Vice President or Lead Manager, Strategic Corporate Communications

Job Title: VP or Lead Manager          Location: Head Office         Reports to: CEO

Department: Public Relations/Communications

Job Summary: The Lead Manager, Communications is responsible for the development and execution of internal and external communications and public relations strategies. This includes managing all corporate communications. Externally, the Lead Manager ensures effective interacting with domestic and international stakeholders. This individual interacts with and assists the CEO in managing relationships with high-level media representatives, state-level and national government officials, donors, investors, lenders and other affiliated organizations. Internally, the Lead Manager ensures appropriate collaboration with HR to oversee field and head office intercommunication and communications at the field level.

Responsibilities:

Strategy Development and Relationship Management

• In partnership with SKS leadership, create, implement and oversee execution of communications, public-relations, and branding strategy
  
  
• Act as first-point of contact to introduce SKS to high-level officials, i.e. state/national/international-level government officials, donors, investors and lenders
  
  
• Support CEO and Senior Management Team in developing and managing relationships with key investors
  
  
• Oversee media relations program, including coordination of English-speaking and International print and TV Media. This also includes oversight of national and local level media relations
  

• Hire, manage, develop and coach a small Communications Team. Help direct reports effectively hire, manage, develop and coach their teams to achieve all growth, quality, and branding goals. Ensure fair and consistent HR practices at all levels of PR team
  
  
• Model effective communication, feedback and other soft skills and regularly coach direct reports on these and other skills as needed
  

• Oversee development of employee communications program. This includes ensuring an effective Media Training for staff, publication of quarterly internal newsletters, and collaboration with the Members Services and HR teams to further external and internal communications directives
  
  
• Oversee production of quarterly external newsletter
   
• Perform final edits and approval for all written releases: press releases, press invitations, annual report, newsletters, website content, communications handbook additions, and SKS presentations
   
• Oversee website developments
   
• Ensure effective Public Relations / Communications Handbook updates
   
• Oversee preparation of Annual Report

• Oversee arrangement of Press Conferences and Press Releases
  
  
• Oversee proper execution of field visits. May accompany field visits for high-level officials
   
• Ensure proper coordination of all external-facing events

• Ensure effective relationship management with local politicians, bureaucrats, police, other officials, media, and local public in areas of operations
  
  
• Ensure effective resolution of problems and crisis situations in the field
   
• Ensure Area, Unit, and Branch staff are trained on relationship management and that they are coached as needed

• Other duties as assigned

• Passionate commitment to SKS’s mission
  
  
• Excellent interpersonal, relationship management, and rapport building skills. Ability to effectively partner with and indirectly lead functional partners
   
• Excellent leadership and people management skills, with ability to manage people both directly and indirectly at multiple levels
   
• Excellent analytic skills, judgment and ability to make independent decisions informed by both quantitative and qualitative data (including informal feedback from stakeholders and non-business context / socio-political-religious environmental factors)
   
• Ability to prioritize, multi-task, delegate, and proactively resolve problems
   
• Demonstrated potential to take initiative in building a growing customer base and team
  

• Excellent reading and writing skills in English required. Good knowledge of Hindi , Telugu, and / or regional languages is strongly preferred
   
• Ability to effectively communicate with the public at all levels, including writing correspondence and giving presentations
   
• Solid financial skill set / ability to gain intimate knowledge of SKS’s financial situation and credibly represent / help CEO represent SKS to investors
   
• Proficiency in MS Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel)
   
• Experience with design applications (Quark, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop)
   
• Experience in event planning
   
• Able and willing to travel as needed, including to remote rural areas
  

• Masters degree in Communications, Marketing or Public Relations fields or equivalent experience required
   
• Minimum 8-10 years Communications, Marketing and/or Public Relations experience