Chemonics International, a global international development
consulting firm seeks qualified Indonesian specialists for the USAID Higher
Education Leadership and Management (HELM) project in Indonesia.
The USAID/HELM project was awarded to Chemonics International on November 28, 2011. Chemonics implements HELM with support from partners: the Indiana University Alliance; JBS International Inc., Aguirre Division; and the University of Kentucky (UKY). The five year project was designed to support Indonesia’s Higher Education (HE) sector in increasing its quality and relevance through improved focus on administration and management capacity.
In partnership with the Ministry of Education and Culture (MoEC) and the Directorate General of Higher Education (DIKTI), HELM provides technical assistance, training, and additional support to strengthen the leadership capacity and increase effectiveness in the following four core management areas:
1. General administration and leadership
2. Financial management
3. Quality assurance
4. Collaboration with external stakeholders
HELM works in close collaboration with DIKTI and, by Year 3, partners with 50 Indonesian Higher Education Institutions (HEI). The project is designed to address the USAID Education sub-intermediate result, “increased management capacity of Indonesian Higher Education Institutions” which contributes to the intermediate result “improved quality of higher education” under the over-arching assistance objective: “students better prepared for success in learning and work.”
Principal Duties and Responsibilities
This position is a supervisory position, with primary tasks
as well as overall supervision of the communications and digital media
associate. The communications manager will be responsible to ensure all HELM
materials, publications, and events are correctly branded and marked as well as
produced in compliance with USAID rules and regulations. The communications
manager is expected to be the primary communication contact for USAID and DIKTI
members of the higher education donor community.
As teamwork is crucial to the success of the project, the communications manager will coordinate all communication work with technical and operations staff, as per direction from the Chief of Party (COP) or his/her designee.
Specific tasks
1. Take primary responsibility for the coordination of tasks. Support the communications and digital media associate, ensuring equitable distribution of the workload to guarantee timely completion of tasks at hand in support of program success.
2. Ensure the “HELM assistance story” from partner institutions is captured, developed, edited, and distributed in a timely manner through effective existing channels as well as developing other creative solutions for enhancing shared learning.
3. Support HELM relationships by building, maintaining, and leveraging a good network of contacts to promote the program.
4. Ensure all HELM materials, publications, and events are correctly branded and marked as well as produced in compliance with USAID rules and regulations. Work with the USAID Mission, including the Development, Outreach, and Communications Officer (DOC), for branding and marking approvals and other communications guidelines.
5. Take primary responsibility for the planning, writing and editing of HELM documents (including newsletters, and success stories, etc.). Work closely with the project staff to ensure editing, formatting, and content quality control and to assist in the development of quarterly reports and other project deliverables.
6. Ensure final quality of all program materials, including ensuring all templates are current, standardization of document formatting per the Chemonics guidelines, spelling and grammar checking documents (in both English and in Bahasa Indonesia), identifying areas that the language may need to be revised for clarity or correctness, and any other needed quality control.
7. Serve as the primary point of contact for HELM communications and media relations with USAID, DIKTI, and with other donors, as well as media partners, including writing press releases and hosting press, when appropriate, at HELM or other HE events. This task may also include support for HELM staff or consultants during interviews, press conferences, or during any other time when spontaneous public speaking is required.
8. Facilitate internal and external communication standards to support project implementation and ensure consistency in communication activities, including maintaining the HELM filing system with official letters.
9. With the communications and digital media associate, maintain the HELM learning portal, including regular site updates and maintenance as well as quality control of “chat rooms,” blogs, and any other areas which need supervision and review; approval and updates for site member applications, review and update group memberships, and promote active use through support by other staff.
10. With the communications and digital media associate, design and implement outreach to the partner HEIs through a variety of channels including particular communication sessions designed and presented at HELM capacity development events, providing communication support to participants following events, and as stand-alone activities. This includes monitoring project activities at the institution, as well as national, level to identify success stories, human interest and impact, and other testimonies of HELM impacts as the subject for USAID snap-shot success stories or articles for the quarterly newsletters. Ensure key events and milestones are captured, written, edited, and distributed in a timely manner through effective existing channels as well as developing other creative solutions for enhancing shared learning.
11. Create and update project materials and templates (i.e. project fact sheets, a contacts database, PowerPoint Presentations, etc.) ensuring USAID approvals are in place and information is accurate and clear.
12. Respond to HELM staff requests for communications assistance and provide creative ideas for using communication tools to improve the implementation effectiveness to promote overall success of project’s activities.
13. Other tasks as requested by the Chief of Party or his/her designee.
Supervision and Reporting
The Communications Manager will report directly to the Chief of Party. S/he will provide regular progress reports that demonstrate the status of project communications, as well as other reports as required.
Duration of Assignment
This is a long-term, full-time position with an annual approved level of effort of no more than 260 days for each project year. The employment agreement will be renewed on an annual basis following a positive performance evaluation. The HELM project began on November 28, 2011and ends on November 30, 2016.
Job Qualifications
• Master degree in communications or related field required.
• Minimum five years of experience working on USAID funded program as a communication specialist required.
• Supervision experience within the domain of communications required.
• Proof of highly developed English communication skills both written and verbal required.
• Excellent skills in document writing, formatting, and editing required.
• Experience identifying and writing success stories, newsletters, press release, etc. required.
• Familiarity with Indonesian higher education system preferred.
• Must be organized, detail oriented, self-motivated, and able to work well on teams.
• Must be interest in working with a multi-cultural, international team in a dynamic and fast-paced environment.
As teamwork is crucial to the success of the project, the communications manager will coordinate all communication work with technical and operations staff, as per direction from the Chief of Party (COP) or his/her designee.
Specific tasks
1. Take primary responsibility for the coordination of tasks. Support the communications and digital media associate, ensuring equitable distribution of the workload to guarantee timely completion of tasks at hand in support of program success.
2. Ensure the “HELM assistance story” from partner institutions is captured, developed, edited, and distributed in a timely manner through effective existing channels as well as developing other creative solutions for enhancing shared learning.
3. Support HELM relationships by building, maintaining, and leveraging a good network of contacts to promote the program.
4. Ensure all HELM materials, publications, and events are correctly branded and marked as well as produced in compliance with USAID rules and regulations. Work with the USAID Mission, including the Development, Outreach, and Communications Officer (DOC), for branding and marking approvals and other communications guidelines.
5. Take primary responsibility for the planning, writing and editing of HELM documents (including newsletters, and success stories, etc.). Work closely with the project staff to ensure editing, formatting, and content quality control and to assist in the development of quarterly reports and other project deliverables.
6. Ensure final quality of all program materials, including ensuring all templates are current, standardization of document formatting per the Chemonics guidelines, spelling and grammar checking documents (in both English and in Bahasa Indonesia), identifying areas that the language may need to be revised for clarity or correctness, and any other needed quality control.
7. Serve as the primary point of contact for HELM communications and media relations with USAID, DIKTI, and with other donors, as well as media partners, including writing press releases and hosting press, when appropriate, at HELM or other HE events. This task may also include support for HELM staff or consultants during interviews, press conferences, or during any other time when spontaneous public speaking is required.
8. Facilitate internal and external communication standards to support project implementation and ensure consistency in communication activities, including maintaining the HELM filing system with official letters.
9. With the communications and digital media associate, maintain the HELM learning portal, including regular site updates and maintenance as well as quality control of “chat rooms,” blogs, and any other areas which need supervision and review; approval and updates for site member applications, review and update group memberships, and promote active use through support by other staff.
10. With the communications and digital media associate, design and implement outreach to the partner HEIs through a variety of channels including particular communication sessions designed and presented at HELM capacity development events, providing communication support to participants following events, and as stand-alone activities. This includes monitoring project activities at the institution, as well as national, level to identify success stories, human interest and impact, and other testimonies of HELM impacts as the subject for USAID snap-shot success stories or articles for the quarterly newsletters. Ensure key events and milestones are captured, written, edited, and distributed in a timely manner through effective existing channels as well as developing other creative solutions for enhancing shared learning.
11. Create and update project materials and templates (i.e. project fact sheets, a contacts database, PowerPoint Presentations, etc.) ensuring USAID approvals are in place and information is accurate and clear.
12. Respond to HELM staff requests for communications assistance and provide creative ideas for using communication tools to improve the implementation effectiveness to promote overall success of project’s activities.
13. Other tasks as requested by the Chief of Party or his/her designee.
Supervision and Reporting
The Communications Manager will report directly to the Chief of Party. S/he will provide regular progress reports that demonstrate the status of project communications, as well as other reports as required.
Duration of Assignment
This is a long-term, full-time position with an annual approved level of effort of no more than 260 days for each project year. The employment agreement will be renewed on an annual basis following a positive performance evaluation. The HELM project began on November 28, 2011and ends on November 30, 2016.
Job Qualifications
• Master degree in communications or related field required.
• Minimum five years of experience working on USAID funded program as a communication specialist required.
• Supervision experience within the domain of communications required.
• Proof of highly developed English communication skills both written and verbal required.
• Excellent skills in document writing, formatting, and editing required.
• Experience identifying and writing success stories, newsletters, press release, etc. required.
• Familiarity with Indonesian higher education system preferred.
• Must be organized, detail oriented, self-motivated, and able to work well on teams.
• Must be interest in working with a multi-cultural, international team in a dynamic and fast-paced environment.
Application submission instructions:
• Interested applicants for all positions listed below are requested to send a cover letter and resume (English) toindonesiahelm@gmail.com by December 23, 2013.
• Please list the position title in the subject line of the email.
• These positions are subject to USAID approval and salary scales.
Chemonics is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, equal pay, disability, and genetic information.
No telephone inquiries, please.
Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. Only qualified candidates will be contacted.
