• The ideal candidate should be happy to contribute in a supportive capacity to the team and will have an interest in building diverse institutional knowledge across the organization through varied projects.
• A successful candidate should be a reliable self-starter with meticulous attention to detail and exceptional verbal and written communication skills, including some professional experience preparing content for internal and external audiences. However, the role is open to individuals with diverse experience and a variety of backgrounds.
• The External Relations Associate will work closely with Educate!’s fundraising and communications teams, as well as program teams, to manage internal systems, develop high-quality content, and contribute to the ongoing management of stakeholder relationships.

While both roles have a dimension of communications and fundraising, the two roles will vary in the amount of time allocated towards each function.
The new External Relations Associates will join a motivated and passionate international team that is generating resources that will enable Educate! to positively impact young people across East Africa.

Performance Objectives

• Fundraising

Within this role, you’ll work with Educate!’s fundraising and development team to ensure the organization meets and exceeds our obligations to current donors by keeping stakeholders informed on Educate!’s progress. Examples of potential projects include:

• Write and project manage grant reports and proposals, working closely with Educate! teams across countries to gather information needed for reporting and donor materials.
• Conduct field follow-ups and diligence requests from donors related to pending or submitted grant proposals.
• Research new funding and prospective leads and support in the documentation and ongoing project management of these relationships.
• Support the fundraising team in streamlining internal systems and processes to ensure grant reporting and compliance are effective and efficient.
• Contribute to Educate!’s fundraising and relationship-building strategy at conferences through prospect research, event preparation, and outreach support.
• Communications

You’ll work closely with our communications team to shape and execute the organization’s marketing and communications strategy, collaborating closely to produce content, manage and improve systems, and ensure consistent branding and messaging standards.

• Work with Educate!’s communications team to support messaging and branding initiatives, overseeing systems for documentation and disseminating messaging to ensure consistency across the organization.
• Manage a centralized dashboard for routine communications tasks with efficient coordination and execution.
• Ensure Educate!’s internal and external communication channels are up to date.
• Liaise with Educate!’s Communications Specialist to create compelling content, including impact stories, articles, blogs, social media posts, print publications, and email newsletters.
• Draft proposals for speaking engagements and content for external sources to drive Educate!’s key thought leadership messages.
• General Support

Educate! is growing quickly and we don’t always know everything the coming years will bring. We are looking for a team player who is happy to wear a variety of hats on Educate!’s External Relations Team, and tag in where there is a need. Some of the things we envision this role supporting include:

• Draft a wide variety of internal and external communications to support Educate!’s fundraising and communications efforts.
• Conduct donor research and/or sector research to inform Educate!’s development strategy.
• Support Educate!’s executive team’s attendance at a variety of special events.
• Troubleshoot and project manage tasks aimed at improving efficiency and coordination on Educate!’s wider External Relations Team, such as building or refining existing fundraising, communications, or compliance processes.
• Build internal expertise on specific aspects of Educate!’s work.

Qualifications

This position is well-suited for those with 2-3 years of work experience. The ideal candidate is/has:

• Strong project-management skills with exceptional attention to detail.
• Trustworthy, reliable, and responsive to changing priorities and workflows.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills; experience drafting content for both internal and external stakeholders and tailoring communications for a variety of different audiences and purposes.
• A collaborative and adaptable team player with strong EQ and interpersonal skills.
• Comfortable tackling ambiguous projects and working across teams and functions.
• Strong organization and time management skills, with experience operating alongside remote teams and teams dispersed across time zones.
• A self-starter who takes initiative, can prioritize and manage multiple assignments, and work independently to meet deadlines.

Terms

• The External Relations Associate (s) are full-time positions. A minimum two-year commitment is requested to best meet potential professional growth at Educate!.
• The roles will be based in East Africa, with preferences for Kampala, Uganda and Nairobi, Kenya.
• Willingness and availability to travel throughout East Africa to Educate! offices and regional events, as needed.