Senior Associate- Communications

Chief of Staff & Strategic Coordination

Work closely with the Director and senior leadership to ensure that institutional priorities are translated into clear actions and deliverables. Responsibilities include:

1. Supporting the leadership in translating strategic priorities into actionable work plans.
2. Coordinating across multiple program and workstreams.
3. Preparing briefing notes, presentations, talking points and meeting material for senior leadership.
4. Tracking key institutional priorities, deadlines and commitments.
5. Maintaining a leadership-level dashboard of major projects.
6. Identifying dependencies, bottlenecks and areas requiring leadership intervention.
7. Ensuring that decisions taken in meetings are converted into clear actions, owners and deadlines.
8. Following up with internal teams to ensure timely execution.
9. Preparing periodic updates for leadership on program progress.
10. Supporting strategic planning and institutional priority-setting.
11. Coordinating cross-functional teams working across research, communications, program and partnerships.

Strategic Communications

Lead the development and implementation of IGPP's institutional communications strategy. This will include:

1. Developing the overall communications strategy for IGPP.
2. Positioning IGPP's research, program and institutional work effectively.
3. Developing communication strategies for major program and initiatives.
4. Overseeing social media, digital communication and public-facing content.
5. Working with researchers and program teams to identify content opportunities.
6. Reviewing and approving high-value communication outputs.
7. Developing institutional narratives and key messages.
8. Preparing speeches, talking points, op-eds, articles and leadership communications.
9. Supporting communication around major events, reports, partnerships and announcements.
10. Coordinating with designers, editors, video teams and external communication partners.
11. Ensuring consistency in IGPP's tone, positioning and visual identity.

Media & External Positioning

Develop and manage IGPP's media and public-facing relationships. Responsibilities include:

1. Building relationships with journalists, editors, media organisations and relevant commentators.
2. Identifying opportunities for IGPP experts and leadership to contribute to public discussions.
3. Developing media outreach strategies around reports, events and institutional initiatives.
4. Preparing press notes, media briefs and talking points.
5. Coordinating interviews and media interactions.
6. Identifying opportunities for commentary, opinion pieces and expert contributions.
7. Maintaining a structured media database.
8. Tracking media coverage and institutional visibility.
9. Supporting crisis or sensitive communications where required.

Strategic Stakeholder Engagement

Build and manage relationships with key external stakeholders, including parliamentarians and policymakers, government institutions, universities and research institutions, technology companies, start-ups, industry bodies, CSR organisations, foundations, development organisations, civil society organisations, think tanks, international organisations, media organisations, and potential institutional partners. Responsibilities include:

1. Identifying strategically important stakeholders.
2. Developing stakeholder engagement strategies.
3. Preparing briefing material before important meetings.
4. Coordinating senior-level meetings.
5. Maintaining relationship records.
6. Identifying opportunities for collaboration.
7. Following up on commitments and potential partnerships.
8. Ensuring that relationships develop beyond one-time interactions.

Business Development & Partnerships

Take an active role in developing new institutional partnerships, projects and revenue opportunities for IGPP. Responsibilities include:

1. Identifying potential institutional, corporate, CSR and philanthropic partners.
2. Mapping organisations whose priorities align with IGPP's program and expertise.
3. Developing partnership and business-development pipelines.
4. Initiating conversations with potential partners.
5. Developing proposals, concept notes and partnership decks.
6. Supporting the development of sponsored program, research projects, events and institutional initiatives.
7. Identifying opportunities for commissioned research and advisory work.
8. Developing partnership models with technology companies, universities, industry bodies and other institutions.
9. Maintaining a structured CRM/partnership tracker.
10. Tracking the progress of potential opportunities from first contact to closure.
11. Coordinating internal teams to develop proposals and deliverables.
12. Supporting negotiations and partnership discussions with senior leadership.
13. Maintaining long-term relationships with institutional partners.

Program Development

Support the leadership in developing new program and institutional initiatives. This may involve:

1. Identifying emerging policy and technology issues that could become new program areas.
2. Conducting preliminary market/stakeholder research.
3. Identifying potential partners and funders.
4. Developing program concepts.
5. Preparing concept notes and proposals.
6. Building stakeholder coalitions around initiatives.
7. Developing implementation plans.
8. Identifying resources required for delivery.
9. Supporting program launch and execution.
10. Developing strategies for scaling successful program.

Events & Institutional Engagements

Lead or support the strategic planning of events. Responsibilities include:

1. Developing event strategy and objectives.
2. Identifying relevant speakers and participants.
3. Developing guest engagement strategies.
4. Managing senior stakeholder communication.
5. Coordinating program and communication teams.
6. Developing sponsorship/partnership opportunities around events.
7. Supporting media strategy.
8. Ensuring appropriate documentation and post-event follow-up.
9. Converting events into longer-term relationships and opportunities.

Institutional Brand & Positioning

Help establish and strengthen IGPP's institutional identity and positioning. Responsibilities include:

1. Developing institutional narratives.
2. Identifying areas where IGPP can establish thought leadership.
3. Building visibility around key areas of institutional expertise.
4. Identifying opportunities for leadership participation in national and international forums.
5. Developing strategic partnerships that strengthen institutional credibility.
6. Ensuring consistency in how IGPP is presented to policymakers, industry, academia and the public.
7. Supporting the development of institutional publications, reports, events and knowledge products.

A postgraduate degree in one of the following areas would be preferred:

1. Public Policy
2. Political Science
3. Management
4. Communications
5. Journalism
6. Economics
7. Law
8. Development Studies
9. Technology Policy
10. Business Administration
11. Relevant professional experience may be considered in lieu of a specific academic background.

Ideal Candidate Profile

We are looking for someone who is more than a communications professional and more than a business-development professional. The ideal candidate is someone who can:

Understand → Strategise → Communicate → Engage → Build Relationships → Develop Opportunities → Execute → Follow Up

About the Role

IGPP is looking for a highly driven and strategic Senior Associate – Communications, to work closely with the leadership team in managing program, strengthening institutional visibility, developing strategic relationships and identifying new partnership and business-development opportunities. The person will work closely with the leadership of IGPP and will be expected to translate institutional priorities into clear plans, coordinated execution, external engagement and measurable outcomes.

The role requires someone who can move comfortably between strategic discussions and execution, whether that means preparing a leadership briefing in the morning, coordinating with external stakeholder, reviewing communication material, developing a partnership proposal or following up on a potential business opportunity.