Head of Communications

About the Organization

Educate! works to expand opportunities for Africa’s rapidly growing youth population by developing scalable employment-focused solutions. The organisation helps young people in Africa learn, earn, and thrive through two core approaches: introducing an employment-oriented secondary school subject and running livelihood boot camps for out-of-school youth, especially marginalized rural girls and young women.

More than 500,000 young people across Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, and Tanzania have been reached so far, making Educate! the largest youth employment and skills provider in East Africa. The team includes over 300 staff members across Africa and about 300 volunteer youth mentors. Educate! is backed by major foundations and has received international recognition for its work in education, youth livelihoods, and systems change.

The organisation is building long-term solutions that can influence millions of young people across Africa each year. It also promotes a growth-oriented, inclusive workplace and encourages candidates from diverse backgrounds, including women, to apply even if they do not meet every single requirement.

Role Overview

The Head of Communications will lead a high-performing communications function that supports fundraising, brand positioning, internal communication, and external influence. This is a leadership role for someone who can think strategically, manage operations, and maintain a strong editorial standard while helping a lean team deliver exceptional work.

You will work closely with the Global Director of Development, the CEO, and senior leaders to turn Educate!’s evidence, youth outcomes, and program model into clear, credible, and compelling narratives for funders, media, and other influential audiences. The role combines strategy, team leadership, editorial direction, and hands-on execution across multiple channels.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the full communications team, managing 3–4 team members, setting priorities, coaching performance, and upholding a consistently high editorial benchmark.
• Oversee relationships with agencies and freelancers by giving clear direction, setting expectations, and monitoring delivery quality.
• Create the systems, processes, and working rhythms needed for a small team to produce strong, reliable output at scale.
• Clarify the communications team’s priorities and role within a rapidly growing organisation.
• Design and execute an integrated communications plan that supports fundraising objectives across four key revenue segments.
• Focus communications effort on the highest-value activities that improve funder engagement and strengthen the organisation’s market position.
• Partner with leadership to identify the top positioning opportunities for the next 12–18 months and drive execution on them.
• Define metrics that connect communications work to revenue influence and broader organisational impact.
• Maintain a strong editorial standard so that every output offers thoughtful insight or meaningful new perspective to a sophisticated audience.
• Build a content strategy spanning blogs, press, social media, email, website content, donor materials, and print, with audience segmentation and personalisation in mind.
• Develop and maintain media relationships to secure high-value coverage that reaches the right funder audiences.
• Lead communications around major moments such as research launches, funding announcements, and strategic visibility initiatives.
• Support the CEO and senior leaders with external visibility planning, including media appearances, speaking engagements, and thought leadership opportunities.
• Translate research, evidence, youth experiences, and data into persuasive stories and funder-facing messaging.
• Build scalable content creation and distribution approaches, including digital and AI-supported workflows.
• Protect and strengthen brand voice, ensure messaging consistency, and manage communications-related risk.

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a strategic communicator with strong editorial instincts and a clear focus on communications that support organisational growth. The role may suit someone with a background in journalism, communications, content strategy, fundraising communications, or a related field within an NGO, mission-driven media organisation, or consultancy.

• At least 5 years of experience in communications, content strategy, journalism, media, or a related discipline, including experience leading high-performing teams.
• Excellent writing and editorial judgement across different formats.
• Ability to turn complex research, data, and ideas into accessible communications for non-technical but influential audiences.
• Experience building productive relationships with journalists, partners, and senior stakeholders.
• Proven ownership of communications projects from strategy through delivery, including audience definition, message development, channel choice, content creation, and execution.
• Strong prioritisation skills and sound judgement in lean, fast-moving environments.
• Commitment to international development and evidence-based, measurable approaches to impact.
• Familiarity with evidence-led philanthropy and the broader social impact ecosystem.
• Experience growing or structuring a communications function in an expanding organisation.
• Experience working alongside fundraising or revenue teams and shaping communications that drive action.
• Experience in executive visibility, thought leadership, or external engagement strategy.
• Background in international development, education, livelihoods, or a related sector.
• Alignment with Educate!’s cultural values.

Offer and Working Arrangements

• Full-time position.
• Minimum two-year commitment requested to support team needs and professional growth.
• Preferably based in East Africa, though remote work is possible if the candidate can travel significantly.
• Flexible, high-trust working style supported across time zones.
• Competitive salary based on experience.
• Learning and growth opportunities.

Culture and Values

Educate! values people who are ambitious, impact-focused, collaborative, open to learning, and ready to move quickly in a startup-like environment. Team members are expected to go beyond their job descriptions, continuously improve, and work in a way that puts youth outcomes first.

• Youth first and impact obsessed.
• Exceed expectations.
• Always learning.
• One team, many views.
• Startup mindset.

Everyone at the organisation, from interns to senior leaders, is assessed against these five values. Educate! also aims to maintain an inclusive and welcoming environment for people from diverse cultures, backgrounds, and life experiences.

Additional Conditions

Candidates will be screened for child and youth safety during the hiring process. A Certificate of Good Conduct is required, and any employment offer may be withdrawn if concerns related to youth safety are identified.

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, and interviews are expected to begin soon.