The Organization

Katiba Institute (KI) is a research and litigation institute established to promote knowledge and studies of constitutionalism and to facilitate the implementation of Kenya’s new constitution. The principal objective of KI is to achieve social transformation through the constitution. In the immediate, KI works to help promote the implementation of the Constitution. In the medium term, KI hopes that its work will help establish a culture of constitutionalism. In this regard, KI works on diverse areas of the constitution including issues of leadership and integrity, human rights,
devolution, gender and electoral issues to appropriation of land and evictions of indigenous people and other long term settlers and protection against illegality and harassment by the police, facilitating public participation. Its activities include research and publications on the Constitution, trainings on constitutional issues, public interest litigation, development of the legal and judicial system and promoting the participation of Kenyans in public affairs.

The position’s job summary Katiba Institute is looking for an experienced and proactive person for the position of Program Officer: Communication and Public Liaison. The Officer will support Katiba Institute’s operations in the implementation of an ongoing project on access to information as well as provide leadership in the creation and implementation of a communication strategy that furthers KI’s goals. Most of the work will involve understanding and communicating the law hence the officer who will be engaged will need to understand, analyse and communicate legal issues with ease. As Katiba Institute’s operations expand, we are also in need of someone who can effectively communicate about our work more specifically on access to information and generally as an institution; help interact with the public more effectively and establish productive relationships with other key stakeholders. The officer would also propose initiatives that KI would venture in to pursue its goals using the various communication tools. The ideal candidate should have a proven track record of success in the communications sector or related fields, as well as excellent legal research and analysis, written and verbal communication skills. Preference will be given to those who have experience and skills in Digital Marketing and have worked in the civil society sector or advocated for good governance generally.

Primary responsibilities
1. Undertake research, legal analysis and develop relevant material on topical constitutional related issues in partnership with other departments
2. Develop, support and promote the organization’s goals, including message development, social media content creation and media outreach
3. Develop and disseminate public relations materials that increase our visibility among stakeholders and the general public
4. Build and maintain relationships with journalists, media houses, bloggers and other entities in the media sector to help advance our work
5. Assist in the development and implementation of KI’s communication strategy
6. Ensure digital marketing content aligns with Katiba Institute’s identity and message and assist with marketing campaigns as needed
7. Assist different departments with the production of capacity building communication material e.g. toolkits, publications and documentary.
8. Co-ordinate the production of internal and external communications, assists in the subediting and proof reading of communications products including but not limited to success stories, photographs, video and social media
9. In consultation with other departments, to identify weekly access to information topics and to help make information requests
10. Ability to develop through documentation Katiba Institutes achieves in critical areas
11. To help in designing projects and fundraising in consultation with the Executive Director
12. Undertake any other task that may be assigned from time to time
13. Has relevant knowledge in both print and electronic media

Required qualifications

1. A Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Journalism, Public Relations or related field. A Master’s degree will be an added advantage.

2. A minimum of three years’ experience in undertaking legal research & analysis and communication work especially in the civil society sector.

3. Ability to produce analytical and well-presented reports & publications and effectively disseminate them.

4. Excellent written and verbal communication skills

5. Proven design, videography, or photography skills

6. Knowledge of digital marketing tactics and other current practices in communication

7. Demonstrated critical thinking skills and the ability to exercise good judgment and solve problems quickly and effectively

8. Skills in MS Office, including Word, Excel, Power Point, Desktop Publisher and other graphics software is required 9. Ability to balance priorities and coordinate work effectively in order to meet deadlines and deal with high workloads.

10. Strong conviction in and commitment to constitutionalism and human rights principles
11. Ability to analyse problems rigorously and from all angles, showing sound practical judgment
12. Demonstrated sound emotional intelligence skills to enable interaction with persons from all sectors of the society

To apply
Email your cover letter, curriculum vitae and names and contacts of three referees to:
careers@katibainstitute.org. The Application must reach us by latest 11p.m. on Friday, 21st
September, 2018