements, challenges, and learnings. Coordinate with the communications departments of major stakeholders, including media, government bodies, development partners, and local organizations, ensuring messaging is aligned with their communication strategies. Facilitate information sharing across the countries and relevant partners to strengthen relationships and ensure transparency. Event Management and Workshop Facilitation: Organize and facilitate at least 2 major public events or media campaigns per year, including cross-country workshops, webinars, and forums with stakeholders, to showcase the WEECAP’s achievements and lessons learned. Coordinate cross-country workshops to bring together stakeholders from all three focus countries to exchange knowledge, discuss challenges, and identify collaborative solutions. Ensure that all events and workshops are strategically aligned, promoting consistent messaging and a unified voice across the three countries. Internal Communications and Staff Capacity Building: Provide capacity-building support to program staff across the three countries in storytelling approaches and best practices for internal and external communication. Develop training resources and conduct workshops to improve storytelling skills, enabling program staff to share impactful narratives from each country. Foster a culture of shared learning among program staff in the three countries to ensure a consistent approach to communication, leveraging lessons learned across borders. Monitoring and Reporting: Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of communication strategies and activities across the three countries, ensuring consistency in impact and messaging. Provide monthly and quarterly reports detailing communication outcomes, stakeholder engagement, and media coverage for each country, highlighting successes and areas for improvement. Contribute to the project’s monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) system by providing insights into the communication efforts and their influence on stakeholder engagement. Crisis Management and Issue Resolution: Identify potential communication risks across the three focus countries and address them proactively to maintain consistency and positive messaging. Manage any communication crises that arise, ensuring all responses are aligned and coordinated across the three countries. Deliverables A unified communication strategy that is customized for each of the three focus countries while maintaining a consistent core message. Tailored communication plans for each country, developed in alignment with the overall WEECAP strategy. Monthly and quarterly communication reports that summarize media coverage, stakeholder engagement, and communication outcomes across all three countries. Event and workshop reports, including stakeholder feedback and lessons learned from cross-country activities. A comprehensive final communications report at the end of the project, summarizing achievements, lessons learned, and recommendations for future initiatives. Required Qualifications and Experience Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, or a related field. At least 5 years of experience in managing communications across multiple regions or countries, particularly in development projects. Experience in coordinating communication strategies and activities in diverse cultural and geographical contexts. Familiarity with the Mastercard Foundation’s communications framework and ability to align project messaging with their global strategy. Strong understanding of the cashew industry and experience working with agricultural value chains in West Africa. Proven ability to manage cross-country teams and coordinate communication efforts across multiple stakeholders and regions. Expertise in storytelling techniques and experience building storytelling capacity within teams. Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills. Proficiency in digital communication tools, social media platforms, and content creation. Fluency in English & French required, working knowledge of Portuguese is a plus Reporting LineThe Communications Manager will report directly to the Chief of Party and will work closely with the communications teams from each of the three focus countries to ensure strategic alignment. Location The role will be based in one of the project’s focus countries (Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, or Côte d'Ivoire), with regular travel across the three countries required for events, stakeholder meetings, and coordination activities. Winrock is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing equal treatment for all people. All qualified applicants receive consideration for employment regardless of race, color, religion, sex, gender, national origin, age, disability or any other basis protected by law. At Winrock we have a clear mission: Empower the disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity and sustain natural resources through unwavering dedication to accountability, equity, innovation, integrity and transformation