Key Responsibilities
Working hand-in-hand with program leaders and scientists, you will help shape how ILRI’s research is understood and use around the world. Your mission will be to turn cutting-edge livestock science into compelling stories, insights, and products that influence policy, inspire donors, and engage global audiences.
Promotion and visibility of the program
- Develop program marketing and communication materials to effectively communicate the work of the two programs including brochures, website, powerpoint, social media messages, etc
- In consultation with the program lead, develop the strategic selling points of the program and a message map to guide all communications
- Maintain an outreach list of donors, partners and target audiences to ensure targeted dissemination of products
- Maintain and update the web pages of the programs, ensuring they reflect current priorities, projects, activities, teams and relevant international/themed days
- Monitor and evaluate communication activities and impact
Communications and writing
- Manage and regularly update a pipeline of thought leadership pieces, feature stories, outcome stories emanating from the research programs
- Track solutions from the research programs to put into the institute’s solutions platform
- Develop engaging research highlight stories and other related knowledge products based on key publications, showcasing findings and their impact
- Ensure that ILRI’s editorial style and messaging are consistently applied across knowledge products
- Support scientists in laying out their research products using institute’s existing knowledge product templates, or through liaising with the publishing team
Promotion and visibility of the program
- Develop program marketing and communication materials to effectively communicate the work of the two programs including brochures, website, powerpoint, social media messages, etc
- In consultation with the program lead, develop the strategic selling points of the program and a message map to guide all communications
- Maintain an outreach list of donors, partners and target audiences to ensure targeted dissemination of products
- Maintain and update the web pages of the programs, ensuring they reflect current priorities, projects, activities, teams and relevant international/themed days
- Monitor and evaluate communication activities and impact
Communications and writing
- Manage and regularly update a pipeline of thought leadership pieces, feature stories, outcome stories emanating from the research programs
- Track solutions from the research programs to put into the institute’s solutions platform
- Develop engaging research highlight stories and other related knowledge products based on key publications, showcasing findings and their impact
- Ensure that ILRI’s editorial style and messaging are consistently applied across knowledge products
- Support scientists in laying out their research products using institute’s existing knowledge product templates, or through liaising with the publishing team
- Liaise with the publishing team to facilitate the publishing process, ensuring that research outputs submitted for editing and layout have been reviewed and vetted internally
- Coordinate with the communications team to ensure effective dissemination of research publications through ILRI’s channels, optimizing visibility and reach
- Identify and coordinate the production of communication materials (e.g. infographics, videos) to enhance the accessibility and visibility of research outputs
- Curate and manage photos from researchers, ensuring quality control, proper captioning and attribution, and uploading them to ILRI’s Flickr account
- Work with researchers to produce project highlights for posting on ILRI.org.
Outreach and engagement
- Manage program presence across web and social media platforms, ensuring consistent branding and messaging
- Organize and support webinars, workshops, conferences, and media events to enhance stakeholder engagement
- Foster partnerships with communication counterparts in CGIAR and external organizations to amplify outreach
Knowledge management
- Work with program staff and CAKM to ensure timely curation of research outputs within ILRI’s institutional repository (CGSpace)
- Proactively engage with researchers to monitor the progress of publications, providing support to push outputs to completion and prevent year-end backlogs
- Liaise with the publishing team to facilitate the publishing process, ensuring that research outputs submitted for editing and layout have been reviewed and vetted internally
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in communications, journalism or relevant field
- Seven years’ experience
- Progressive experience in science communication, journalism, knowledge management, or outreach within international research or development organizations
- Demonstrated experience translating technical or scientific research into clear, engaging content for diverse audiences, including policymakers, donors, and the public
- Experiencing in storytelling and developing content that is audience driven
- Experience in monitoring results and adapting content
- Proven track record in developing communication products such as articles, policy briefs, press releases, multimedia stories, and web or social media content
- Strong writing skills and project communication experience
- Experience working with multidisciplinary teams and collaborating across institutions or projects
- Experience working on research, agriculture, environment, or development issues, with an ability to grasp new topics quickly
- Excellent writing and editing skills, with the ability to communicate complex scientific ideas in clear, accessible, and engaging language
- A positive can-do attitude and ability to work in a complex environment
- Strong interpersonal and intercultural communication abilities, with experience working in diverse, multicultural teams
- Strategic and creative thinking, with the ability to plan, execute, and evaluate effective communication and outreach strategies
- Digital communication proficiency, including content management systems, social media platforms, and basic graphic or multimedia tools
- Results-oriented and proactive, with strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines
- Attention to detail and commitment to scientific accuracy and credibility
- Collaborative mindset, demonstrating initiative, adaptability, and openness to learning in a dynamic research environment
- Ability to manage multiple demands from researchers and program leads and work under pressure/tight deadlines
