Senior Editor / Writer - African Development Bank

Under the overall direction and supervision of the Director of the Communication and External Relations Department - PCER.1, the incumbent will apply publishing guidelines in his/her area of activity and define an editorial policy for the Bank.

Duties and responsibilities

Under the general supervision of the Director of Communication and External Relations Department - PCER.1, the Senior Editor/Writer shall:

• research, write and edit well-written and up-to-date content for online and external publication that reflects current African Development Bank practices, and whose quality and scope meet the objectives of the Bank's internal and external stakeholders;
• substantially revise and re-edit texts from Bank departments, rewrite documents, including web content, to ensure that the grammar is correct, the Bank's style guide and editorial policy are respected, the ideas are targeted, clear and the content is presented in a logical and persuasive manner that is consistent with the subject, product plan and target audience;
• coordinate the multiple contributions made to major initiatives by the teams/units producing the documents, obtain authorisations and introduce other changes, particularly on sensitive issues;
•  conduct interviews with experts and research, write and analyse a wide range of documents;
• assign writing and editing tasks and projects as required to meet deadlines;
•  read and approve all content, including opinions, reports, President's documents, etc. to be published on behalf of the Bank in a timely manner;
•  ensure that all information, written or visual, is accurate before publishing, in order to avoid any copyright infringement (e.g. plagiarism and ghost writing) and refrain from any false statements or defamation;
•  cross-check any quotations and references;
• assist with the training and supervision of newly-recruited staff members;
• Support and supervise colleagues in the drafting and updating of content and respond to questions from stakeholders, including sub-editing;
•  be up-to-date on all relevant developments at the African Development Bank to ensure that all content for which he/she is responsible reflects and takes into account current practices;
• establish relationships with external sources, as appropriate, to obtain input for articles and other publications or to improve content with ideas from third parties.

The incumbent shall also:

•  ensure that information quality and accessibility on Bank sites reflects its image as Africa's premier development finance institution and its global role as a development organization; to this end, the incumbent shall ensure that all information posted and published is timely, accurate and consistent with the Bank's information dissemination policy and editorial policy;
•   ensure that all information from organizational units is reviewed, revised and posted on the web site and other designated channels;
• actively seek to create content and organize information in various formats; and
• ensure that the French versions of texts are a faithful representation of the original English texts and vice versa.

Selection Criteria

Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience

• Hold at least a Master's degree or its equivalent in journalism, communication, international relations, public affairs, marketing, political science or related fields;  
•  Have a minimum of five (5) years of relevant and progressive experience in an international or multidimensional development institution, including two (2) years as an editor;
• Have strong written and oral communication skills, in particular the ability to analyse complex messages and express them in simple, clear and plain language for various audiences;
• Excellent command of French, ability to write compelling texts and produce press releases, features and high-quality materials;
• Experience in non-technical and highly technical writing;
• Experience working with or in developing countries;
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to lead without being authoritarian;
• Ability to learn, innovate and deliver quality;
• Previous experience in corporate communication with multilateral development institutions or non-profit organizations would be an asset;
• Attention to detail and excellent monitoring skills;
• Ability to complete assigned tasks on time with little supervision;
• Ability to work efficiently under pressure on several projects simultaneously while meeting tight deadlines;
• Communication – Produce clear and concise oral or written messages; present oral information clearly and properly, adapt language and style to the needs of a particular audience;
• Problem-solving – Apply operational knowledge to problem-solving and identify solutions in the interest of the client (internal and external) and the organisation;
• Customer focus – Ensure that the customers’ interests are always put first in all transactions and interactions; strive to understand and, if necessary, anticipate customers’ needs and ensure that they receive the best possible service from the Bank;
• Teamwork and relationships – Work  with others to maximize the effectiveness of the team as a whole and share knowledge and workload; develop strong working relationships with colleagues and contribute to the creation of a positive team environment;
• Ability to motivate a multicultural team of communication experts (staff members or consultants);
• Ability to coordinate the work of several communication experts working on varied and sometimes conflicting programmes;
• Proven ability to seek solutions to problems raised by communication experts;
• Strong decision-making skills;
• Excellent project and time management skills;
• Ability to coordinate multiple workflows between internal communication experts and external service providers and consultants;
• Ability to communicate effectively both in writing and orally in French, preferably with a working knowledge of English; proficiency in both languages is an asset.
• Understanding and experience in the use of various multimedia software tools;
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint).