Bridge International Academies,Public Sector and Corporate Affairs Jobs in Uganda

Job details: About US:
Bridge International Academies is the world’s largest and fastest-growing chain
of primary and pre-primary schools with more than 400 academies and 120,000
pupils in Kenya and Uganda. We democratize the right to succeed by giving
families living in poverty access to the high-quality education that will allow
their children to live a very different life. We leverage experts, data, and
technology in order to standardize and scale every aspect of quality education
delivery, from how and where academies are built to how teachers are selected
and trained, and how lessons are delivered and monitored for improvement. We
are vertically-integrated, tech-enabled, and on our way to profitability.
Bridge expects to continue rapid expansion in East Africa, and will be
launching operations in Nigeria in September 2015, with India to follow in
2016.

Job Summary: The Public Sector and Corporate Affairs will oversee the
department which is responsible for working closely with the Expansion Director
Uganda to build strategic relationships with key stakeholders in the
Government, the private sector and civil society. This will include ownership
and strategic management of internal and external communications. The incumbent
will be responsible for driving Bridge’s strategy for public private
partnerships, with the private sector you will responsible for driving
conversations around Bridge’s engagement with CSR and with the Civil Society,
you will ensure that Bridge builds relationships and is well entrenched in
discourses around Education and human development. The ideal candidate will
have a strong ability to multi-task and take ownership of all aspects of such
activities. You’re an extremely effective communicator, both written and
verbal, and are energized by interacting with people, building relationships,
and networking. These things come naturally to you and are what you crave in
your working life. A keen sense of ownership, speedy execution, and scrappiness
is a must.

As Bridge grows and succeeds, so too do its critics. Negative publicity about
Bridge has real implications for our customers and our ability to further
democratize the right for all children to succeed. Bridge operates in the
highly politicized education sector and there are organizations and individuals
that are incentivised to tarnish Bridge’s reputation. It is therefore vital
that Bridge is able to quickly and effectively correct mistakes and ensure
Bridge’s point of view is a part of any media coverage. This also means
effectively communicating with our stakeholders, particularly parents, to
provide reassurance that Bridge is committed to its mission of providing the
best possible education to its students.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:
Manages broader strategic stakeholder management with NGO/donor/think
tank/academic and other important ‘influencers’. Both in the hopes of unlocking
donor wallets and also managing our broader relations/standing with this
important community;
Responsible for all strategic communications, internal and external;
Works closely with local, regional and national officials and groups with
respect to the Bridge International Academies’ registration, strategic efforts,
and related activities;
Work with key stakeholders on consultative efforts to drive reforms in delivery
of education to underserved communities;
Identify opportunities and work with partners in the private sector to drive
efficient service delivery with government schools;
Identify CSR partners in the private sector to strengthen Bridge International
Academies’ market presence and delivery;
Identify the larger contours of PPP and CSR relationships and also be
responsible for structuring PPP and CSR contracts;
Plan, develop, administer and evaluate programs, activities and daily
operations related to the governmental affairs support function;
Coordinate complex interactions with legislators, legislative staff, other
local and state officials, federal agency staff and other government
officials/staff;
Establish and implement short- and long-range goals, objectives, policies and
operating procedures for the government relations support function; monitor and
evaluates program effectiveness; effects changes required for improvement;
Lead proactive and reactive media relations, social media, web-based
communications, and crisis communications; and
Provide strategic and functional leadership to in-country teams, the global
public relations team and the global corporate affairs teams.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
The applicant should preferably hold a Master’s degree with superior academic
performance;
A minimum of ten years’ experience handling public and media relations;
Broad knowledge and understanding of knowledge of local, state and federal
government organization and legislative processes in primary education;
Rolodex of contacts within the ministry of education or equivalent local and
state regulatory bodies;
Knowledge of local, state and federal government issues related to the
provision of primary education;
Proven ability to work with media, including local, national and regional media
across print, broadcast and online;
Crisis communications skills;
Experience acting as an on-the-record spokesperson;
Prior experience within a fast-paced, metric driven consulting or educational
organization;
Proven ability to work with media, including local, national and regional media
across print, broadcast and online;
Relationships with editors and reporters in Ugandan media;
Ability to draft press releases, statements, opinion pieces and press
materials;
Traditional and social media monitoring and crisis communications skills;
Previous experience acting as an on-the-record spokesperson; and
Previous exposure and experience working for a political, non-profit, or other
social campaigns that concern an idea or a movement rather than a product.

Job application procedure
All suitably qualified candidates who wish to apply for this vacancy are
encouraged to send their updated CVs to grace.bridgeinternational@gmail.com
with the subject line “Public Sector and Corporate Affairs.”