Project Communications Officer

Job Description

About the Project:

Pakistan Agricultural Technology Transfer Activity (PATTA) is a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded project designed to increase smallholder farmers’ access to markets, alongside their overall development impact and cost-effectiveness. Smallholders farmers in Pakistan use outdated and less effective technologies, leading to stagnant or dwindling productivity and returns, particularly in the horticulture and livestock sub-sectors. Because improved technologies that are affordable, impactful, and safe have not yet penetrated the vast smallholder market. PATTA will combat these challenges by galvanizing ongoing private-sector investment to commercialize the types of agricultural technologies that enable smallholders to increase their incomes, improve farm productivity, create jobs, and enhance economic growth and stability. These technologies include seeds, fertilizers, water pumps, improved plant and animal breeds, precision agriculture, and integrated soil fertility management, amongst others.

Position Description:

The Project Communications Officer will be responsible for raising awareness about project-related topics among the government and Pakistani public at large. S/he will be responsible for engaging counterpart organizations and also work with the affiliated Ministries to implement PATTA project activities and record their outcomes. An important role of the Project Communications Officer is to produce press releases. The Project Communications Officer will report to the Chief of Party in conjunction with CNFA HQ. Specific duties include:

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

The main duties of the Project Communications Officer are:

• Oversee the project Communications strategy and activities related to project outreach;
• As directed by the COP, provide quality control on all reports, marketing materials, and other documents generated from the project office with particular emphasis on those for submission to USAID;
• Collect content for weekly, monthly and quarterly status reports;
• Drafts weekly status reports for submission to the client;
• Attend meetings with client and project partners on an ad hoc basis regarding communications, outreach, PR, and media related issues, program deliverables and reports, and USAID branding and marking guidelines;
• Assist with planning, logistics and attends project events as requested by the COP, provide technical editing and formatting assistance with program deliverables and reports;
• Manage consultant labor with regards to desktop publishing, graphic design, and technical writing/editing;
• Work closely with COP on tracking reports and deliverables as related to the monitoring and evaluation and program management plan;
• Assist technical staff with public outreach/awareness campaigns;
• Work with project partner organizations to assist them in developing and implementing communications strategies;
• Work with project partner organizations to assist them in engaging in public education/public relations campaigns to raise the public awareness;
• Daily monitoring of Urdu and English language Pakistani newspaper articles and other periodicals for material substantively affecting the work of the Project;
• Organize and coordinate with local vendors to host award ceremonies, gatherings and public events;
• Show a willingness to perform other duties as assigned by the Chief of Party.

Qualifications/Requirements:

• At least five years of relevant, professional experience in roles with increasing levels of responsibility required, seven+ years preferred;
• Pakistani national;
• Bachelor’s Degree in journalism, communications, publishing or similar area required; Master’s Degree preferred;
• Strong communication skills;
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite, Adobe applications;
• Working knowledge of USAID policies, rules and regulations preferred;
• Previous project work experience in Pakistan;
• Team player, with excellent organizational, training design and delivery, time management, and communication skills in English, both written and oral. Excellent Urdu, with regional language capability desirable.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against individuals on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or protected veteran status. CNFA takes affirmative action in support of its policy to advance in employment individuals who are minorities, women, protected veterans, and individuals with disabilities.

Only those candidates selected for further consideration will be contacted.

About the Organization

About CNFA:

CNFA is a not-for-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., dedicated to stimulating economic growth in the agricultural sector by nurturing entrepreneurship, private enterprise and market linkages. CNFA specializes in fostering private sector investments in training, new technologies and marketing as a means to increase the overall competitiveness of agricultural value chains, to expand exports, and to develop skills in the rural workforce. CNFA assists smallholders in increasing household-level food security and nutrition through improved agricultural practices, introduction of new varieties, diversification of crop production, food preservation and storage, development of farmer-based organizations (FBOs) and strengthened linkages to markets.