Strategic Content and Storytelling Manager - Africa Region

Role Scope & Key responsibilities

Content Strategy & Editorial Leadership

• Develop and own the Africa content and storytelling strategy aligned with regional priorities, conservation objectives, philanthropic engagement goals, and organizational brand standards.
  
• Establish an editorial vision and annual storytelling roadmap that identifies priority themes, narratives, audiences, and content opportunities across Africa.
  
• Lead content planning processes to ensure a consistent pipeline of high-impact stories throughout the year.
  
• Define storytelling frameworks, editorial standards, voice, tone, and content governance practices.
  
• Advise leadership and program teams on strategic storytelling approaches that strengthen audience engagement and showcase impact.
  
• Identify emerging stories, trends, and content opportunities that support regional priorities and strategic objectives.
  

Story Development & Narrative Creation

• Serve as the lead storyteller, writer, and editor for the Africa region.
  
• Identify, source, research, and develop compelling stories from landscapes, communities, Indigenous Peoples, conservation practitioners, scientists, donors, partners, and staff.
  
• Transform complex scientific, technical, and conservation information into clear, engaging, audience-centered narratives.
  
• Produce feature stories, long-form articles, case studies, donor stories, scripts, blogs, and impact reports.
  
• Conduct interviews and gather firsthand information to build authentic, evidence-based narratives.
  
• Ensure all content reflects diverse voices, local perspectives, and ethical storytelling practices.
  

Multimedia Storytelling & Content Production

• Lead the conception and development of multimedia storytelling projects, including video, photography, audio, and digital content.
  
• Travel to field sites to conduct reporting, interviews, story gathering, and content production activities.
  
• Develop creative briefs and storytelling concepts for visual and multimedia projects.
  
• Collaborate with photographers, videographers, designers, editors, and production partners to produce high-quality storytelling assets.
  
• Oversee content production workflows and ensure consistency with editorial and storytelling objectives.
  
• Maintain a library of approved stories, photographs, video assets, and supporting content resources.
  
• Audience Engagement & Content Performance
  
• Monitor content effectiveness using audience insights, analytics, and engagement metrics.
  
• Evaluate storytelling performance across channels and recommend improvements based on data and audience behavior.
  
• Apply audience research and engagement data to strengthen narrative approaches and content decisions.
  
• Measure the effectiveness of storytelling initiatives in supporting donor engagement, partnership development, and organizational visibility.
  

Content Collaboration & Internal Consulting

• Partner with philanthropy, conservation, science, policy, country, and digital teams to identify strategic storytelling opportunities.
  
• Provide editorial guidance and storytelling support to colleagues across the Africa region.
  
• Review, edit, and strengthen content created by internal contributors and external partners.
  
• Serve as a subject matter expert on storytelling best practices and content development.
  
• Building the network and collaborations to ensure Africa stories are elevated for global showcases.
  

Desired Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in in Journalism, Communications, Media Studies, English related field and a minimum 7 years related experience or equivalent combination of education and experience.
  
• Exceptional writing, editing, interviewing, and narrative development skills.
  
• Demonstrated experience developing content strategies and managing editorial pipelines.
  
• Experience producing content across multiple formats, including written, digital, visual, and multimedia platforms.
  

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in journalism, Communications, Media Studies, English, or related field.
  
• 8+ years of professional experience in content strategy, editorial leadership, journalism, storytelling, publishing, or multimedia content development.
  
• Experience working in conservation, environmental, development, sustainability, or nonprofit sectors.
  
• Background in journalism, documentary storytelling, or editorial publishing.
  
• Experience producing stories for donor, philanthropic, and partnership audiences.
  
• Knowledge of digital content performance metrics and audience engagement strategies.
  
• Experience working across multiple African countries and cultures.
  
• Strong understanding of ethical storytelling, representation, and inclusive narrative practices.
  
• Strong portfolio demonstrating impactful storytelling and editorial leadership.
  
• Experience gathering stories through direct field reporting and stakeholder interviews.
  
• Excellent project management skills with experience managing multiple content initiatives simultaneously.
  
• Excellent relationship-building and collaboration skills, with experience working across cultures, functions, locations, and time zones.
  
• Fluency in written and spoken English.
  
• The position has indicative 20% travel