Purpose of the Role

The Corporate Communications Manager owns DKT Ethiopia's corporate voice. The role sets and delivers the corporate communications and stakeholder engagement strategy, positions DKT Ethiopia as a leading social marketing organization in Ethiopia's sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and public health sectors, and safeguards the organization's reputation with government, donors, partners, the media and the public. It combines strategic judgement with hands-on editorial leadership: the manager directs the production of content, stories and campaigns that demonstrate DKT Ethiopia's impact, and ensures that every message, internal or external, is accurate, consistent and on-brand.

The role is distinct from product and brand marketing, which remains with the Marketing team. Corporate communications covers the organization, its mission and its results, and provides the corporate frame within which product campaigns sit.

Key Responsibilities

1. Corporate Communications Strategy & Brand Governance

• Develop, secure approval for and implement an annual corporate communications and visibility strategy, with a costed work plan and measurable targets.

• Act as custodian of the DKT Ethiopia corporate brand: maintain brand and messaging guidelines, key messages and organizational narrative, and ensure their consistent use across all departments, regional offices and partner-facing materials.

• Advise the Country Director and Senior Management Team on communication implications of organizational decisions, and prepare positioning, talking points and speeches for senior leadership.

2. Stakeholder Engagement & Public Affairs

• Map key external stakeholders (Ministry of Health and regional health bureaus, regulators, donors, implementing partners, professional associations, private sector) and maintain a stakeholder engagement plan and calendar.

• Lead the communications side of donor and partner relationships: visibility requirements, reporting narratives, branding compliance and joint communications.

• Position DKT Ethiopia in sector platforms and forums, identifying speaking, publishing and thought-leadership opportunities for the Country Director and technical leads.

• Represent the organization in sector communication working groups and coordinate with DKT International on global communications requests and visibility opportunities.

3. Media Relations & Reputation Management

• Build and manage relationships with national and regional media; act as first point of contact for media enquiries and coordinate interviews, press briefings and media coverage of DKT Ethiopia events.

• Draft and clear press releases, statements, op-eds and corporate messages in line with the approval protocol.

• Own the crisis and issues-management protocol: monitor public sentiment and media coverage, provide early warning to management, prepare holding statements and lead response communications under the Country Director's direction.

4. Content, Storytelling & Digital Channels

• Set the editorial calendar and direct the production of impact stories, case studies, program highlights, newsletters, annual and donor-facing reports and corporate publications.

• Manage DKT Ethiopia's corporate digital presence (website, social media, email) with clear growth and engagement targets, and ensure content is accurate, compliant with regulatory and donor requirements and appropriate to the sensitivity of SRH topics.

• Direct designers, photographers, videographers and agencies; personally produce or edit high-priority content where required, to a professional standard.

• Establish quality control so that all outward-facing material is fact-checked, brand-compliant and approved before release.

5. Internal Communications

• Design and run the internal communications framework connecting head office, regional offices and field teams: staff updates, leadership messages, intranet or e-mail channels and organizational announcements.

• Support HR & Admin and the Senior Management Team in communicating policies, changes and achievements to staff clearly and on time.

6. Events, Campaign Visibility & Reporting

• Lead the communications component of corporate events, launches, workshops and advocacy campaigns, from concept and materials to media coverage and follow-up.

• Produce post-event and campaign visibility reports, and contribute communication and visibility sections to donor and management reports.

7. Team, Agency & Budget Management

• Supervise and develop communications staff and consultants; set objectives, review performance and build capacity across the organization in storytelling, media handling and brand use.

• Procure and manage creative, media and PR agencies and vendors against clear briefs, service standards and value for money.

• Manage the corporate communications budget and report on spend against plan; track and report agreed communication KPIs to the Head of Marketing and the Senior Management Team.

Key Performance Indicators

• Corporate communications strategy and annual work plan approved and delivered on time and within budget.

• Quality, reach and tone of media coverage; volume and timeliness of corporate content published against the editorial calendar.

• Growth and engagement of corporate digital channels against agreed targets.

• Donor and partner visibility and branding requirements met without compliance findings.

• Issues and crises handled within protocol timelines, with no unapproved statements released.

• Stakeholder feedback and staff satisfaction with internal communications.

Job Requirements

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, Marketing or a related field; a Master's degree is an advantage.

• Minimum of 7 years of progressive experience in corporate communications or public relations, of which at least 2 years in a managerial or function-lead role, preferably in an NGO, social enterprise, social marketing or public health setting.

• Demonstrated experience developing and implementing communication and stakeholder engagement strategies, and managing media relations and reputation or crisis communications.

• Established network within Ethiopian media and familiarity with government, donor and partner communication practices.

• Experience supervising staff and managing agencies, vendors and communications budgets.

• Outstanding writing and editing skills in English and Amharic; additional Ethiopian languages are an advantage.

• Working knowledge of SRH, family planning or public health communications, including the sensitivities and regulatory considerations involved, is a strong advantage.

Technical Skills

• Strategic communication planning, message development and stakeholder mapping.

• Media relations, spokesperson preparation and crisis communications.

• Editorial management across print, digital and social channels; web content management and analytics.

• Working proficiency in design and production tools (Canva, Adobe Creative Suite, video editing and AI-assisted content tools) sufficient to brief, direct and quality-assure creative output.

• MS Office and social media management platforms.

Core Competencies

• Strategic thinking and sound judgement, particularly on sensitive and reputational matters.

• Stakeholder management and influence at senior levels, internally and externally.

• Leadership and people development; ability to direct creative teams and agencies.

• Excellence in written and verbal communication, storytelling and attention to detail.

• Planning, prioritization and delivery under tight deadlines.

• Integrity, discretion and collaboration across departments.

How To Apply

If you are interested, please send your application that comprises of a non-returnable CV and a cover letter with “Corporate Communications Manager” written on the subject line to the following email address: recruitment@dktethiopia.org.

Please note due to the volume of applications we receive, we will contact only shortlisted candidates.

Job Requirements The successful candidate should possess a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, Marketing, or a related field, with a Master’s Degree considered an added advantage. The candidate should have a minimum of 7 years of progressive professional experience in corporate communications or public relations, including at least 2 years in a managerial or functional leadership role. How to Apply Submit your non-returnable application and CV along with supporting documents in Via email recruitment@dktethiopia.org