Job Opportunity for Communications Manager, Schools Program at Quest Alliance in Bengaluru

At Quest Alliance we transform learning ecosystems through education technology, capacity building, and collaboration to build 21st-century skills for learners and facilitators.

We are a not-for-profit trust that focuses on research-led innovation and advocacy in the field of teaching and learning. We engage with educators, civil society, government institutions and corporate organizations to demonstrate and enable scalable and replicable solutions in school education and vocational training.

At Quest Alliance, you will get the opportunity to apply your skills and contribute to addressing issues around quality education and skills training. The organization gives you the space to learn and grow in a fun and engaging environment.  We have an eclectic group of people working at Quest drawn from diverse disciplines including Education, Technology, Design, Youth Development, and Business. 

About the Role

The Schools program of Quest Alliance works with young boys and girls from government schools across 10 states, reaching out to 5 lakh learners. The Anandshala project works to create spaces of joyful learning for middle school students and to increase retention by building 21st century skills among learners and by creating ecosystems of support. The Secondary School project works to build critical 21st century skills among secondary school students across 9 states, and introduces them to the process of career exploration. Since technology plays such a key role in the 21st century workplace, building skills in related areas becomes imperative for today’s learners. Leveraging coding as a tool, our aim is to introduce young learners to potential careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math), thus enabling them to make informed life choices.

The Communication Manager, Schools will play a strategic role in planning and leading communication efforts across all intervention states. They will ideate and articulate the strategy that best tells the story through an impact lens, and hold together all other pieces, such as PR, social media, documentation, reporting, and others, such that each of these adds to the larger narrative. This will involve coordinating and closely collaborating with the program and the MarComms teams. 

Communication Strategy, Content and Design

• Articulate the communication strategy including any branding related work for the Schools program and operationalise it.
• As part of the strategy, design and deliver creative communication campaigns
• As part of the strategic program and organization events, strongly build in the communication work to reinforce the program narrative
• Weave the organization narrative into the program narrative to build consistency
• Be well versed with the program strategy and impact to include key elements into the communication strategy
• Anchor the PR strategy for the Schools program. Provide content and ensure media presence about the program.
• Coordinate with the program team to set-up a system of collecting compelling case stories from the field across stakeholders – students, teachers, school facilitators, partners, government officials and schools. In some cases, travel to the field to capture in-depth stories that showcase impact and change in lives
• Provide content (drafting) and editorial support for program communication materials including (but not limited to) quarterly and annual reports, funder reports, posters, flyers, invites and digital media messaging
• Support the MarCom team on PR, digital marketing and social media strategy for the organization
• Work strategically with state teams to understand state-specific advocacy and communication needs, such that PR pieces, advocacy pieces and videos speak to the larger program narrative
• Work closely with the research and data team to understand ground level insights and program impact and design communication strategies around disseminating those
• Make regular field visits to be in touch with the program experience and generate communication artifacts based on that experience 

Coordination

• Be the SPOC for all program-related communications materials and adhere to content-creation processes. Ensure written briefs are created collaboratively, completed and signed off on; coordinate with program team for base content, follow-up on timelines for deliverables, field queries and clarifications from MarCom team, ensure early-warning in case content deadlines are not being met.
• Ensure compliance with organization, program and partner brand guidelines on all program collateral.
• Establish a social media calendar for the program and ensure content flow in a timely fashion. This includes digital campaigns around key days such as International Girl Child Day, and so on.
• Supervise the work of Communications Associates in writing and editing case stories tailored to different audiences and platforms (funder reports, social media posts, partner events, website content, program brochures, presentations, etc.)
• Supervise the work of Communications Associates in building a repository of case studies, photographs, videos, quotes, and media articles for the program
• Supervise the work of the Design Associate in designing communication materials and liaise with the MarCom team for larger design and/or video projects
• Manage the communication budget and keep track of all spends

Documentation

• Liaise with colleagues on field or external vendors, and/or travel to field locations to source compelling images and videos that capture and effectively communicate the essence of the program
• Basic photography and video documentation of program events
• Ensure digital assets are systematically archived for future use

Vendor Management

• Manage external vendors for design, video, and/or other projects as suitable for program needs
• Be the SPOC for all external vendor relationships

Event Support

• Provide event support as required to the program/organization
• Lead branding for program events

Relationship Building and Management – Stakeholders (Internal &/ External)

• Work collaboratively across teams, including executive leadership, to produce the channel-appropriate content
• Coordinate with vendors, external agencies, and consultants
• Develop processes for internal collaboration
• Mentor the Communications Associates and the Design Associate, and give clear direction, and chart growth pathways for them

Team Management

• Ensure that all employees managed have clear performance objectives and development plans
• Support, mentor and coach the team as part of their professional development and help them to be highly effective in their work
• Ensure that the team works together to share learning and to exchange skills
• Serve as a role model at all times
• Coordinate training and other capacity-building initiatives for staff as required
• Provide guidance and expertise to the Coordination team as required
• Ensure People and FAIT policies and procedures are adhered to by the team
• Ensure staff welfare with support from the People team.
• Ensure that all your team members have a clear job description, performance objectives, development plans, and they receive performance reviews
• Lead the recruitment and induction of new members for your team you manage.

Requirements

Required Experience & Attributes: 

• 6-8 years of experience in communication roles, preferably in the social impact sector
• Multitasking and managing different deliverables within tight deadlines
• Coordinating across different teams, and managing conflict