Corporate Communications Manager Full Time NEW

The Corporate Communications Manager leads and inspires a dynamic communications team, fostering an environment where creativity flourishes and innovation, including the freedom to take calculated risks and learn from failure, is actively encouraged. Drives the implementation and continuous improvement of a donor-aligned communications strategy that powerfully reflects World Vision Ethiopia’s impact, faith identity, and commitment to its most vulnerable children. Oversees the Annual Content Planning and Implementation process and Story Hub workflow to ensure all storytelling meets the highest standards of quality, ethics, and organizational reputation. Guides a diverse, high-performing team grounded in a culture of learning and support. Collaborate closely with the Director of Communications, Senior Leadership Team, and technical leads to elevate WVE’s position as a thought leader, trusted partner, and influential voice in the sector.

Leadership and Team Building

• Foster a collaborative team environment, providing mentorship and supporting professional development for staff.

Capacity Building

• Support and mentor local institutions (CBOs, FBOs, etc.) and smaller NGOs to enhance their capabilities and ensure compliance with project standards.

Resource Stewardship

• Enforce accountability by ensuring efficient resource utilization, adherence to internal controls, and achieving satisfactory financial and operational audit results.​

Strategic Leadership and Content Planning

• Leads the development, delivery and continuous refinement of the Annual Content Plan in close partnership with the Digital Engagement Specialist and Comms Director and all other key internal stakeholders
• Aligns communications objectives with sponsor/donor needs, organisational strategy, sector trends and advocacy goals.
• Facilitates regular workshops and planning sessions with programmatic, field and technical leads to ensure content priorities are understood and collaboratively set.
• Integrates feedback and insights from StoryHub usage, metrics, and internal stakeholder consultations

Team Leadership and Culture

• Provides direct supervision to the Media and Corporate Storytelling Manager and functional, matrix management to Field Storytelling Coordinators.
• Champions a culture where creative experimentation, calculated risk-taking, and learning from failure are part of daily team life.
• Sets clear expectations for innovation, feedback, safeguarding vigilance and professional growth.
• Identifies talent gaps and organises targeted skill-building sessions, mentorship and professional development.
• Provides functional leadership to Field Storytelling Coordinators, setting priorities for collecting regionally diverse, child-focused narratives, case studies and multimedia.
• Ensures field teams have adequate support, feedback, and practical tools for both new and recurring assignments.
• Gathers feedback from field teams and partners for continual improvement of approaches.
• Drives the use of innovative technologies and methodologies for field content gathering

StoryHub Management, Content Quality and Safeguarding

• Manages StoryHub assignments, workflow and content archiving across the organization, ensuring all assets are uploaded, categorized, and retrievable.
• Personally reviews all flagship assignments and high-risk content for quality, clarity, safeguarding and reputational risk.
• Assigns Story Hub assignments to Storytellers in coordination with the Media and Corporate Storytelling Manager
• Regularly audits Story Hub collections to ensure assets are not only compliant, but also reusable and tied to priority partners and organizational themes

Thought Leadership, Positioning and Partnerships

• Collaborates with the Director of Comms, SLT and technical leads to identify themes, moments and products for organizational thought leadership.
• Guides the creation, review, and sign-off of white papers, strategic reports, advocacy statements and sector-facing content.
• Identifies opportunities for WVE to participate in or host influential discussions, panels and conferences.
• Partners with the Media and Corporate Storytelling Manager to position Thought Leadership pieces in the media

Risk Management, Ethics and Safeguarding

• Drafts all communications output with complex safeguarding or reputational risks, including sensitive field stories and emergency communications.
• Works closely with the Media and Corporate Storytelling Manager and Director for Comms and Marketing and IMTs (Incident Management Teams) during reputational crises​

Monitoring, Reporting and Adaptation

• Collects, reviews and analyses communications metrics and qualitative feedback for continuous improvement.
• Shares reporting outputs with the Director for Comms and Marketing for strategic adjustments.
• Implements recommendations based on data and lessons learned.
• Engage with the Local Partnerships Specialist to implement the Localization Roadmap in order to strengthen local partner capacity and deliver targeted training and mentorship where needed.
• Integrate cross-cutting themes (nexus approach, gender-lens, conflict sensitivity, safeguarding, do no harm, faith & development) to ensure programs are inclusive, context-sensitive, and aligned with WVE values and donor expectations.
• Contribute to WVE’s acquisition efforts by engaging in external stakeholder relations and proposal preparation to increase funding opportunities in coordination with the RAM and Marketing teams.
• Capture and share innovations and most significant change stories with Technical, MEAL, Comms, Marketing and RAM teams to support evidence-based learning, scale-up, and wider stakeholder engagement.

Required Education, training, license, registration, and/or Certification

• Advanced degree in Communications, Media, Journalism, Marketing, International Relations or a related field.

Required Professional Experience

• Minimum 8 years’ experience in multi-channel communications management, with strong donor-funded and field engagement experience.
• Demonstrated team and matrix leadership, with track record of skills development and change management.
• Proven experience overseeing editorial quality, content databases and communications planning at scale.
• Expertise in safeguarding, ethics, digital storytelling tools and sector positioning.
• Familiarity with content/worklflow management platforms.
• Experience fostering psychologically safe, learning-oriented teams.
• Strong capacity for empathy, strategic insight and operational discipline.

Required Language(s)

• Excellent written and spoken communication in English and Amharic
• Other local languages valued.

Preferred Experience, Knowledge and/or Key Competencies

• Model Self-Management
• Engage, Influence, Lead and Grow Others
• Run an Effective and Agile Organization
• Develop the Organization for the Future