Pakistan: Social Media Expert

Position Title: Social Media Expert (local position)

Position Location: Islamabad, Pakistan – with possible travel to the provinces

Contract Period: 15 August 2016 – 31 March 2017

Start Date: 15 August 2016

Closing date: 31 July 2016

Background:

Democracy Reporting International (DRI) is a non-partisan, independent, not-for-profit organisation registered in Berlin. DRI promotes political participation of citizens, accountability of state bodies and the development of democratic institutions world-wide.

With funding from DFID, DRI is going to launch the short term project “Supporting Electoral and Parliamentary Reforms in Pakistan”, which aims at supporting Pakistan’s elected institutions at the national and provincial levels to become a source of democratic stability and effectively exert their oversight, legislative and representation functions with improved participation of women, youth, and minorities in electoral and democratic processes. DRI will engage with different stakeholders such as policy-makers, political parties, media and civil society on the need of electoral and parliamentary reforms in light of international electoral standards and good parliamentary practices.

Duties and responsibilities:

DRI plans to launch a social media campaign, encompassing a series of animated videos and info graphics, on key electoral issues. The main objective of the campaign is to generate discussion and debate on key reforms required to improve the quality of elections in Pakistan. The social media expert is expected to support DRI’s team in steering this campaign forward on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat.

The Social Media Expert works under the supervision of DRI’s Country Representative in Pakistan and takes leadership for implementing the social media advocacy and lobbying campaign under the project. In close collaboration with DRI’s Senior Legal Expert and Project Coordinator, s/he will specifically:

• Garner focused discussion on and mass support for electoral reform issues by disseminating project findings and recommendations on voter registration, election offences, and access of observers to elections via traditional and social media outlets and social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and SnapChat;


• Provide technical advice on usage of different social media outlets for the campaign’s raising awareness of and maximizing outreach to various target groups, amongst others diverse segments of the Pakistani society, including visible minorities and persons with disabilities, key parliamentarians and decision-makers;


• Work with the info graphic designer to produce a wide array of textual and pictorial posts as well as info graphics based on various research materials available with DRI, converting technical information into user-friendly content;


• Contribute to development of content and format of the animated videos;


• Train DRI staff on the running of the social media campaign;


• Train project beneficiaries, specifically participants of the project’s Parliamentary Internship Programme, on how to use social media for disseminating messages on electoral reforms and promote their engagement with social media to enable them to act as social media curators in their respective regions, helping to moderate online debate on electoral reforms;


• Devise and implement activities, such as online debates and Q&As, in order to render the videos and info graphics capable of generating widespread debate and discussion;


• Log key themes of the discussions of DRI’s videos and analyse trends by conducting polls on the media platforms to allow for data collection on public opinions;


• Share DRI social media content with local election actors in Pakistan such as FAFEN and IFES for furthering promotion of DRI messages through multipliers and publication on the PakVoter website and associated social media pages;


• Liaise with local election actors for DRI to use their produces in its own social media campaign, allowing for concerted action on electoral reforms;


• Utilize analytical tools and features to monitor the reach of DRI videos and posts (number of posts, number of comments, number of posts’ re-sharing, number of videos watched) and analyse the trajectory and quality of discussions that the posts/videos generate Support in incorporating social media presence in projects public events and activities;


• If required, travel within Pakistan for project activities.

Education & Experience:

• Master’s Degree in media, communication or equivalent;


• Minimum of 7 years of professional experience in designing and launching social media and advocacy campaigns;


• Profound knowledge of social media, including Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Snapchat;


• Ability of data processing and generating info graphics is be a plus;


• Understanding of Pakistani political context and electoral issues is a plus;


• Proven strong planning, implementation, organizational and communications skills (written and oral);


• Experience in training of non-media specialized staff members on the workings and specific implementation modes of social media campaigns in project management;


• Very good working knowledge of Microsoft Office (particularly Word, Excel and Powerpoint) and online collaborative tools such as Google Docs/Drive and DropBox;


• Fluency in English and Urdu, both spoken and written is required;


• Ability to work effectively under stressful conditions like heavy workloads and deadlines;


• Equally qualified women candidates are encouraged to apply.

How to apply:

Closing date for applications: 31 July 2016

Early applications are encouraged. Recruitment may close before the deadline if an applicant is found.

For interested applicants, please send your application (cover letter, CV and three references as well as work samples) to asia@democracy-reporting.org with “Social Media Expert – Pakistan” as the subject heading and supporting documents in the following format: SURNAME_FIRSTNAME_SOCIALMEDIAEXPERT.

This is a locally recruited position. DRI offers a competitive salary according to donor regulations and incumbent experience.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview. The award of the contract is contingent on funding for this project.