Organization: Semilla Nueva
Country: Guatemala
Closing date: 17 May 2017
COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR
Overview of the Organization
Malnutrition affects over a billion people worldwide, and Guatemala has the third highest rate in the world with nearly half of children suffering stunted growth. Semilla Nueva works with scientists, farmers, and the Guatemalan government to promote biofortified crops. Biofortified corn, beans and others have been bred to have higher yields, better taste, and far more nutrients. These new crops allow farmers and families to continue growing and eating what they traditionally have, while dramatically improving the nutrition of their children, and the entire food system. Semilla Nueva’s goal is to reach more than a million people with these new crops in the next five years.
Semilla Nueva works directly with farmers to test, improve and disseminate these new seeds. We achieve scaling through collaborations with farmer groups, NGOs, the government and through direct sales of commercial seeds based on innovative social marketing campaigns. We have also constructed a national collaboration to promote biofortified seeds, which has helped nearly 20 organizations throughout the country reach 5,000 families in its first year. Our newest seed, launched in 2016, has already changed the daily diets of 27,000 people, and we hope to reach 60,000 in 2017. This year marked our first year of commercial seed sales, which we hope in five years will provide over half of our revenue, allowing Semilla Nueva to become more financially sustainable.
We are hiring a communications coordinator to hone and share SN’s message and strengthen our relationships with both national and international institutions. Our goal isn't just to get publicity and financing, but to build connections and awareness about small farmers, the issues that impact their lives and effective development models. Communicating our successes, failures, and lessons learned is essential to the long-term goal of being leaders in agricultural development. In the last years we have grown tremendously as an organization and our programs are generating interest among larger organizations and across a wider audience. We need a highly skilled communicator who can create and disseminate a cohesive, focused and powerful message about Semilla Nueva. This job is an opportunity for someone who is passionate about finding creative ways to use stories, photos, social media, etc. to connect various audiences with those a world away.
We are proud to have maintained a passionate and committed team with great relationships with our partner farmers and allies. We are looking for a new team member who wants to apply their skills and experience to help our organization grow, but equally looking for a team member who shares our values and passions.
This full-time position based in Guatemala City anticipates that 75% of the time will be in the SN office. The communications coordinator will have extensive field time with farmers in our partner communities and direct contact with diverse stakeholders.
Qualifications
Required:
· Excellent writing/communications skills
· Experience with graphic design (Adobe Illustrator, Indesign, PhotoShop, etc.)
· Experience leading social media and online awareness-building campaigns
· Experience with fundraising and relationship management
· Ability to engage donors, etc. in person, digitally and by phone
· Ability to self-learn new skills
· Advanced Spanish, fluent English
· Ability to drive a manual transmission vehicle
Desired:
· Website design experience
· Photography experience
· Videography and editing experience
Expectations
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Minimum commitment one year, preferably two
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Ability to work independently, proactively, and prioritize/coordinate a variety of activities
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Ability to work effectively in a multicultural team
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Good public relations and communications skills
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Comfortable working in a fast-paced, constantly evolving work environment
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Must be comfortable driving in Guatemala and have a valid Driver’s License from home country
Specific Tasks
1. Developing Communications Strategy – This position will work jointly with the director of development to hone the message of Semilla Nueva and deliver it through a number of avenues such as Facebook, Twitter, videos, reports, and more. This will require significant expertise in gathering “voices” from several different facets of the organization (farmers, field staff, donors, partnering institutions), funneling those voices through the SN message, and delivering them in impactful ways that engage the interest of existing and new supporters in our network.
2. Build a database of materials from the field: This position will require constant contact between the field and the office to ensure that we have the appropriate materials for telling the Semilla Nueva story. This may involve directly visiting our field programs to capture photos and video, but also involves coordinating with the field team to ensure receiving these materials and updates in a constant matter.
3. Graphic Design – This position will be the go-to person for development of all graphic design material. This may include annual/quarterly reports, board reports, logo and letterhead design, field materials, invitations, etc. This will require skills and a passion for designing captivating material with our brand.
4. Donor Relations –This position will work in various activities to maintain existing donors and engage new supporters. This may include thank you letters tailored to specific donors, assisting in calling/mailing campaigns when necessary, etc. This will also include leading donor trips in Guatemala, serving as a guide to visitors, answering questions about our programs, translating, etc. This will require significant interpersonal and relational skills.
5. Relationship Building –This will be a key part of the position. Much of our work at SN depends on building relationships at multiple levels and over the past few years we’ve concretized partnerships with branches of the Guatemalan government and a range of international research institutions. The Outreach Coordinator will play an important role in cultivating and expanding these relationships, which may include in-country activities with partnering organizations or potential funding institutions, calling/sending updates to donors on a monthly basis, posting program updates on partnering Rotary institutions’ FB wall, and much more.
6. Board of Directors Development: This position works closely with the board of directors (and potential board members), linking them with Guatemala through regular updates and provision of promotional materials, as well as occasional on-the-ground work in Idaho to run fundraising events or lead in-country visits to our field programs. Building these relationships is a cornerstone to building our donor base as well.
Before applying, please review our website: www.semillanueva.org, including blogs and annual reports.
To apply please send your cover letter and CV to trabajo@semillanueva.org. Please note “Communications Coordinator” in the subject line of your email.
How to apply:
Before applying, please review our website: www.semillanueva.org, including blogs and annual reports.
To apply please send your cover letter and CV to trabajo@semillanueva.org. Please note “Communications Coordinator” in the subject line of your email.