Communications Advisor December 2023
The Elders Communications Advisor
About The Elders The Elders was founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007 as an independent group of global leaders working for peace, justice, human rights and a sustainable planet.
There are 12 active Elders from Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. The group has been
humanity that require
chaired since 2018 by Mary Robinson, former President of
a collective response - the climate
Ireland and United Nations High Commissioner for Human
crisis, pandemics, and nuclear weapons. We also work on
Elders’ global membership and mandate. The work calls
Rights. Previous chairs were Desmond Tutu and Kofi Annan.
conflict, a threat in itself and a risk factor for other threats.
for a combination of initiative and humility, the ability to
Drawing on our values and our mandate from Nelson
accept and implement Elders’ decisions to high standards,
The Elders operate through private diplomacy and public
Mandela, we incorporate four cross-cutting commitments
and significant flexibility and teamwork. We have specialists
advocacy; they use their experience, influence and access
across these four programme areas - multilateralism, human
in all our programme areas, alongside communications
to heads of state and government to engage politically, and
rights, gender equality and women in leadership, and
professionals and those who operationalise our work and the
their connections to civil society to stand in solidarity with the
intergenerational dialogue.
Foundation as a whole.
Supporting the Elders’ work is a Secretariat of around 20 staff.
More information about The Elders, our strategy and work
The Elders launched a new strategy for 2023-27 in January.
The team is based in London, although is now diversifying
can be found at www.theelders.org
The strategy focuses our work on existential threats to
to gradually hire staff in other countries, to better reflect the
most vulnerable people and communities.
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The Elders Communications Advisor
The Role
Role: Communications Advisor
work in the country where they are based, The Elders will
Contract Type:
not be able to relocate.
Permanent, Full-Time
including social media, live events, partnerships, written
Salary: Location:
Salaries and benefits will vary in line with the location of the
This can be a remote position or based in our UK office. For
successful candidate and depending on experience.
candidates based in the UK, The Elders operate a hybrid
editorial and media engagement. Reporting to the Director of Communications and working closely with colleagues in the communications
Job Summary:
and programmes teams, and the Elders themselves, the
This role is responsible for planning and delivering some of
post-holder is required to be a multi-disciplined advocacy
We strongly encourage applications from candidates from
The Elders’ biggest communications moments, particularly
communications professional with experience of working
the Global South who can bring advice on communications
in relation to our work on the climate crisis. The post-holder
on public advocacy or political engagement with senior
from the perspective of regions underrepresented in climate
will plan and deliver creative and impactful long-term
public figures.
policy and discourse. Candidates must have the right to
projects using a full spectrum of tools and techniques,
working policy, with a high degree of flexibility for staff.
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The Elders Communications Advisor
Responsibilities
General Communications Responsibilities (.6 FTE) •
Work closely with Elders and other senior figures to
target audiences
create exceptional content to maximize engagement and
and shape our communications for
advocacy opportunities for The Elders. •
•
Contribute to, and support colleagues in, regular content
greater impact. •
creation and delivery, including press materials, written
communications influencers and organisations to help
editorial, social media and videos.
amplify the work of The Elders.
Provide strategic advice to SMT and Elders on a full
•
spectrum of political and advocacy communication activities, techniques and tools. •
•
Deputise when required to cover team management
•
identifying and developing engagement activities, advocacy opportunities, public messaging, and target audiences. •
Plan and deliver major communications projects for climate advocacy in agreement with the programme
management of others in the team, and the
colleagues, and in line with our programme objectives •
Lead on responsible communications practice and
Lead on climate crisis messaging for media talking points, speeches, statements, op-eds and other public advocacy
responsibilities in lieu of the Director of Communications
content collection with external third parties. Work with
or Head of Communications.
The Elders’ Safeguarding and Data Protection/GDPR leads
Deliver innovative and creative ideas for owned, earned,
to ensure communications practice is in adherence with
climate space through close working with programme
shared and paid communications to meet our strategic
the law and to promote best practice in this area.
colleagues, partners and by building excellent working
and programme objectives •
Support colleagues working on the climate crisis in
Advise and support the communications project communications needs of others in the organisation.
•
•
Build, engage, and advise on networks of journalists,
outputs in agreement with the programme colleagues •
Stay abreast of policy developments and activities in the
relationships with external stakeholders in the climate
Lead, project manage and commission high-profile, long-
Climate Change Communications (.4 FTE)
term, and set-piece multi-media projects and events -
•
communications community.
Advise colleagues and the Elders themselves on tactics
upskilling colleagues as required.
and opportunities for communicating our climate crisis
Use digital media monitoring tools to understanding our
programme objectives.
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The Elders Communications Advisor
Candidate Profile
•
Over 8 years’ experience of leading and delivering strategic communications, communications advocacy and/or campaigns communications.
•
Preferable experience of working on climate change communications and/or a sector or issues related to
• •
public figures. •
Multimedia skills including demonstrable experience of producing video materials for advocacy communications.
•
An excellent project manager with demonstrable
our work.
experience of leading teams to deliver high-profile
A broad knowledge of and expertise in a full range of
communications campaigns, events or moments.
communications tools, monitoring and advocacy tactics.
•
Experience of budget and line-management.
Exceptional written ability with demonstrable experience
•
Experience of implementing safeguarding and data
of writing editorial texts for publication and/or senior
•
Ability to multi-task and set priorities, and to work under pressure.
•
A strong personal commitment to the mission and values of The Elders.
•
A flexible style and willingness to work in a small, collaborative team.
protection best practice
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The Elders Communications Advisor
How to Apply
All correspondence, at this stage, should be via Oxford HR. To apply for this post, click on the “Apply” button on the job advert page, complete our online application form, and
Selection Process
submit your CV and cover letter as two different documents,
All candidates will receive an update regarding their
South. As we are not able to sponsor visas, all applicants must
which should be prepared before applying as they will be
application after the closing date. We advise candidates to
have the right to work in the country where the role they are
considered in the application process. The cover letter should
add the role email to their safe senders list and regularly
applying for is based. We will assess purely on your abilities
be no more than two pages long and explain why you are
check their spam folder.
and fit for a role.
Equality Statement
The Elders and Oxford HR are happy to discuss any
Equality and diversity are at the core of The Elders values.
reasonable adjustments you need to ensure a fair
The document should be saved in PDF in the following
Staff are expected to work collectively and individually to
recruitment process and to enable you to be successful in
format: Your First Name-Your Last Name-Document Name-
promote a constructive and sensitive approach to others
your role if selected.
Date (mmyy) e.g., Nala-Umar-CV-122023-The-Elders or Nala-
from a variety of backgrounds, where the work of others is
Umar-CoverLetter-122023- The-Elders.
valued and respected.
Timeline
The Elders is committed to creating an inclusive working
process, need additional information, or would like to have an
interested in this post and how your skills and experience make you a good fit.
Queries If you have any queries on any aspect of the appointment
Closing Date:
environment that values diversity and equal opportunities.
informal discussion, please email at elders-ca@oxfordhr.com
Candidates will be assessed on a rolling basis and the
We welcome and encourage applicants of any ethnicity,
in the first instance.
role may close sooner if a suitable candidate is found. We
religion, age, gender or gender identity, sexual orientation
therefore encourage early applications.
or disability. Given the Elders’ global outlook, we particularly
First stage interviews:
25 January 2024 th
TBC
welcome applicants originally from countries in the Global
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The Elders Communications Advisor
About Oxford HR
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