View Vacancy - Senior Insights and Analysis Specialist, Africa Campaigns Hub - (50/22 PTA)

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer.  We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow.
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Operations and Corporate Services)
Communications, Press and Media

Main purpose of job:

We are looking for an excellent senior insights and analysis specialist with a passion for strategic communications to join a strong and highly motivated campaigns team.

You will be working in the Africa Campaigns Hub, a team split between London, Abuja, Nairobi, Cape Town and Pretoria. This hub combines specialist skills in campaign delivery, strategic communication, digital, insights, monitoring and evaluation, working with and complementing the UK Government’s communications network across sub-Saharan Africa.

The role is based at the British High Commission in Pretoria, working directly with the Head of the Africa Campaigns Hub.

You will be responsible for analysing and interpreting data from a range of sources to provide actionable insights that will help shape the hub’s campaign strategies, as well as strategies being led by the HMG headquarters in London, and you will produce regular evaluations of the hub’s campaigns. You will be responsible for producing and presenting insights reports to our senior officials, as well as designing and implementing research projects, consistently improving the way we communicate and interact with our audiences on the continent.

You will be enthusiastic and proactive; have experience of using Google Analytics and other social media listening tools such as Hootsuite, Brandwatch, NewsWhip; have experience of designing surveys for market research across Africa and working with media monitoring agencies; be politically astute; and be able to translate audience insights into actionable communications advice, especially on major global events.

You should also expect to travel, across the region and to the UK.

Roles and responsibilities / what will the jobholder be expected to achieve?

  • Work in partnership with the Head of Campaigns to ensure campaigns and scripts reflect the latest audience insights, also ensuring senior officials in Pretoria, across the Africa network and in London are briefed with insights and advice on how audiences across Africa are responding to strategic communications objectives and major global events.
  • Work closely with Africa Campaigns Hub colleagues in Pretoria and London, as well as the regional campaign heads in Abuja and Nairobi, to provide the latest audience insight to help inform and design strategic media and digital communications campaigns.
  • Work closely with colleagues in London to ensure their strategies involving African countries include the latest audience insight and provide recommendations on communications campaigns.
  • Work with the Head of Digital and Production to support the upskilling of communicators across HMG’s Africa Communications Network in line with the latest Government Communication Service learning and development programmes. This includes using evaluation and data insight to inform campaign planning and understand the impact of our digital communications.
  • Oversee the Digital Content Producer on social media monitoring, weekly monitoring reports and the production of the ministerial social media report.
  • Continuously improve how we gather and use data to gain better insight into our audiences - both online and via traditional media channels. Use this insight to develop benchmarks for our campaigning activity - including using dashboards to track and present performance of our campaigns to senior officials.
  • Design and commission external research surveys to understand how audiences across Africa respond to global events, emerging trends and areas relating to key policy objectives.
  • Together with Head of Campaigns, design and implement surveys to gauge how the Africa Communications Network are engaging with campaigns in order to adapt strategies and network support where/when required. 
  • Manage the budget for external insight reports and surveys.
  • Provide early-warning insights reports to senior officials on potential global risks, emerging trends and misinformation and disinformation narratives across the continent, identifying relevant impact on key policy objectives.
  • Use audience insight to provide strategic communications advice, identifying tactics to advance our communications objectives, whilst also identifying and managing risks.
  • Build trusted relationships with local, national and international partners, contributing to an active directory of third-party stakeholder contacts - from academia, NGOs, think tanks, campaigners and social media influencers - for qualitative insight.

The role is subject to change as the Network and requirements evolve.

 

Key competences required for the job: 

Communications – Insight: Setting direction/Seeing the Big Picture

Communications – Ideas: Delivering results

Communications – Implementation: Collaborating and partnering

Communications – Impact: Managing results

The Communications Competency Framework can be found here.


  • Degree in relevant field, for example, communications, media management, journalism, international affairs or world politics
  • At least six years professional work experience in media, communications or PR, with minimum four years’ experience in insights analysis
  • Practical knowledge of collecting and analysing data from different sources, for example on the performance of web pages, social media content and email, Google Analytics, Hootsuite, Brandwatch, NewsWhip, focus groups, surveys and stakeholder/academic research 
  • Good understanding of digital performance metrics, to advise on evaluation plans, including bench-marking and KPI (key performance indicator) setting
  • Up-to-date knowledge of the latest trends in consumer behaviour and data in the media and digital space
  • Proven experience of presenting insights to senior officials/management structures and advising on emerging trends to mitigate risks
  • Excellent interpersonal and communications skills, including stakeholder engagement skills to build credibility with senior government/business representatives as well as colleagues within the UK government network
  • Excellent organisational and self-management skills to respond effectively to tight - and changing - deadlines and priorities
  • The ability to work with a high degree of autonomy
  • A positive “can-do” attitude that can see way through challenges
  • Evidence of research to inform communications advice and of using evaluation to learn lessons and improve communications 
  • The ability to build and maintain networks with counterparts in other organisations 
  • Knowledge of the social media landscape across Sub-Saharan Africa and how different social media channels are being used across the continent
  • Driven and able to deliver against challenging timelines
  • Experience of working in a crisis situation or delivering under high pressure would be highly regarded
  • Experience of working with Government departments and/or public-sector agencies
  • Demonstrate a good understanding of the political and media environment across Sub-Saharan Africa
Seeing the Big Picture, Delivering at Pace, Communicating and Influencing, Working Together
8 December 2022
Senior Executive Officer (SEO)
Permanent
36.5 hours
Africa
South Africa
Pretoria
British High Commission
1
ZAR
R 753,974.73 per annum
2 February 2022

Learning and development opportunities (and any specific training courses to be completed):

Various courses and programmes are available across a huge range of professions from communications to project management and policy. More details can be provided.

The British High Commission pays in full for the Key Care Plus option on Discovery Health for staff including spouses/partners and dependants.

  • Once you have successfully completed your probation the British High Commission will contribute 9 % of your monthly salary to a Provident Fund.
  • Annual leave entitlement of 25 days
  • Working hours per week of 36.5

  • Please complete the application form in full as the information provided is used during screening.
  • Please check your application carefully before you submit, as no changes can be made once submitted.
  • The British High Commission will never request any payment or fees to apply for a position.
  • Employees recruited locally by the British High Commission in Pretoria are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local employment law in South Africa.
  • All candidates must be legally able to work and reside in the country of the vacancy with the correct visa/work permit status or demonstrate eligibility to obtain the relevant permit. 
  • The responsibility lies on the successful candidate to:
  • Obtain the relevant permit
  • Pay fees for the permit
  • Make arrangements to relocate
  • Meet the costs to relocate 
  • The British High Commission do not sponsor visas/work permits except where it may be local practice to do so. 
  • Employees who are not liable to pay local income tax on their Mission salary may have their salaries reduced by the equivalent local income tax amount.
  • Information about the Civil Service Success Profiles can be found on this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/success-profiles. Please note:  AA=A1, AO=A2, EO=B3, HEO=C4, SEO=C5
  • Reference checking and security clearances will be conducted on successful candidates.
Please be aware that you will only be able to apply to vacancies for Country Based Staff roles with the British Government through this official tal.net site (operated by Oleeo). Jobs may be advertised on third party websites, however our adverts will always link back to the official tal.net site. If you complete and send an application through any other site, we will not receive it.

This opportunity is closed to applications.