Grade: PL4
Position N°: 50078442
Reference: ADB/20/071
Publication date: 08-Jun-2020
Closing date: 07-Jul-2020
Duty station: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Objectives
THE BANK:
Established in 1964, the African Development Bank is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 81 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries). The Bank’s development agenda is delivering financial and technical support for transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth. In order to sharply focus on the objectives of the Ten-Year Strategy (2013–2022) and ensure greater developmental impact, five major areas (High 5s), all of which will accelerate our delivery for Africa, have been identified for scaling up; namely, energy, agro-business, industrialization, integration and improving the quality of life for the people of Africa.
THE COMPLEX:
The President plans, supervises and manages the business of the Bank Group. Under the direction of the Boards of Directors, the President conducts the business of the Bank and the African Development Fund and
manages operations and activities in accordance with the Agreements establishing the African Development
Bank and the African Development Fund. The President supervises several Departments and Units, including the Office of the President; the Independent Development Evaluation Department; the Integrity and Anti-Corruption Department; the Compliance Review and Mediation Unit; the Secretariat to the Sanctions Appeals Board; the Administrative Tribunal; the Office of the Auditor General; the Group Risk Management Directorate; the General Counsel and Legal Services Department; the Communication and External Relations Department; the Staff Integrity and Ethics Office and Office of the Secretary General and General Secretariat.
THE HIRING DEPARTMENT/DIVISION:
The purpose of the Communication and External Relations Department is to plan, prepare and implement public relations and institutional communication programs designed to make the Bank better known by its various audiences so as to promote social and economic development in Africa, and to establish and maintain the Bank’s credibility and good reputation as Africa’s leading development finance institution. The Department is also responsible for enabling the Bank to understand better how the institution is perceived both internally and externally.
THE POSITION:
Under the general guidance and supervision of the Division Manager, Communication and External Relations – PCER.1, the incumbent will be responsible for implementing editing and writing guidelines within the department. He/She will ensure that content displayed on the Bank’s official website is accurate, conforms to the Bank’s editorial standards and helps raise awareness around the Bank’s mission, policies, projects and achievements in the most positive, consistent and credible manner.
The incumbent will implement editing and writing guidelines within PCER.1 and define an editorial policy for the Bank.
Duties and responsibilities
Under the overall supervision of the Division Manager, Communication and External Relations – PCER.1, the Principal Editor & Web Content Coordinator has the following responsibilities:
Editing
- Substantive, structural or stylistic editing.
- Edit and rewrite, as needed, op-eds, thought leadership pieces, press releases, articles, web content, briefs, reports, brochures, web pages, papers, publications, and event announcements, in keeping with Bank style.
- Proofreading/fact-checking of content listed above.
- Ensure the editing of content from other organizational units within the Bank prior to posting on the Bank’s website.
- Observe established terminology and usage and ensure consistency among individual editors working with Bank documents.
- Occasional revision of translations to ensure quality and coherence.
- Review and clear content edited by team members.
- Coordinate workflow to ensure smooth handling of Bank-wide editing requests.
- Other editing duties as needed.
Proofreading
- Review articles, reports, op-eds, press releases, web content, features, event notices, talking points and briefs that follow Bank style.
- Provide editorial coverage plans for events, Board meetings, project success stories and initiatives for posting on the Bank website.
Web content coordination
- Oversee the accuracy of the overall visual look of the Bank’s website, including images, videos, and other digital media.
- Coordinate with the web technical team the posting of all edited press releases, event announcements, success stories, and news stories to the Bank’s website and ensure the homepage content is up-to-date.
- Collaborate with professionals (e.g. web designers, graphic designers, video and photo specialists) to improve content presentation on the website.
- Work closely with editors, consultants, project managers, and designers to ensure all requested changes are understood and implemented correctly to keep the websites accurate, up-to-date, and fresh.
- Ensure that all digital content is timely, relevant, effective, and formatted for the web.
- Maintain an editorial calendar and web content plan.
Selection Criteria
- Hold a Master’s degree in Communication, Journalism or related field.
- Have a minimum of six (6) years’ experience working in newsrooms (newspaper or news agency) as Editor, including at least four (4) as a content coordinator.
- Experience of having worked as Head of News Desk or News Room Coordinator
- A proven track record of working for multilateral development banks or international companies.
- Journalistic background with strong writing and editing skills with proven experience of working as
- Be able to identify appropriate content.
- Proven experience of leading teams.
- Strong digital content/communication knowledge, from strategy to execution.
- Be able to effectively solve problems, think creatively, make decisions and act, exercising independent judgment.
- Exceptional organizational skills, detail-oriented.
- Able to work on tight deadlines and ensure quality and consistent output.
- Able to maintain a professional and positive attitude under pressure.
- Able to quickly blend into and maintain a smooth working relationship with a multilingual team.
- Able to manage multiple projects independently.
- Working knowledge of French would be an added advantage.
- Proficiency in MS Office applications (Word, Excel and PowerPoint.)
THIS POSITION IS CLASSIFIED INTERNATIONAL STATUS AND ATTRACTS INTERNATIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT.
Should you encounter technical difficulties in submitting your application, please send an email, with a precise description of the issue and/or a screenshot showing the problem, to: HR Direct [email protected]
Apply for this position
To apply for this position, you need to be national of one of AfDB member countries.
Applicants who fully meet the Bank’s requirements and are considered for interview will be contacted. Only online applications submitted with a comprehensive Curriculum Vitae (CV) and copies of the required degrees will be considered. The President, AfDB, reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level. The African Development Bank is an equal opportunities employer. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) does not ask for payments of any kind from applicants throughout the recruitment process (job application, CV review, interview meeting, and final processing of applications). In addition, the Bank does not request information on applicants’ bank accounts. The African Development Bank Group declines all responsibility for the fraudulent publications of job offers in its name or, in general, for the fraudulent use of its name in any way whatsoever.