Project Background
JobStarter is a Not-for-Profit Company aimed at improving young people’s ability to take their first steps towards decent work. One-third of young people in South Africa are not in employment, education or training (NEET). To help address this, we believe the following structural barriers can be addressed in the medium term through a digital platform (https://jobstarter.co.za/). These include:
Persistent information asymmetries that prevent young people from navigating their way towards opportunity;
An inability of young people to flag work-readiness competencies without formal qualifications or experience; and
The high cost of work seeking.
Targeted at young, engaged NEETS; JobStarter was designed as a low-cost, mobile platform with three core offerings:
easily accessible and well-curated information for young people to take their next steps towards the labour market;
work-readiness focussed e-learning; and
a platform where opportunity providers can find young, local opportunity seekers.
The Information Strategy Manager must take on the following responsibilities:
Develop and execute an information strategy for young opportunity seekers and opportunity providers via the Jobstarter platform. The strategy must optimise the platform to:
enable opportunity-seekers to find and secure opportunities and resources through targeted and appropriate information.
influence decision-making and behaviour of opportunity-seekers to increase their chances to secure opportunities.
encourage opportunity-providers/employers to connect with young candidates who might otherwise be unlikely to sure opportunities;
Manage teams of consultants and industry experts to create, source and synthesize information related to the information strategy.
Develop and execute a social media strategy to market content and information.
Use learnings and insights from the information strategy to improve the platform.
Requirements:
As a minimum requirement, the candidate must have:
a relevant graduate qualification – such as in the field of education, skills development, social development and/or community development.
Five years of relevant work experience. At least two of those years must have been spent leading a project, programme or unit.
Preferably, the candidate has:
experience in the youth development sector;
an understanding of how to optimise and leverage an online platform;
experience developing or managing the development of written content; and fluency in at least two of South Africa’s official languages
The ideal candidate has the following attributes, they:
consider issues at a strategic level;
understand what prevents young people from accessing opportunities;
are able to communicate verbally and in writing on complex issues;
have strong analytical abilities and can develop evidence-based frameworks to guide content development and roll-out;
understand project life-cycles and are comfortable managing teams for delivery;
are excited to learn and apply new theories, information and technology;
invite input across teams and collaborate with other people to execute strategies; and
are able to self-manage within a start-up environment.
This is a 12 month, fixed-term, contract with possibility of renewal. Salary negotiable based on skills and experience. The position is based in Cape Town. To apply please send your CV, a covering letter and three contactable references to [email protected]
When applying use “Application: Information Strategy Manager” as the subject line of your email.
Applications close 31 January 2020.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.