Communications and Marketing Consultant at British Council

We support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide.

We work directly with individuals to help them gain the skills, confidence and connections to transform their lives and shape a better world in partnership with the UK. We support them to build networks and explore creative ideas, to learn English, to get a high-quality education and to gain internationally recognised qualifications.

Working with people in over 200 countries and territories, we are on the ground in more than 100 countries. In 2021–22 we reached 650 million people.

Job Title
Communications and Marketing Consultant, Uganda

Role Purpose
To manage the development and implementation of communications strategies to reposition the British Council brand within the Uganda market and pioneer new ways of reaching audiences, engaging young people in our work and enhancing the impact we can have.  As this is a new role, we will be looking for the consultant to bring new ideas and challenge us to break new ground. We expect the deliverables to evolve during the consultancy period but have drafted an initial outline below. The consultant will work with the Uganda Country Director, our programmes teams, communication agencies and our Regional Head of Communications (who is based in Kenya). They will work together physically and virtually, consistently reviewing progress of the work, and ensuring that we deliver our agreed objectives.
Role Context
Marketing and Communications at the British Council is a strategic function which drives awareness, understanding and engagement with us across our diverse audiences. We use insight, knowledge and analysis of our market and our customers to engage them with our work and our products and services in the most impactful and effective way. We lead the development of our brand and use our expertise to tell inspiring stories to enhance our global reputation, build lifelong relationships, engage our staff and demonstrate our impact.

Main Accountabilities 
1. Strategy and Planning
    Develop a communications strategy for Uganda, with support from Regional Head of Communications, in house teams and external agencies
    Collaborate with our British Council programme teams to integrate marketing initiatives through their programmes
    Advise and support external partners in the development and delivery of their communication plans
    Develop and oversee implementation of internal and external communication plan for the country office
    Develop, rollout and monitor digital media plan for the country office
    Planning external communications and delivery, including media management, PR, events and stakeholder communications
    Maintain forward look of British Council activities and opportunities for external engagement
    Ensure we deliver to key internal communications partners and platforms
    Managing all existing channels and platforms ensuring content is updated as required
    Initiate communications channels in support of the strategy considering best use of – WhatsApp, TikTok etc set up and maintenance of newsletters
    Manage all marketing and communications assets ensuring we meet brand standards and have an effective library and archive
    Provide ongoing reach and engagement analysis and tracking of communications plan goals
2. Consultancy, analysis & problem-solving
    Applies advanced communications expertise to provide advice to key stakeholders and develop and deliver agreed programmes of work.
    Applies analytical approaches to identify and assess current state of communications, define opportunities for improvement, develop and implement agreed projects and initiatives, ensuring consistency with regional communications strategies, plans and approaches and global strategy where appropriate.
    Develops appropriate communications initiatives and interventions to support business needs, aligned to global and regional communications strategies, plans and approaches.
    Presents complex information clearly, producing tailored presentations, which convincingly influence decision-makers about the case for cluster communications initiatives.
    Builds an in-depth understanding of the operational context, opportunities and challenges for communications.
    Makes appropriate linkages to issues across the broader organisation and region, to ensure that the development of communications projects and initiatives is based on informed business insight and joined-up thinking.
    Proactively seeks colleagues and other stakeholder feedback to monitor satisfaction with the standard of communications/media relations and PR advice and business support provided, enabling improvements to be made where issued are identified.
3. Subject/Sector expertise
    Ensures joined up planning and delivery of communications projects and initiatives.
    Ensures consistent application of agreed global communications and brand standards, templates and processes.
    Reviews impact and effectiveness of communications projects and initiatives and identifies opportunities for improvement.
    Provides expert advice, support and challenge on communications to internal customers and other stakeholders.
    Develops high quality and effective communications plans and solutions using established processes, tools and systems to ensure consistency.
    Proactively pursues an annual cycle of formally recognized Continuing Professional Development to maintain and deepen their professional expertise.
4. Commercial & financial management
    Using agreed corporate systems and processes, plans and manages the budget for certain communications projects and initiatives.
    Where required, conducts monthly and year-end reporting on progress against plan and deliverables, budget, and management of issues and risks.
5. Relationship and stakeholder management
    Ensures solid and beneficial relationships with marketing and communications professionals globally.
    Actively participates within the Marketing Community of Practice and communications networks.
    Develops peer/personal networks within and outside Marketing to enhance own knowledge and expertise.
    Proactively builds and maintains excellent relationships with both internal and external stakeholders.
6. Leadership and management
    Plans and prioritises own work activities to ensure effective delivery of diverse responsibilities and deliverables over a quarterly to annual time horizon.
    Determines work plans and coordinates input from others (who may be outside the direct management line) to meet specific objectives..

Minimum Requirements
Qualifications
Relevant degree e.g. communications, journalism, marketing, or equivalent level of experience.

Minimum/essential
    Significant experience in managing communications within a large and complex organisation or agency
    Demonstrable experience in successfully providing expert advice and guidance on internal and external communications
    Experience in managing and mitigating communications risks and issues
    Proven record of editorial experience (i.e. proofreading, translation, knowledge of different content types, etc.)
    Demonstrable creative approach to developing, implementing and evaluating communication activities
    Background in youth marketing
    Demonstrable experience working with agencies/PR, events, design, marketing and communications
    Practical experience of using social media to extend reach of an organisation including through campaigns;
    Strong track in marketing and communications monitoring and reporting
    Strong relationships with key media outlets in Uganda
    Experience commission and placing compelling shorform video
    Desirable
    Experience in a global organisation
    Project management skills
    Role specific skills

Government Communication Service Professional Competency Framework
Insight
    Develop measurable communication objectives to support the delivery of policy/business priorities
    Ensures strategies take into account the recommendations and lessons learnt from evaluations of previous campaigns
    Review communication and media plans to ensure activities reflect policy developments and the emerging news agenda
    Develop a strong understanding of different internal audiences.  Use this knowledge to ensure the tone language and format of internal communication is easily accessible to and read by a range of staff groups
Ideas
    Design integrated communication strategies and examine it with existing plans
    Initiate and lead the development of both reactive and proactive, integrated media campaigns that build on insight and tracking data.
    Develop innovative digital communication strategies; Draw on knowledge of emerging trends in digital services and social media and apply this knowledge when developing content and channels.
    Draw on audience insight to develop innovative internal communication strategies, selecting the most appropriate channel mix and ensuring content is both topical and timely.
Implementation
    Demonstrate strong written communication skills.  Provide advice and guidance to colleagues on writing clearly for target audiences
    Demonstrate strong editing skills to ensure quality and timely press releases, rebuttals and lines to take in response to developing stories
    Provide support and clarification to managers to ensure they are confident in delivering key messages and to strengthen the internal communication cascade
Impact
    Analyse evidence to assess effectiveness of communication and identify lessons learned
    Analyse media monitoring results to assess the effectiveness of media strategies and inform future proactive and reactive media campaigns
    Assess the effectiveness of digital communications.  Use the results of user feedback, tests/pilots and effectiveness indicators to improve digital communication and the user experience
    Assess the effectiveness of internal communication at Country level and act on staff feedback to ensure that communication is timely, relevant and meets the needs of the business and internal country audiences.

Further Information
    Consultancy Duration – 270 Days/9 Months/
    Location – Kampala, Uganda
    Renumeration: Grade 7 / F
    Language requirements: English
    Requirements – All applicants should have a pre-existing legal status to live and work in Uganda.  The British Council will not facilitate/sponsor visa applications and work permit.
    Closing Date – 20 December 2023, Applications will close 23:59 East African Time

A connected and trusted UK in a more connected and trusted world.

Equality , Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Statement

The British Council is committed to policies and practices of equality, diversity and inclusion across everything we do. We support all staff to make sure their behaviour is consistent with this commitment.  We want to address under representation and encourage applicants from under-represented groups, in particular, but not exclusively, on grounds of ethnicity and disability.  All disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria are guaranteed an interview and we have Disability Confident Employer Status. We welcome discussions about specific requirements or adjustments to enable participation and engagement in our work and activities.

The British Council is committed to safeguarding children, young people and adults who we work with.

We believe that all children and adults everywhere in the world deserve to live in safe environments and have the right to be protected from all forms of abuse, maltreatment and exploitation as set out in article 19, UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) 1989.

Appointment to positions where there is direct involvement with vulnerable groups will be dependent on thorough checks being completed; these will include qualification checks, reference checks, identity & criminal record checks in line with legal requirements and with the British Council’s Safeguarding policies for Adults and Children.

If you have any problems with your application please email askhr@britishcouncil.org

Please note: Applications to this role can only be considered when made through the Apply section of our careers website. Our ‘ASK HR’ email is only to be used in case of a technical issue encountered when applying through the careers website. Emails with supporting statements and CV/Resumes sent to this email address will not be reviewed and will be deleted.