Specialist - Science Communication

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is dedicated to reducing poverty and hunger through rice science, improving the health and welfare of rice farmers and consumers; and protecting the rice-growing environment for future generations. IRRI is an independent, nonprofit, research and educational institute, founded in 1960 by the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations with support from the Philippine government. The institute, headquartered in Los Baños, Philippines, has offices in 17 rice-growing countries in Asia and Africa, and over 1,000 staff. Working with in-country partners, IRRI develops advanced rice varieties that yield more grain and better withstand pests and disease as well as flooding, drought, and other harmful effects of climate change. 
 
The IRRI South Asia Regional Centre (ISARC) is an IRRI regional facility that supports research collaboration, training, and service provision to institutions, scientists, and other stakeholders from India and other South Asian and African nations. The centre aims to enhance South-South collaboration and strengthen the capacity of rice growing countries in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa in crop production and seed quality and enhance farmers’ income. It also seeks to deliver research for development services for the private and public sectors through its state-of-the-art laboratory facilities for grain quality, crop production, and nutritional quality. Lastly, it enables knowledge transfer through short courses on rice-based agri-food systems and other IRRI Education products within the region.

The Communication Specialist will be under the supervision of the Head of Communication, under the Science Communication Pillar, and the Senior Associate Scientist - II, Scientific & Technical Coordination. They will work with project staff, and internal, and external stakeholders to develop and implement a communication plan for ISARC that ensures consistency with the institutional themes. They will develop content for communication materials that will support the research projects in ISARC and other institutional initiatives while adhering to the IRRI strategic plan and branding guidelines/policies.

They will also manage events from planning and execution to post-event evaluation and reporting and will ensure adherence to IRRI’s strategic direction and according to Communication’s processes and guidelines.

• Conceptualize and implement the communication plan and strategy for ISARC and other relevant IRRI projects/initiatives.
• Lead the content creation and distribution of ISARC and other project-related content in various IRRI platforms.
• Ensure that the collaterals produced (ex. website content, brochures, flyers, talking points, etc.) are aligned with IRRI’s institutional branding standards and are delivered promptly.
• Develop and maintain media (English and Hindi) relationships and actively pursue media opportunities in South Asia.
• Assist in events management for ISARC and other IRRI-related internal and external engagements.
• Work with staff in HQ and ISARC to ensure that the communication needs of the projects are identified and delivered.
• Coordinate with project leads to ensure timely and efficient delivery of the project’s communication needs.
• Secure linkages and collaborate with regional partners, communication subgroups, and the media to ensure that IRRI technologies and information about its initiatives are disseminated to the stakeholders.
• In consultation with scientists and researchers, develop engaging, creative, and innovative communication materials like press releases, articles, video scripts, brochures, success stories, and project fact sheets, that can be used in multiple channels and are appropriately targeted to audiences.
• Contribute to the preparation of the ISARC annual report and presentations.
• Prepare the ISARC Newsletter and annual calendar.
• Support for the design of experimental boards, farm, and laboratory product branding materials.
• Gather information for impact stories and use these to create captivating content that can be used on multiple platforms and for various purposes.
• Update project flyers and factsheets, draft web stories and photo essays for digital use, research strong visuals, and select images that will have high social media traction.
• Ensure the proper distribution of the materials on the correct platforms to raise awareness and enhance audience growth.
• Write media briefs, press releases, and talking points to be used for media engagements.
• Organize and update the ISARC photo library and make sure that content is available for project reporting and public information needs.
• Manage events in ISARC and provide support for high-level events happening in HQ as necessary.
• Deliver other communication requirements needed in ISARC and IRRI HQ.
• Perform any other relevant duties as assigned by supervisor from time to time.

• Bachelor’s degree in communication, Development communication, Journalism, Languages or related field with a minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience.
• Master’s degree in communication, Development communication, Journalism, Languages or related field with a minimum 2 years of relevant work experience.

Mandatory

• Strong written and oral communication skills, must be proficient in English and Hindi.
• Experience in working for international organizations, specifically those in Agriculture development.
• Experience in communication product development.
• Experience in packaging communication collaterals that are applicable across multiple mediums or channels.
• Proficiency in the use of social networking and new media tools.
• Strong event management skills.
• Good organizational and interpersonal skills.

Preferred

• Experience in video development and editing.

Allowances

In addition to the base salary mentioned above, IRRI also offers the following allowances:

House-Rent Allowance: IRRI provides a house rent allowance of 40% of base pay per month.

Transport Allowance: A monthly transport allowance of INR 4000.

Dearness Allowance: One Hundred and Thirteen percent (113%) of employee’s base pay.

Leave Travel Allowance (LTA): One-month base pay per annum, on availing minimum 2 days of vacation leave.

Education Allowance: INR 1000/- per child per month (limited 2 children).

IRRI offers a highly extensive employee benefits package inclusive of globally covered medical insurance, retirement plan, life and accident insurance and other allowances.

Join our team and be part of our story!

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

This position will remain open until filled.