Communications Officer

Work for the IMF. Work for the World.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) - Middle East Center for Economics and Finance (IMF-CEF) based in Kuwait is seeking to hire a Communications Officer. The position of Communications Officer is a full-time local contractual position with an initial appointment term of one year, renewable.

Basic Function of the position:
The Communications Officer will lead the CEF’s efforts to strengthen its outreach in Kuwait and, more broadly, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The Officer will achieve this by leading the effort to develop the CEF’s communication strategy including impact analysis, establishing deeper contacts with media and other relevant stakeholders (local, regional, and global) to enhance the visibility of CEF’s operations and increase synergies with other institutions; developing the CEF website and social media strategy, managing digital communications in consultation with the relevant COM teams in HQ to improve the real-time provision of CEF information; and facilitating outreach events. Additionally, the Communications Officer is expected to serve as a lead administrator and project manager for specialized CEF programs. This involves consulting with CEF partners to ensure smooth organization and execution of joint training programs, engaging with ICD to streamline CEF program-related admin and IT tasks, and sharing IMF best practices on course design and delivery with the Course Administrators (CAs) while ensuring a good fit of these practices to regional needs. Reporting: The Communications Officer will report to the CEF’s management (the Director and Deputy Director), who set the Officer’s work assignments and priorities.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Consult with the relevant COM teams in HQ to develop a digital communications strategy tailored to the CEF's objectives and target audience, covering both social media engagement and website management and optimization. Conduct analytics to track the performance and effectiveness of digital communication efforts. Coordinating the preparation and communication of value creation stories on CEF program impact. Provide training to the team involved in managing the website.
• Strengthen links with local and regional media to enhance coverage of CEF's events. Establish contact with the relevant organizations and extend invitations to attend CEF events. Leverage social media platforms to increase the reach and visibility of CEF events. Coordinate post-event follow-up and coverage and assess the effectiveness of outreach efforts in a timely manner and within reasonable deadlines.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen synergies with IMF and non-IMF partners and other institutions (such as universities and think tanks). Initiate dialogue and explore collaboration opportunities with these institutions. Identify specific thematic areas where collaboration can add value and generate impact.
• Coordinate the periodic review of the CEF's contact list, identifying any outdated or incorrect information, reflecting any recent organizational changes, and adding new contacts.
• Oversee the management of the Center website and provide real-time support to the CEF's outreach efforts in the MENA region, including by distributing and publishing CEF information and other communication material on both the website and social media during Kuwait business hours.
• Manage Moodle; CPI; PATS; CVENT at the CEF and collaborate with the CEF Senior IT Officer for higher level IT support.
• Research, recommend, and implement innovative solutions to further streamline training administration (e.g., the use of course management systems). Oversee the work of Course Administrators (CAs) on new initiatives; provide training and guidance as needed; and supervise the smooth introduction of new processes in consultation with the CEF management.
• Collaborate with Program Officers to communicate IT program details and training activities utilized by the ICD-Training Administration Section. Provide training and initial troubleshooting for IT issues while coordinating with CEFIT and TGS for advanced IT support.
• Coordinate training programs with partner organizations, especially the Arab Monetary Fund.
• Lead efforts to launch participant and directors of training surveys at CEF and report results to CEF management; this may require supervising assigned duties to staff involved in the exercise.
• Report training data to the CEF Director and Budget section, using data-mining techniques (e.g., PeopleSoft queries).
• Work closely with CEF management, ICD-TAS and IMS as the lead administrative coordinator on online learning initiatives while assisting in monitoring online course websites and facilitating accessibility to CEF course participants.

Competencies:

• Strong knowledge of and practical experience in a range of communications strands, such as media relations, message targeting, stakeholder management, and marketing communica