Head of Communications

About this role

Educate! is recruiting a Head of Communications to lead its communications function across East Africa. This is a senior leadership role reporting directly to the Global Director of Development, responsible for shaping and executing an integrated communications strategy that advances the organisation's fundraising priorities and organisational positioning. The post-holder will manage and develop a team of three to four communications staff, serve as an editor-in-chief across all content channels, and build scalable systems and workflows that enable a lean team to produce consistently excellent work.

Core responsibilities include developing and leading a communications strategy aligned to four priority revenue segments, establishing metrics tied to revenue and influence outcomes, and prioritising high-leverage activities that strengthen funder engagement. The role requires leading editorial production across blog, press, social media, email, web, donor materials, and print, with clear audience segmentation and personalisation for different funder profiles. The Head of Communications will also build and manage relationships with journalists and media outlets to secure top-tier coverage, lead campaigns around key moments such as research launches and major funding announcements, and partner with the CEO and senior leaders on external visibility including media appearances and speaking engagements. Candidates must have five or more years of experience in communications, content strategy, journalism, or media, including demonstrated experience leading high-performing teams.

The ideal candidate combines strategic judgement with exceptional storytelling instincts, can translate complex research and data into accessible narratives for influential non-technical audiences, and has experience building relationships with senior stakeholders across media and funding circles. Educate! is the largest youth employment and skills provider in East Africa, having meaningfully impacted more than 500,000 youth across Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, and Tanzania. The organisation employs over 300 largely African staff and has been backed by major foundations including Imaginable Futures, Livelihood Impact Fund, CIFF, and Echidna Giving.