The Ethio-German Sustainable Training and Education Programme (STEP) IV improves the employment prospects of young Ethiopians by promoting quality, relevance and gender equality in the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system with a technical focus on green and digital transformation in cooperation with the Ministry of Labor and Skills (MoLS), related agencies and relevant stakeholders. At its core the programme establishes strong linkages between the education and the private sector to support the development of a modern education system geared towards employment and economic growth. In this, employers, education providers and public authorities come together to identify their needs and jointly develop education and training solutions that best tackle the skill mismatch.

Responsibilities and Duties

The Communication Specialist is responsible for:

• Developing the Programme’s communication strategy and action plan in line with the visibility guideline as well as corporate strategy of GIZ

• Creating, implementing and measuring the success of communications and public relations products to support enhancing the image of the Programme 

• Supporting the Programme Manager in effective delivery of strategic communications/messaging to the internal/external audience 

• Evaluating the internal/external communication success in terms of outreach, retrospection grade of the message, etc.

• Coordinating with the GIZ Country Office to promote GIZ’s external communication objectives 

• Acts as a focal point for the mainstream, national and international media concerning effective dissemination of information about the Programme 

• Enhances the way in which the Programme communicates to all stakeholders and promotes its image and initiatives 

• Offers strategic and editorial advice to the Programme teams on branding, design, production and distribution of all the publications as well as instruments for strategic communications

• Creates, manages and updates the Programme’s social media pages and other relevant internal and external PR tools

• Organizes conferences and visibility events and high-profile visits and media tours   

• Analyses/compiles policies/trends within the development cooperation and supports the Programme Manager in effective strategic communication with internal and external audience 

• Develop ready-to-use strategies, products and technical concepts, including guidelines and procedures to ensure achieving the strategic objectives of the Programme

Job Requirements

Required qualifications, competencies, and experience.

Qualifications

• A university degree in Journalism, Mass Communication or any relevant field  

Professional experience

• At least 05 years’ professional experience with national and international organisations in the field of communication (media and PR work, journalism, internal communication or lobbying or similar)

  Other knowledge, additional competencies

• Hands on experience of developing various communication and visibility tools and products

• Profound knowledge of German Development Cooperation, as well as the development/cooperation policies/approaches of various multilateral donors 

• Demonstrated knowledge about the political/development sector landscape of Ethiopia

• Hands-on experience of working with national and international organizations in comparable positions 

• Experience in project and/or event management 

• Editorial experience including writing contents, articles, reports, publications (evidenced e.g. by work samples)

• Ability to express oneself well both verbally and in writing; polished, target-group oriented style 

• Very good working knowledge of ITC technologies (related software, phone, fax, email, the internet) and computer applications (e.g. MS Office)

• Very good knowledge of the English and Amharic 

Willingness to upskill as required by the tasks to be performed – corresponding measures are agreed with management 

How to Apply

Application procedure:

Interested and qualified candidates shall submit their motivation letter along with their recent CV via Email: hreth@giz.de

Please make sure you mention the vacancy number and position title ‘Communication Specialist #035/2025’ in the subject line of your email application. 

Applications without vacancy numbers in subject lines might be disqualified.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Please refer to our brochure to learn more about GIZ’s attractive benefits package.