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Communications Officer

Remote | Washington D.C.

  • Organization: IRC - International Rescue Committee
  • Location: Remote | Washington D.C.
  • Grade: Junior level - Junior
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Communication and Public Information
  • Closing Date:

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.
Job Overview: 
The Communications Officer will support the Global Public Affairs team to raise the profile, income and influence of the IRC and our response to humanitarian crises within our global target markets. S/he will work on key external relations products, track metrics, help protect IRC’s reputation, and provide overall support to the team to achieve its strategy and KPIs. The Communications Officer will provide administrative and communications support to the wider public affairs team, stay abreast of the media landscape in IRC’s regions and work on special strategic projects that support the growth of IRC’s income and profile.
RESPONSIBILITIES
●Stay abreast of the media landscape in IRC’s programmatic regions including Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Middle East. 
●Provide surge media and content support to department during major emergency moments
●Regularly update the IRC’s Muck Rack media databases and build targeted reporter lists. 
●Draft press releases, feature pitches, talkings points, web articles, and social media content as needed.
●Gather and package information about IRC programs including major reports, assessments, success stories, case studies, factsheets, and other resources, and work with internal stakeholders to use this information to promote IRC’s work to external target audiences.
●Maintain and track metrics and KPIs for the public affairs team, developing quarterly reports to be shared with leadership.
●Vet potential influencers and partners for compliance with IRC brand and reputation.
●Coordinate and gather input on TORs for content trips and help to package and share stories to be used across media and pitches packages.
●Support the daily work flow of the public affairs team including scheduling, project management workflow and tracking, handling appointments, and streamlining emails.
●Maintain and track updates for all communications messaging documents, ensuring regular updates, fact checking and organizing for easy access to the wider organization.
●Develop and update onboarding materials for new staff and strategy documents and help support team with recruitment and vendor procurement.
●Support vendor procurement by working with finance and supply chain to ensure standard practices used and timelines are met for payment. 
●Lead development of news roundups, supervise communications inbox and maintain editorial calendar. 
●Support on HQ special projects as needed.
This role calls for an extremely organized, savvy communications professional who has experience operating in fluid and complex situations. You should have a solid understanding of the humanitarian sector and a gift for identifying compelling media angles and creative ways for telling stories in difficult circumstances. 
Key Working Relationships:
●Position Reports to: Director, Global Public Affairs and Communications
●Position directly supervises: N/A
●Other Internal and/or external contacts: Works closely with other CMMO teams and across the organization
Job Requirements:
Education: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
Work Experience: 
Minimum: 
●2-5 years of professional experience working as part of a communications and media team
●Superb interviewing, writing and pitching skills. 
●Experience working with international media outlets 
●Experience writing press releases, messaging documents and talking points
●Experience tracking metrics and producing analytics reports
●Ability to juggle multiple priorities and produce high-quality outcomes on a short deadline
●Must be willing and able to travel, occasionally at short notice and sometimes under strenuous conditions
Preferred:
●Experience working in the humanitarian or non profit sector
●Photography and multimedia skills a plus
Education: B.A. degree in journalism, communications, media production or related field or equivalent experience working in communications in the nonprofit sector.
Language Skills: Proficiency in English required. A second language - French, German, Swedish or Korean - a plus
Working Environment: Fast-paced and fluid work environment. Must be willing to travel domestically or internationally 
Compensation:
Posted pay ranges apply to US-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget. Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.
US Benefits: 
The IRC offers a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. All US employees are eligible for sick time, a 403b retirement savings plans: up to 4.5% immediately vested matching contribution, plus an 3-7% additional IRC contribution, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support in times of crisis and mental health struggles.
In addition, full-time employees are eligible for 10 US paid holidays, 20-25 paid time off days, disability & life insurance, medical, dental, and vision insurance (employee contribution starting at $135, $7, and $5 per month respectively) and FSA for healthcare, childcare, and commuter costs. Part-time employees are eligible for a proportionate amount of paid time off. These additional benefits apply to employees who work at least 6 months within a 12 month time period.
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Standard of Professional Conduct:The IRC and the IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – our Code of Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability, and Equality.

Commitment to Gender, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: The IRC is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, respectful, and safe work environment where all persons are treated fairly, with dignity and respect. The IRC expressly prohibits and will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or bullying of the IRC persons in any work setting. We aim to increase the representation of women, people that are from country and communities we serve, and people who identify as races and ethnicities that are under-represented in global power structures.
We do our best to provide you the most accurate info, but closing dates may be wrong on our site. Please check on the recruiting organization's page for the exact info. Candidates are responsible for complying with deadlines and are encouraged to submit applications well ahead.
Before applying, please make sure that you have read the requirements for the position and that you qualify.
Applications from non-qualifying applicants will most likely be discarded by the recruiting manager.