Communications Specialist

Job Description

BACKGROUND

The Centers of Excellence (COE) activity was designed by USAID and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MOHESR) to support Egypt’s economic development by establishing “partnerships for human and institutional capacity building between higher education institutions in the United States and developing countries.” The COEs will strengthen the capacity of Egyptian universities to respond to changing public and private sector needs for applied research and skilled graduates in the sectors of agriculture, water and energy. As the Government of Egypt (GOE) body responsible for funding, overseeing, regulating, and accrediting higher education efforts in Egypt and ensuring the quality of higher education nationwide, MOHESR seeks through this project to build upon ongoing USG-supported efforts to strengthen higher education access and quality in key technical fields. Specifically, USAID and MOHESR intend to create a sustainable model for market driven university education in an environment that fosters scholarship supported equitable access for women, persons with disabilities, and academically qualified, yet financially needy students.

Objective and Specific Tasks

The COE Communications Specialist will implement the COE communication and branding strategy, programs, project content, and materials to effectively market and disseminate information, and promote the Center’s activities to internal and external constituents within Egypt.

The Communications Specialist will be assigned to report to the COE Communications Director, who works for Arizona State University (ASU), on all programmatic aspects of his/her employment, including but not limited to job description, duties, qualifications, working environment, and performance. Working under the COE Communications Director specific responsibilities will include and not be limited to the following:

• Produces and edits the stories, pictures, and videos collected from all the Center’s activities and events in Egypt. Seek out and identify newsworthy events with regard to COE activities and within the energy industry in COE. Use written and visual storytelling to document information with the intent of disseminating it effectively to a Egyptian/regional audience.
• Assist in the creation of graphics for marketing collateral to ensure optimum effectiveness and impact for annual reports, brochures, newsletters, and other marketing materials.
• Ensures that all marketing collateral produced is in accordance with USAID communications standards.
• Draft and edit quarterly and annual progress reports for submission to USAID.
• Operates various graphic design equipment and software. Adobe InDesign and Adobe Photoshop skills preferred.
• Manages relationships with quality print and marketing vendors in Egypt.
• Arranges delivery of finished marketing materials/swag; participates in job estimation, vendor specification and vendor relations; oversees bid specifications for jobs assigned to outside vendors.
• Maintains departments files of completed assignments; maintains accurate logs of work in progress such as time devoted to project and materials used, as well as costs.
• Coordinate with media relations management firms in Egyptian to develop and distribute local, regional, and national media releases and pitch story ideas. Must have perspective of the best way to contact and work with these entities in an effective and strategic manner.
• Meets regularly with ASU Communications Director to discuss projects, performance, and updates.
• Coordinates communications efforts with USAID and partner Universities
• Travel frequently to partner universities.
• Attend project team meetings, in-person, or teleconference, during business and on occasion during non-business hours.
• Participates in USAID Communication Working Group in Egypt and shares information with Communications Director.
• Researches and identifies new audiences for content.
• Willing to carry out tasks outside of scope of work, when needed, to support project implementation.

About the Organization

Our mission at Arizona State University is no less than revolutionizing the model for public higher education. We call it the New American University, and we began our transformation in 2002, led by President Michael Crow. Six years later, Newsweek hailed ASU as “one of the most radical redesigns in higher learning since the modern research university took shape.” By 2016 and again in 2017 and 2018, U.S. News and World Report named ASU the most innovative university, ahead of Stanford at #2 and MIT at #3. The ASU model has relevance for developing countries seeking to meet escalated expressions of challenges that we face in the United States. In 2015, ASU established ASU International Development to support cross-university pursuit of development projects. ASU ID provides a single point of contact for donors and partners seeking to access the university’s myriad resources. Since 2015, ASU has successfully implemented projects for USAID, the State Department, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, the Inter-American Development Bank, and private sector donors including foundations such as MasterCard and Gates. Countries of work include Brazil, Barbados, Haiti, India, Pakistan, West Bank, El Salvador, Vietnam, Indonesia, Peru, Mexico, Kenya, Nepal, Jamaica, Aruba and the Pacific Islands. ASU provides strong back-office support to its partners as one of the few university research enterprises to be ISO 9001-compliant.

ASU is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status.