Communications Officer at University of Cape Town

Reference number: E24604

This incumbent will form part of the Marine and Antarctic Research for Innovation and Sustainability (MARIS) team, LOCATED IN THE Department of Biological Sciences, and housed within the Faculty of Science. MARIS is an interdisciplinary multi-department and multi-faculty research unit, aggregator of competence and expertise that considers multiple bodies of knowledge (including academic and technological) in relation to societal benefits, with the overarching aim of producing knowledge and human capacity in marine and Antarctic research.

The main purpose of this position is to develop, manage and implement communication and marketing strategies to support the needs of the scientific projects run by MARIS via website, email, social media (X, Instagram, and LinkedIn), including administrative planning and meetings with the relevant partners, participants, and stakeholders.

This includes managing the communication strategies of the MARIS components of national and international projects and coordinating with the respective central communication offices.
The ideal candidate should be a team player with excellent inter-personal skills and a good level of self-management.

Requirements

•  Due to the nature of the role and the niche discipline, we require an NQF 8 level qualification specialising in Marine Sciences.
•  Demonstrated experience in professional communications and/or marketing, including, but not exclusive, to social media experience.
•  Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English coupled with sound interpersonal skills.
•  Competence in content management systems and web publishing.
•  Proficiency in office software tools (e.g. MS Office, Google Suite, Survey Monkey, etc.), and digital design software (e.g. Canva).
•  Proven ability to develop and implement a communication strategy and/or campaigns in marine science.
•  Ability to rework marine scientific jargon and policy into readable, personable information by using neutral, unbiased,  and friendly tone.
•  Ability to work independently and to switch between different tasks according to project demands.
•  High level of attention to detail, project management, time management and organisation skills.
•  Availability to participate in field work on shoreline and at sea,  and proactivity in organizing the related logistics and transport.
•  A willingness to work after-hours if needed, to travel internationally, and to participate to conferences.

Advantageous:

•  Proven experience in a higher education environment.
•  Fluency in isiXhosa and/or Afrikaans.
•  Experience in building partnerships with a range of internal and external stakeholders in the marine science sector.
•  Experience in conducting surveys and assessing communication needs.
•  Experience in liaising with the educational sector.
•  Photography and/or video filming/processing experience.

Responsibilities:

•  Implementation of internal and external communication strategies, and outreach.
•  Coordinate and manage awareness and marketing events.
•  Client services and stakeholder engagement.
•  Assist Early Career Researcher development in communication and event organization.
•  Management of digital and online communications, including newsletters, websites, and social media for science projects and MARIS in general.
•  To build relationships and work with stakeholders to identify and respond to key issues that need to be communicated from the MARIS research.