Impact Communications Specialist

The Program / Department / Summary The Economic Recovery for Conflict-Affected Populations (ER-CAP) Programme is a SIDA-funded, multi-partner initiative led by Mercy Corps in collaboration with DRC and First Consult, aimed at supporting resilient and inclusive economic recovery in conflict-affected regions of Tigray, Amhara and Afar in Ethiopia. Operating in a fragile context, the programme focuses on strengthening livelihoods, market systems, and community resilience through evidence-based, adaptive, and conflict-sensitive approaches. It integrates learning, accountability, and stakeholder engagement to drive sustainable change, ensuring that recovery pathways, systems strengthening, and resilience-building processes are well-documented and communicated. By aligning program delivery with a strong Theory of Change, ER-CAP emphasizes collaboration across partners, promotes dignified and ethical engagement with communities, and contributes to broader sector learning and influence while meeting donor visibility and reporting requirements. The Position (General Position Summary) The Impact Communications Specialist will lead to the day-to-day implementation of the ER-CAP communications strategy, ensuring that program visibility, learning, accountability, and stakeholder engagement are delivered in a coherent, high-quality, and conflict-sensitive manner. The role is responsible for transforming programme evidence, field realities, and learning into clear, compelling, and ethically grounded communications outputs that support donor reporting, stakeholder engagement, and sector influence. Working closely with programme, MRM and MEL, and field teams across the consortium, the Impact Communications Specialist will ensure that communications is fully integrated into programme delivery and adaptive learning processes. Essential Responsibilities STRATEGY, PLANNING AND COORDINATION - Create and operationalize the ER-CAP Communications Plan across all programme locations and partners - Translate communications strategy into actionable workplans and content pipelines - Coordinate communications activities across Mercy Corps, DRC, and First Consult teams - Ensure alignment between communications outputs, programme priorities, and donor requirements - Contribute to development of programme-wide impact narratives for donor and strategic reporting - Provide insights to inform adaptive management and program decision-making CONTENT DEVELOPMENT AND STORY TELLING - Lead development of high-quality communications products including human-interest stories, success stories, case studies, and learning briefs - Document recovery pathways, systems change, and resilience-building processes - Produce multimedia content (photo, video, digital assets) in collaboration with field teams and partners - Ensuring storytelling reflects dignity, agency, and conflict sensitivity LEARNING AND EVIDENCE COMMUNICATION - Work closely with MEL teams to translate evidence into accessible communications products - Support documentation of adaptive management, lessons learned, and programme innovations - Contribute to learning briefs, technical notes, and annual learning reports - Ensure learning products are relevant for both operational and external audiences - Support synthesis and communication of programme outcomes and impact-level results - Ensure alignment of communications with programme Theory of Change STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT AND VISIBILITY - Support donor visibility and reporting requirements, including SIDA communications needs - Develop content and messaging for government, donor, and sector engagement forums - Contribute to learning/evidence briefs, presentations, and external positioning materials - Support preparation of communications for events, workshops, and stakeholder dialogues DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS - Manage and support programme digital communications channels (websites, LinkedIn, etc.) - Develop digital content including posts, infographics, short videos, and evidence snapshots - Ensure consistent messaging and branding across consortium partners - Monitor digital engagement and adjust content strategy accordingly - Analyze communication performance to assess influence and uptake WORKING RELATIONSHIP The role works in close collaboration with MEL teams to ensure effective integration of evidence and learning into communications outputs. It engages regularly with field teams to identify relevant content and support meaningful community engagement. The position also coordinates with consortium partners to maintain alignment and coherence across programme communications, while working with technical teams to ensure accuracy and contextual relevance of all materials. Additionally, the role liaises with external stakeholders, including donors and government counterparts, to support visibility, reporting, and strategic engagement. KEY PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS Success in this role will be measured by the consistent production of high-quality communications outputs that clearly reflect programme impact. It includes effectively integrating learning and evidence into communications products to support informed decision-making and adaptive management. The role is expected to strengthen stakeholder engagement and enhance programme visibility, while strictly adhering to safeguarding and conflict sensitivity standards. Additionally, performance will be assessed based on meaningful contributions to program learning processes and the timely delivery of donor-facing communications in line with requirements. RISK AND QUALITY ASSURANCE - Ensure all communications comply with conflict sensitivity and Do No Harm principles - Manage informed consent processes for all human-centered storytelling - Review content for protection, privacy, and reputational risks SAFEGUARDING RESPONSIBILITIES - Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work. - Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members. - Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options. - Support safeguarding review processes for sensitive content Supervisory Responsibility None Accountability Reports Directly To: Consortium Manager Technical reporting: Country MEL Manager Works Directly With: Program team, Country GEDSI advisor, Technical Sector Advisors, and other support functions (Operations and Finance), Consortium Members Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills - Master's degree in communications, Journalism, Development Studies, or related field - At least 4-6 years of experience in communications in humanitarian or development contexts - Strong storytelling, writing, and editing skills - Experience producing multimedia content (photo/video/digital) - Understanding of conflict-sensitive and ethical communications approaches - Familiarity with donor-funded program and reporting requirements (especially Sida or similar donors) - Experience working with consortium or multi-partner program is an advantage. Success Factors The role requires strong analytical capacity to translate complex program evidence into clear, accessible communication while maintaining high ethical standards, safeguarding, and data protection. It demands the ability to operate effectively in complex, fast-paced, and politically sensitive environments, coupled with strong coordination and stakeholder management skills across diverse partners. The position also calls for creativity balanced with disciplined, structured delivery of communications outputs, alongside a solid understanding of learning-focused and evidence-based approaches to ensure communications contribute to program adaptation, accountability, and impact.