Aceli Africa is a market-enabling facility that aims to mobilize over $1.2 billion in private sector lending for agricultural SMEs and improve livelihoods for 3 million farmers and workers by 2028. To achieve this goal, Aceli Africa provides financial incentives to increase the risk appetite of 30+ financial institutions (both global and local) to make loans ranging from USD $15K-$1.75M to inclusive agricultural SMEs while also facilitating technical assistance to expand the ability of high-potential SMEs to qualify for and manage financing.

Since launching in September 2020, Aceli has mobilized $150M in lending to SMEs that provide market access for 850k smallholder farmers across Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. Financial incentives have been designed based on a dataset on the profitability of agri-SME lending that Aceli gathered and analyzed in collaboration with Dalberg Advisors.

To date Aceli Africa has secured US$65M in funding commitments from leading bilateral and philanthropic donors, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, IKEA Foundation, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and USAID. Aceli expanded to Zambia in late 2023 and is raising a new round of funding to scale up its work over the next five years.

This role will be responsible for working closely with senior leadership and Aceli teams across the region to develop and implement Aceli’s communications strategy.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and implement Aceli’s communications strategy in collaboration with the CEO, Senior Manager for Impact & Learning, and other team leaders
• Serve as lead writer, editor, researcher, project manager, brand manager, and events planner depending on the nature of the project
• Develop communications materials such as learning briefs, reports, blogs, web materials, Powerpoint presentations, speeches, talking points, social media posts, and short videos
• Coordinate communications for external events such as workshops and larger convenings
• Develop and execute a digital strategy for engagement with online audiences
• Maintain a repository of talking points, Powerpoint slides, photos, videos, for use by the Aceli team in publications, presentations, and other communications
• Participate in work travels (e.g., field visits, conferences) to Aceli’s countries of operations and other destinations to gather relevant information for communications purposes.

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, international relations, or another related field
• Minimum of 5–7 years working experience in development or corporate communications
• Outstanding writer who is able to convey multifaceted content in a clear and accessible way while working under deadlines
• Experience working in and writing about African agriculture, private sector approaches to development, and finance; preference for additional thematic experience related to gender, youth, food security & nutrition and/or climate & environment
• Proven ability to distil information in varying forms (e.g., data, field reports, publications, interviews) to produce strategic content for targeted audiences
• Ability to work independently while embracing being part of a team and creating content that enables colleagues to shine
• Professional with a demonstrated record of the highest integrity and ethical conduct
• Self-motivated and eager to contribute to a growing, mission-driven organization
• Commitment to and understanding of Aceli’s Vision, Mission, and Values (see below).
• Experience creating web content and managing social media is a plus.

The Global Development Incubator is an Equal Opportunity Employer and considers all applicants based on merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. East African nationals are strongly encouraged to apply.

If you believe you can clearly demonstrate your abilities to meet the relevant criteria for the role, please submit your application quoting in the subject line the Job Title "Senior Associate, Communications", your e-mail address and telephone contacts.

To be considered for this role, candidates MUST submit at least two writing samples where they were the primary author together with a CV and cover letter tailored to this position.

The application deadline is Friday, January 05, 2024.