Senior Strategic Communications Advisor

Focus of the Role

Are you excited by the prospect of providing strategic communications advisory to government  leaders  as part of a wider team focused on driving reforms in line with a transformational development agenda? Do you have experience working with senior political leadership to shape policy, to lead on developing communications strategies and to deliver impactful change?

Our main objective in this strategically important role is to help deliver TBI’s strategic communications advisory work in Eastern Europe. This is a mid-to-senior management role requiring an exceptional candidate with relevant expertise, strategic patience, and a sharp approach to strategic communications advisory for political leadership.  

Key Responsibilities

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Key outcomes of the role

• Provide advisory on political strategic communications to profile the work of the government internationally and to achieve key policy objectives domestically.
  • This includes writing speeches and talking points, largely for international audiences or high-level bilateral and multilateral meetings, which effectively illustrate key messages and serve the leader’s goals.
• Set outcome-focused strategic communications objectives, and lead on designing results frameworks and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to demonstrate impact
• Design and lead on audience insight research through appropriate methodologies (quantitative, qualitative, secondary research methods) to build an understanding of target audiences
• Manage the development of insight-driven and audience-led marketing and communications campaigns aimed at affecting change among target audiences
• Support the establishment of best practices to deliver successful media relations, social media and stakeholder engagement. This will require providing primary support for media, stakeholder and influencer relations. This includes:
  • Identifying key media, particularly international media, mapping a plan of engagement and supporting in cultivating relationships. Also includes the ability to deliver sensitive briefings and manage sensitive interactions
  • Provide trainings when necessary for the client, including on effective communication techniques with audiences and productive engagement with the media and press
  • Support counterparts in the successful and impactful use of social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter, helping to draft messages, manage photos and posts, and advise on timing and placement
• Regular delivery of direct strategic communications advice and support to leadership and their Communications Team, using experience and understanding of the geopolitical/policy landscape to inform content and advice
• As needed, support the government to plan and implement crisis communications through the identification and mitigation of risks, developing messaging and reactive lines to take, and running crisis simulations  
• Supporting with the design and delivery of communications capability build programmes, aimed at sustainably building up government communications capabilities 
• Alignment with overall TBI regional programme and collaboration with other project leaders and Regional Director

Person Specification

We are looking for an experienced leader:

• 6-8 years’ experience in strategic communications, ideally with government or public sector experience
• Ideally, experience working directly or closely with senior public sector officials (e.g. Head of State, Ministers, etc.) 
• Good understanding of political dynamics and work of governments in Eastern Europe
• Knowledge of global current affairs and/or current debates about role of technology across government and public sector delivery
• Excellent writing, oral presentation and interpersonal skills
• Proactive, self-motivated individual with a passion for achieving social impact and little issue or hesitancy in working in an environment where English is a second language
• High level of comfort working in a fast-paced environment and handling multiple diverse workstreams at once while maintaining the ability to prioritise effectively
• Significant experience designing and delivering audience-led and insight driven communications and/or marketing campaigns with demonstrable impact
• Experience leading and directing the development and implementation of multi-channel communications strategies for promotion and/or managing crises

• Excellent IT skills, including Word, PPT and Excel. Strong ability to write presentations (using tools such as PowerPoint) to a high standard –including content and appropriate design
  • Experience drafting public facing communications collateral, e.g. speeches, talking points, Op-Eds, press releases, social media copy etc. Engaging with international press, for example via media pitches, is also a plus
• Excellent interpersonal and presentational skills and able to quickly establish TBI’s credibility with the client

• Experience of managing senior government stakeholders required
• Experience of media training, capability building, conducting audience insight research highly desirable
• Bachelors degree and/or graduate in communications, public policy, politics/international relations or relevant field preferred
• Fluency in English required.

About The Institute

The Tony Blair Institute (TBI) is a mission-driven not for profit organisation. We exist to equip political leaders and governments to build open, inclusive and prosperous societies. We work hard, every day, to make a difference.  When governments work well they are able to create economic and social change in a way that promotes fairness, social justice and opportunity. We work relentlessly to support leaders and governments with the challenges they face. Giving them practical solutions and actionable insights, that once implemented, can be transformative for their people.

We do this within two connected divisions:

Government Advisory

Our Government Advisory teams work directly with political leaders and governments around the world to implement reforms that improve the lives of their citizens. It has both non-profit partners and a client base and its outputs cover a range of disciplines and projects across countries in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Asia.

Policy Futures

Our Policy Futures work encompasses three broad areas:

• Renewing the Centre: developing a bold and innovative domestic policy programme to help renew the centre ground of British politics;
• Tech and Public Policy: exploring the policy challenges and opportunities presented by the technological revolution; and
• Extremism Policy Unit: creating solutions designed to tackle the threat of extremist ideologies in the UK and around the world

As an organisation the core beliefs we all embrace are:

• Open and Progressive: you’ll believe in the value of teamwork
• Bold and Pragmatic: you’ll approach everything you do with integrity and authenticity
• Optimistic Changemakers: you’ll be focused on results