Internal Communications Consultant

Mines Advisory Group (MAG) has been working in Sri Lanka since 2002 locating and removing landmines and other unexploded bombs, helping Sri Lanka to reach its goal of becoming mine-free. The clearance activities are currently taking place in Mannar, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu and Trincomalee Districts. The organisation operates under the coordination of the National Mine Action Centre (NMAC), which is the government body in charge of the Sri Lankan Mine Action Programme. MAG Country Representative Office is located in Colombo and the Central Operating Base (COB) is in Vavuniya. The organisation currently employs over 850 staff.
As Sri Lanka moves towards becoming mine-free in the coming years, MAG has initiated the development and implementation of a Staff Transition Strategy. The ultimate aim being to assist our large demining workforce access a wider set of skills that can support their transition to alternative in-demand occupations and, mitigate the risk of income loss once the clearance work is over.
As part of MAG’s commitment to Safeguarding, this post subject to check reference before an offer is confirmed.
Background of the Assignment
At MAG, the Staff Transition Unit is responsible for the implementation of the livelihood transition activities for specific groups of employees in multiple operational sites, through active coordination with expert service providers, consultation with the relevant teams within MAG, and regular field visits. MAG applies a phased-approach to the implementation of the livelihood transition strategy which covers a wide range of interventions – such as financial literacy programme, Tamil literacy classes, language training, orientation & referral to commercial-oriented agriculture initiatives, etc.
Information sharing is a pre-requisite for employees to participate in the livelihood transition activities. Therefore, the Staff Transition Unit’s ability to reach out to everyone within the workplace is an important aspect of their work, in order to keep MAG’s workforce up to date with news and information related to the staff transition interventions, select the eligible employees across the organisation and operations sites, organise the activities based on their availability, and for employees to provide feedback and inputs. Presently, information sharing among the demining workforce is conducted via phone calls, SMS, WhatsApp messages, memos, and face-to-face meetings in the operations sites (depending on COVID-19 situation). While the Staff Transition Unit is able to successfully reach out to a large number of employees using these channels of communication, it is anticipated that it may pose a challenge for the team when several interventions will take place at the same time in different geographical locations and with multiple service providers.
Scope of the Assignment
MAG is looking for an individual internal communications specialist to improve dissemination and accessibility of information among a wide range of employees within the organisation, by identifying and proposing practical solutions that can support the Staff Transition Unit to inform and engage with all MAG’s workforce in an accurate, transparent, and timely manner (two-way communication). The proposed information and communications solutions will be adapted to the needs and constraints of the priority groups, MAG’s work environment and COVID-19 movement restrictions which limit face-to-face communication.