Senior Impact Communications Specialist

At a Glance

Role: Senior Impact Communications Specialist, Evidence and Learning, Program Quality & Impact

Location: Remote, from within the United States

Reports to: Senior Director, Evidence and Learning

Required experience: The ideal candidate will bring combined experience as a social science content expert and experience in research writing and communication for a variety of stakeholders.

• Master’s Degree in a field relevant to Humanitarian and Development sectors, and/or involving advanced training/experience in communication and writing. Doctorate degree preferred but not required.
• At least five years of international development work experience with some field experience, with at least four years of work experience in social science evaluation and research methods. Previous experience as a technical/sector specialist or in the area of Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning is preferred.
• Professional writing experience in either a newsroom or communications office, with experience writing news articles, press releases, blog posts, or newsletters covering scientific research/studies is preferred.
• Previous experience working cross-culturally and with a variety of stakeholders (senior leadership, field, technical, marketing, communications) is preferred.

Work Authorization: Must be authorized to work in the USA for any employer.

Travel: Domestic and international travel required, at least 25-30%.

The Job:

World Vision US (WVUS) is seeking a Senior Impact Communications Specialist to join the International Programs Group. In this newly created role, this individual will be charged to advance evidence of impact translation, dissemination, and leverage for WVUS market segments and to strengthen our technical brand. The tasks include translating, packaging, and communicating technical and complex evidence from our international development programs and project models, research, and evaluations, into relatable, visually engaging, and compelling formats for WVUS stakeholders and externally. The Senior Impact Communications Specialist should be a seasoned impact communicator with an in-depth understanding of evaluations and scientific research and evaluations design and methodology. The position will report to the Senior Director for the Evidence and Learning team and will serve impact communications from both Research and Evaluations. The role will work closely with Researchers and Product Marketers/Fundraisers as well as PR/Communications and Technical Branding.

Your Responsibilities Will Include:

Evidence interpretation:

• Collaborate with the WVUS Research and Evaluation and Sector Leads to shape and define interpretations of research and evaluation findings and pieces of evidence about WVs impact in the field.
• Identify themes, trends, and the meaning behind WV evidence/data to showcase or communicate evidence of impact, and support verification of evidence claims and narratives.
• Support researchers and evaluators for select studies of high importance to IPG leadership to fine-tune high-level findings for the study summaries. This may include providing technical support with the development of data visualizations for select findings.

Evidence Curation:

• Develop resources for internal stakeholders that communicate the latest evidence in an accessible way. These may include briefs and/or resource pages kept up to date with the latest impact data.
• Collaborate with the Technical Branding team to ensure resources are widely known and accessible internally.
• Share clear and succinct communication briefs/resources for internal stakeholders that represent the latest data about WV’s impact in the field.
• Represent WVUS and its research findings and learning to external forums and networks (marketing or programming)

Alignment with Donor Marketing/Insights:

• Ensure evidence communication aligns with and supports segment insights and attributes, product messaging and impact claims.
• Support market segments to understand available and emerging evidence and leverage it for the various markets.
• Support market segments in their efforts to share evidence through donor conferences and high-level meetings.

Contribution to strategic projects:

• Contribute expertise to special projects or initiatives, as needed. This may include interpretation and translation of specific research projects or datasets, tracking or verification of changing trends, and/or collaborating with other parts of the organization on product development to showcase evidence of impact relevant to specific audiences or needs.

You’ll Bring These Skills:

Expert communication skills: This individual should be comfortable communicating in both written and oral forms in order to engage with key internal and external stakeholders. This individual must be able to translate complex data and findings into accessible and everyday language.

Strong interpersonal abilities: The Senior Impact Communications Specialist will place a premium on the building of positive relationships across teams and departments, and with key external stakeholders. S/he must be able to work within and across teams, and exercise discretion, judgment, and personal responsibility.

Self-Motivation and Ability to Prioritize: The Senior Impact Communications Specialist will be able to prioritize and complete tasks without extra assistance from the supervisor. S/he will keep the supervisor and team members abreast of product development and design.

Creativity and Strategic Thinking: The Senior Impact Communications Specialist will liaise across many teams at WVUS, from Fundraising to Technical Branding to Research and Development. S/he will be able to astutely and strategically identify opportunities to demonstrate impact to stakeholders and distill complex information into creative modes of dissemination.

Technical Skills:

• Required: Intermediate to advanced proficiency in data visualization software such as Tableau, R, Visme, Datawrapper, and Excel
• Required: Working knowledge of scientific fundamentals and scientific interpretation through education and experience in quantitative research methods and study designs
• Preferred: Intermediate to advanced proficiency in quantitative statistical software, including STATA, SPSS, Qualtrics, or R
• Preferred: Proficiency in using quantitative data analysis software such as NVivo, Dedoose, etc.

Education and Experience:

• The ideal candidate will bring combined experience as a social science content expert and experience in research writing for the general public.
• Master’s Degree in a field relevant to Humanitarian and Development sectors, and/or involving advanced training/experience in communication and writing. Doctorate degree preferred but not required.
• At least five years of international development work experience with some field experience, with at least four years of work experience in social science evaluation and research methods. Previous experience as a technical/sector specialist or in the area of Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning is preferred.
• Professional writing experience in either a newsroom or communications office, with experience writing news articles, press releases, blog posts, or newsletters covering scientific research/studies.
• Previous experience working cross-culturally and with a variety of stakeholders (senior leadership, field, technical, marketing, communications) is preferred.