Brief description of recruiting organization
The Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) is the voice of education in Africa and continues to play an important role in the educational arena as convenor, knowledge creator, and forum for policy dialogue. Since its creation, ADEA has acted as the bridge between African Ministries of Education and development partners. As a forum for policy dialogue, ADEA promotes innovative policies and practices by sharing and disseminating ideas, experiences, learning and knowledge among countries and stakeholders. ADEA is hosted as a special project in the African Development Bank Group in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
Our Vision:
A high-quality education and training system for the accelerated development of Africa.
Our Mission:
To serve as an open and flexible pan-Africa organization that informs and facilitates the transformation of education and training systems for resilience, human capital development, and youth empowerment in Africa.
Our Goal:
To empower African countries to transform schooling to meaningful learning by leveraging our globally connected partnerships, a well-equipped and skilled Secretariat and country-led Inter-Country Quality Nodes.
Brief description of the Initiative
The African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) is a coalition led by ADEA, VVOB, FAWE and ESSA, working to strengthen and promote school leadership systems across Africa. ACSL was set up in 2021, to mobilize effective continental resources and partnerships to support school leadership. In Tanzania, ACSL is supporting the implementation of the VVOB-led ‘Lead’ component of Leaders in Teaching (LIT) initiative, which supports government efforts to enhance the professional development of school leaders and improve learning outcomes. The LIT Lead initiative hopes to strengthen the capacity of 6,000 school teachers and make them school leaders.
Position summary
The Advocacy and Communications Officer will lead efforts to strengthen ACSL’s visibility, drive strategic advocacy, and support knowledge mobilization and stakeholder engagements. The role combines communication strategy, partnership engagement, knowledge mobilization, and policy advocacy to amplify ACSL’s voice and impact at both national and regional levels.
ADEA is looking for a professional with a proven track record in communications and advocacy to support the implementation of the LIT Lead initiative in Tanzania. The incumbent will be integrated into the LIT implementation team in Tanzania.
Tasks and responsibilities
The Advocacy and Communications Officer will be responsible for the tasks below and others that may be assigned, related to the overall job function or to facilitate the delivery of the functions under the role:
- Strategic Communications & Visibility
- Support the design and drive the implementation of ACSL’s communications and visibility plan in Tanzania, ensuring alignment with ACSL PANA communications strategy and VVOB LIT Lead implementation strategy.
- Develop and manage communication products — including briefing notes, press releases, social media content, newsletters, and policy briefs — that highlight ACSL’s results, partnerships, and innovations.
- Coordinate media relations and ensure quality coverage of ACSL events, activities, and milestones.
- Oversee the production of multimedia and visual assets (videos, infographics, and photo stories) to support storytelling on school leadership impact.
- Regularly update and maintain online and social media content on ACSL platforms.
- Advocacy and Policy Engagement
- Support the design and implementation of advocacy campaigns that promote effective school leadership and teacher professional development.
- Support the preparation of advocacy materials (briefs, success stories, talking points) targeted at government officials, education partners, and development stakeholders.
- Work closely with the ACSL team, relevant Ministry of Education officials, and partners to influence policy dialogue and integration of school leadership priorities in national frameworks.
- Support the planning and execution of stakeholder engagement events, including webinars, conferences, and policy roundtables.
- Knowledge Management and Learning
- Support the documentation and disseminate good practices, lessons, and success stories emerging from ACSL’s work in Tanzania.
- Support the data collection and evidence packaging, for communication and advocacy purposes.
- Contribute to knowledge sharing with other ACSL countries and continental partners.
- Support the development and publication of reports, learning notes, and research summaries for internal and external audiences.
- Capacity Strengthening and Coordination
- Support the capacity development of government and partner communications focal points to effectively promote education leadership through communication and advocacy.
- Build and maintain a database of key media, communication, and advocacy partners to strengthen collaboration.
- Monitor, evaluate, and report on the reach and impact of ACSL’s communication and advocacy activities.
Qualifications and Requirements
Qualifications:
- Minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Journalism, Public Relations, Development Studies, or related field.
- At least five years of cognate experience in communications, advocacy, or public affairs within the education or development sector.
- Proven experience in strategic communications planning, media relations, and stakeholder engagement.
- Demonstrated ability to design and execute advocacy campaigns and translate technical content into accessible messages.
- Strong communication skills, including excellent writing, editing, and storytelling skills in English and Kiswahili (French or Portuguese skills is an added advantage).
- Strong interpersonal and networking skills, with experience working with government and development partners.
- Proficiency in graphic design, social media management and multimedia content creation is very essential.
- Experience working with graphic design tools.
Technical requirements:
- Solid understanding of the education sector in Tanzania. Knowledge of the continental education and school leadership landscape is an advantage.
- Knowledge of gender and inclusion issues and how they are considered in communication strategies and activity planning.
- Excellent analytical, diplomacy and advocacy skills, in particular the ability to collect, synthesize and analyze information from various sources and derive appropriate messages, including based on recommendations, on project implementation.
- Considerable experience in developing and implementing a communications and advocacy capacity building program for various stakeholders.
- Strong computer skills, particularly in the use of communication management, content development and analysis tools.
- Ability to work in a multicultural, multidisciplinary team.
- Sense of initiative and proactivity, ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines.
- Being disciplined around tasks, results-oriented, organized, and systematic.
Hierarchical structure
This position reports to the ADEA Executive Secretary, with dotted reporting line to the LIT Program Manager.
Working conditions
- This role will be based in Dodoma, Tanzania, with travels for field assignments across Tanzania. Occasional travels to Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and missions in other ACSL countries should be expected. Please note that ACSL reserves the right to deploy the candidate to another location depending on business needs.
- This is a full-time consultancy role, starting with an initial one-year contract, renewable based on strong performance.
Performance expectations
Reporting to the ADEA Executive Secretary, with oversight responsibility to the LIT Program Manager. Performance will be assessed based on completion of assigned activities, achievement of expected deliverables, respect of deadlines for expected deliverables, quality of communication tools developed, and the project’s media outreach. He/she will also be assessed on the quality of relationships developed and maintained with project stakeholders, and on his/her ability to adapt to changing technologies and project requirements.
Application process
Interested candidates are invited to send their curriculum vitae, a letter of motivation and a portfolio of their work to adea-applications@afdb.org by November 30th, 2025 (12.00 AM, GMT). Please indicate “Advocacy and Communications Officer” in the subject line.
Declaration on Equal Employment Opportunities:
As an equal opportunity employer, ADEA welcomes applications from people of all backgrounds and experience.
Due to the high volume of applications, only selected candidates will be contacted through a formal email correspondence. Do not contact ADEA or its staff members about the status of your application.
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