CAREER OPPORTUNITY

Marie Stopes Tanzania (MST), a Non-Governmental Organization, is a social enterprise and a leading provider of family planning, sexual and reproductive health care and allied services. MST is a partner of the Government of Tanzania and a member of the Marie Stopes International (MSI) Global Partnership, which operates in over 37 countries worldwide. MST is committed to its employees, clients, children and vulnerable adults’ protection, and has zero tolerance to any sort of harassment. MST promotes a speaking up culture whereby employees work transparently and are empowered to report any existence or potential existence of harassment at workplaces.

MST’s mission is that all women and men in Tanzania will have “Children by Choice, Not Chance”.

We are looking for an active and qualified individual for the following role: Women are more encouraged to apply:

Head of Advocacy and External Communication: 1 Position- Dar es Salaam

Role Purpose:

Reporting to Country Director, the purpose of this role is to provide strategic support to the implementation of Marie Stopes Tanzania’s (MST) 2030 Strategy by leading the advocacy, external relations, and partnerships portfolio of MST in collaboration with relevant partners for the highest attainable impact of MST work in Tanzania. The Head of Advocacy and External Communication is also responsible to ensure that communication to external and internal stakeholders of MST are of highest quality. The role is a leading role in the organization and with matrix responsibilities to the executive team whilst role modelling participation, inclusion and transparency and inspire employees to assume responsibility and accountability.

Among the Key Responsibilities:

• Advocacy:
  • Develop and implement a comprehensive advocacy strategy for MST that will articulate key issues, plans and time bound expected outcomes.

• • Contribute to national dialogue on maternal morbidity and mortality reduction strategies and advocate for change in policies and practice in line with program goals. Support and work effectively in coalitions, networks, and social movements to achieve broader impact.

• Corporate Communication & Representation:
  • Proactively analyses the actors who have the potential to contribute to the achievement of the MST program goals within the broader context including government, private sector, donors and foundations, international and local civil society, academic institutions. Establish and actively sustain productive relationships with relevant actors (inside and outside the country).
  • Strengthen MST’s relationship with high level government officials and govt. departments.
  • Promote MST to position the organization as a leader in Sexual and Reproductive Health issues and a service provider of choice.
• Strategic Support:
  • Work closely with Country Director and Executive Team Members and provide strategic and operations support in developing, monitoring, and implementing annual business plan and long-term strategic plan.
  • Actively updates MST of the changing environment for operation, risks, and design mitigating measures to improve MST’s resilience to better its mission.
  • Perform any other duties as assigned by the Country Director.

Minimum Requirements:

• 8-10 years’ experience in leading partnerships/advocacy/External communications portfolio, preferably in social development, health management/reproductive health or social business.
• Good understanding of Sexual and Reproductive Health situation especially Family Planning and CPAC.
• Experience of commissioning and working with external agencies for research, advocacy and communication including designing, developing terms of reference, selecting external agencies, overseeing implementation, analysis, report writing and development of communication materials.
• Experience in managing digital and social media campaigns.
• Master’s Degree –Social Sciences / Public Health/Public Relations and Media.
• Excellent computer skills including in graphic design packages.
• Excellent writing and presentation skills in English and Kiswahili.
• Team player and willing to travel 35-40% of worktime.