The role will actively work across OTT’s programmes and projects involving multiple sectors, geographies and stakeholders.
This is a critical role. The post holder will oversee OTT’s marketing and communications strategy; develop, monitor and improve OTT’s marketing and communications plans; deliver hands-on communication support to our programme and projects; and manage OTT’s communications consultants and service providers.
The Marketing and Communications Manager will line-manage OTT’s Content Manager and work in close collaboration with members of the team across the organisation. The Marketing and Communications Manager will be line-managed by OTT’s Executive Director. They will be supported by an external senior Marketing and Communications strategic advisor.

Specific responsibilities

• Strategy and planning: Lead the continuous improvement of the general marketing and communications strategy for OTT, develop annual plans and execute OTT’s marketing and communications strategy and plans. This will include:
  • Reviewing the existing marketing and communications strategy, updating it and setting up KPIs
  • Presenting quarterly analyses and recommendations
  • Reviewing and updating plans rapidly
  • Overseeing brand identity
• Agenda setting: Drawing from quick ongoing discussions with team members, the Content Manager, the Business Development Officer and the CEO and maintaining OTT’s communications and marketing agenda: what to communicate, when and how.
• Monitoring and learning: Ensure OTT monitors, learns from its marketing and communications plan and updates the ongoing plan and as needed. This would include:
  • Developing or commissioning a simple dashboard to review analytics and performance data
  • Review and analyse weekly data
  • Presenting results and action points monthly to better achieve main objectives
  • Identify relevant trends and needs over time
  • Present quarterly reports and annual reports for review
• Team management and coordination: Build and manage an effective team composed of internal members of staff, external consultants and service providers, including working together with senior associates – if and as needed in their projects. You will be responsible for ensuring the Content Manager is adequately managed by you and delivers their responsibilities and tasks efficiently and effectively within deadlines and objectives.
• Budget management: Proactively build and manage OTT’s marketing and communications capacity in the best possible way to deliver high value by tracking the use of resourcs and expenses, seeking economies of scale, and value for money for OTT and its clients and funders.
• Consulting projects: The Marketing and Communications Manager will be part of project and programme delivery teams. This is a hands-on role that will include developing basic communication plans for projects (when necessary), offering team leaders advice and recommendations on outputs (to ensure they are appropriate and useful to our clients and audiecnes), providing quick editorial/proofreading and formatting support for project outputs, and liaising with subcontractors when necessary.
• On Think Tanks: The communications manager will work with the On Think Tanks programme by supporting the development of its overall communications plan, providing specific feedback on KPIs for On Think Tanks and hands-on support/backup for the work of the content manager focused on the programme’s communication needs.
• Business development: Support OTT’s business development providing strategic input, and sometimes leading, on proposals. You will also lead our marketing for flagship activities (e.g. School for Thinktankers, the Open Think Tank Directory or the Research Support Service) and business development/fundraising opportunities (e.g. Giving Tuesday or the end of clients’ financial years) in collaboration with prokect leaders nad the Business Development Officer.
• Policies and procedures: Update relevant, useful and appropriate communications policies, processes and templates to ensure compliance with relevant external regulations, effective internal operations and best practice.
• Engagement within OTT: As a member of the OTT team, you will be called on to engage with the team, join in team meetings, offer support and advice to peers, etc. We encourage all members of the OTT team to share their skills and experience through blogs, podcasts or other means.
• Other: Depending on need you will be called to provide strategic or content management support to individual projects, such as the OTT School for Thinktankers or the Annual OTT Conference. At times, you may need to take on tasks assigned to the Content Manager (e.g. the OTT Talks podcast or the Newsletter).

Skills and experience

As OTT is constantly evolving, we seek someone with an entrepreneurial drive, with a strong capability to adapt and be flexible, achieve results, actively deliver high-value demanding projects, secure new work and work effectively with team members across OTT to set and execute plans and tasks. OTT supports its team members and the development of their ideas – but we expect them to be in the driving seat.
We believe good marketing and communications are crucial for the delivery of our strategy. To do this we need to use the resources we have effectively and efficiently.
Ideal candidates will have:

• At least 8 years in or working towards a similar position. Experience in a consulting environment is highly desirable and with a marketing background.
• Excellent organisational skills and ability to manage time. You will need to independently coordinate and oversee end-to-end production processes to deliver multiple outputs on time.
• Excellent organisational skills and ability to manage time. You will need to independently coordinate and oversee end-to-end production processes to deliver multiple outputs on time.
• Proven expertise in planning and delivering multi-channel marketing plans (both always-on and campaigns) through the effective management of digital platforms. Also, proven experience using efficient digital platforms, including website management, and effectively using social media tools and analytics. Implementation of the plans will be primarily the role of the Content Manager but you be responsible for it.
• Creativity and judgement – you can make independent judgements about communication plan needs, editing needs, design, messaging and communication approach to maximise impact.
• Strong writing and editing skills (proficiency-level English) with a keen eye for detail. A second language (French or Spanish) is desirable.
• The ability to clarify complex ideas by eliminating technical jargon, and crafting engaging narratives.
• Design and typesetting skills.
• Ability to work independently (OTT has a fully-remote team) and at the same time coordinate and collaborate with various team members.
• Experience engaging with and working with senior colleagues, particularly technical experts who may be less experienced in communication and marketing.
• Ability to work with (at times) agencies or freelancers to deliver high-quality outputs on time.
• An entrepreneurship mindset and approach – you will be encouraged to continuously monitor, learn and improve how we do things.
• A willingness to learn on the job and take advantage of new technologies (e.g. AI) and services.

Crucially, we are looking for a candidate who will be motivated to communicate technical knowledge through creative and quality outputs motivate our stakeholders to act on matters of public interest. The ideal candidate will be able to establish and keep to deadlines, and manage changing and competing priorities and timelines.
The ideal candidate will be able to encourage and inspire the entire team to engage and support OTT’s communication and marketing efforts and will be hands-on on the job.
Although an advantage, the ideal candidate does not need to be an expert in international development or evidence-informed policy – but they need to be willing and able to learn.
Personal qualities:

• Autonomous, self-motivated, proactive and independent worker. We are looking for candidates with an entrepreneurship spirit and approach who want to join us in our social impact ambition, expected growth and constant evolution.
• Critical thinking and thought leadership.
• Able to multitask, manage and prioritise competing deadlines within teams.
• Able to manage time, resources and team efficiently.
• Able to work and get along with a diverse set of individuals including senior members.

Other:

• A commitment to OTT’s mission.
• An interest in contributing to the growth of OTT and the field by promoting new initiatives.
• A positive disposition to engage with policy research funders, policymakers, thinktankers and think tank leaders from all parts of the world.

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to interview and will be asked to deliver a short-written test week commencing 3 June.

Terms of employment

Please note that OTT is a UK-based company. For UK residents, this would be a salaried position; for non-UK residents, the post may be in the form of a consultancy contract, depending on the legislation of your country of residence.

A note on diversity and inclusion

At OTT we value diversity. We are a Southern-led global initiative. We encourage applicants from all over the world and will not discriminate based on anything other than the candidate’s ability to do the job.