Communications and Engagement Officer (Lebanon)

Communications and Engagement Officer (Lebanon) Job Description

• 4 days per week, in Ashrafieh office, ideally starting by 1st of September 2024
• Between 1,654 USD and 1,821 per month (including tax & social security)
• 1-year contract with high likelihood of renewal for four years based on performance (with 3-month probation period)

Seenaryo is seeking a Communications and Engagement Officer to support the Seenaryo team in Lebanon. This position will be based in our office in Ashrafieh, Beirut, with visits to projects across Lebanon and regular contact via Zoom with our teams in the UK and Jordan. This role will be primarily focused on managing and engaging the Teacher Community and relationships with other stakeholders and key allies in the education sector. The Communications and Engagement Officer reports to Seenaryo’s Playkit Project Manager and works closely with the whole Lebanon team, as well as all individuals involved in the Playkit Project including Programme Manager, MEAL Manager, Senior Education Manager in Jordan, and the Directors and Communications & Engagement Manager in the UK. S/he should have a minimum 3 years in communications, marketing, advertising, or public relations roles. S/he should have a passion for education and arts.

Teacher Community: app, online communications and press

• Be the focal point for teachers and manage the Online Teacher Community, respond to issues, questions and comments online and ensure that teachers’ feedback on the app and teaching methods is followed up on and addressed by the team and/or app developer
• Engage the Teacher Community on a weekly basis with contributions such as: 
• Produce at least one piece of new content for the Teacher Community platform every month, in conversation with the Communications and Engagement Manager, and publish it online. Content should aim at engaging, inspiring and informing teachers and could include: Setting challenges (e.g., adapting the lyrics of a particular song), signposting relevant content to access on the Playkit app (e.g., games about spring during the spring season), asking about teachers' favourite activities, and inviting teachers to share their own versions of activities 
• Coordinate with the Playkit project team to maintain a continuous improvement process and ensure that the Playkit and the Teacher Community are responsive to teachers' needs
• Produce and translate (between English and Arabic) communications materials for the Teacher Community and Seenaryo social media platforms
• Coordinate with the freelance videographer and editor, Communications and Engagement Manager and Playkit Project Manager to create an updated "Playkit Introduction Video" to be posted on the Teacher Community platform that introduces and explains the Seenaryo Playkit
• Press liaison: pitch the Seenaryo Playkit to local and international press, including preparing press releases, developing a relationship with Seenaryo’s existing press contacts, and developing relationships with new journalists. Includes print, broadcast and internet as well as podcasts, working with influencers, etc.
• PR campaigns: manage a PR consultant. With the consultant’s support, design and implement a PR campaign every two years, which aims to advocate for play-based learning to be prioritised in Lebanon’s education system. The PR campaign may include local print, online, billboards, TV and radio media, as well as social media audiences.

Live events

• Conceive and coordinate one live event per year for the Teacher Community. This includes coordinating logistics (venue, catering, transportation) and guest lists.
• High-level advocacy events: conceive and manage an advocacy conference or event every two years, timed to coincide with the PR campaigns. These events will each bring together 100+ stakeholders, including policymakers, national ECE network representatives, academics, education INGOs and others. At the events, research findings will be presented and real-world success stories showcased through presentations, panel discussions, and Q&A sessions. You will be responsible for managing a freelance event organiser who will coordinate logistics and guest lists.

Education Networks

• Advocate for play-based learning at ECE level by attending and presenting at the Education Sector Working Group (ESWG) and other sector-wide meetings
• Schedule regular meetings with new and existing partners in the sector
• Support the Lebanon team’s influencing efforts with the Ministry of Education by attending high-level meetings, creating PowerPoint presentations where needed, and interfacing with Ministry representatives where needed

As part of an ambitious and growing organisation the role will also involve engaging with the Lebanon team and wider organisation in other tasks not listed above, within reasonable expectation and in agreement with the Communications and Engagement Officer’s line manager e.g. contributing to the organisation’s communications tools, strategy and procedures, creating communications content for the organisation as a whole (e.g. writing social media posts, selecting and archiving photographic material, and working with film editors to create short videos about Seenaryo’s work), preparing and translating materials for Playkit trainings and operations, adding content to the Playkit mobile app, etc.

Essential Qualifications and Experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree or Technical degree in public relations, marketing, advertising, communications or a related field
• Minimum of three years’ experience in communications, marketing, advertising, or public relations roles in the education and/or non-profit sectors
• An ability to self-motivate, take initiative, work independently and within a team
• Well organised and have ability to multitask while maintaining attention to detail
• Strong and creative copywriting, interpersonal communication, public relations and speaking and networking skills
• Strong knowledge of online/social media platforms
• Fluent written and spoken Arabic and English
• Strong experience using design softwares/tools (including Canva, Capcut and Adobe Suite), Microsoft Office and Google Suite (including Excel/Spreadsheets and Powerpoint/Slides), Google Drive and Zoom
• Translation skills from English to Arabic and vice versa (preferred)
• Experience in education, arts (particularly theatre), and/or the non-profit sector (preferred)
• Driver’s licence and car (preferred)

About Seenaryo

Seenaryo is a leading specialist in theatre and play-based learning with under-served communities in Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine. We use theatre and play to transform education and support people to learn, lead, heal and thrive in their classrooms and communities. Having reached over 135,000 children, youth and women since 2015, Seenaryo was winner of the Arts, Culture & Heritage prize at the 2023 UK Charity Awards, has received a 2023 Innovation Award from TheirWorld, and was one of Expo 2020 Dubai’s 120 Global Innovators.

In 2023, Seenaryo created 44 original theatre productions. We also trained 834 teachers to transform learning through play using the Seenaryo Playkit mobile phone app, reaching 12,645 schoolchildren.

About Seenaryo Playkit

The Seenaryo Playkit is an app that transforms early childhood teaching and learning through play. Designed for teachers of 3 - 8 year olds in the least-resourced schools in Lebanon and Jordan, it is a huge bank of songs, games, interactive stories and classroom management techniques, all easily searchable by topic, age group or activity type and applicable to any early years curriculum. The app features how-to videos, music tracks and printable flashcards - all in Arabic, English and French. The Playkit app is usually accompanied by a 3-day teacher training. It aims to build children’s core life skills - cognitive & language, social & emotional, and physical - with the ultimate aim of increasing the child’s chances of success in school and in later life.

For more information about the Seenaryo Playkit, please visit www.seenaryoplaykit.org or download the

app by searching for Seenaryo Playkit on the Apple Store or Google Play.