Accountabilities

• Strategies for operational communications and bearing witness.
• Defines and manages communications strategies in the country, under the supervision of Heads of Mission and in collaboration with Communications Advisors (CAs) or the Field Communications Coordinator (as applicable), staying responsive to operational needs, emergencies, and crisis situations, with effective prioritization.
• Alerts on unfolding situations in the organization project areas that may require public communication by the organization.
• Seeks opportunities to highlight underreported crises.
• Identifies significant issues across the organization operations relevant to communications and advises on messaging and public positioning, collaborating/coordinating with humanitarian affairs managers as needed (as applicable)
• Develops and/or updates a Country Communications Framework (CCF) which provides an overview of all operational communications priorities in the country in collaboration with Communications Advisors (CAs) or the Field Communications Coordinator (as applicable.)
• Develops guidelines in country for crisis communications management.
• In emergencies, ensures timely delivery of guidance and content for journalists, the organization communications network and for public release, as outlined in  the organization Emergency Communications Framework, in line with the Emergency Fundraising Policy as needed.
• Develops, Drives and oversees dissemination and engagement strategies:
• Drives and oversees all media management in the country, including national and international media, traditional media outlets and their online versions, digital channels, influencers, and citizen media. May delegate / share responsibilities with other field communications staff in the country, such as managing media relations, pitching content, coordinating media events or visits to the organization projects, depending on the team's structure.
• Collaborates with the organization digital teams (in country, in the region or other) for strategic dissemination and engagement on the organization social media channels.
• Identifies media and/or communication training needs for operational staff and organises the necessary training.
• Acts as a spokesperson for the organization when required.
• Content production:
• Decides on communication tools based on agreed objectives, messages, and target audiences.
• Transforms operational or medical information into a communications angle relevant to the humanitarian/health situation.
• Guides production, collects material, and produces timely content (AV, flash quotes, press releases, tweets, or other relevant types of content,) in accordance with the strategy and budget and in response to rapidly evolving situations of relevance.
• Contributes to content production at headquarter level by supplying material  (such as information, testimonies, pictures, videos, etc) to the Communications Advisor (CA) or other communications staff.
• Follows the organization communications ethical guidelines in all materials directly collected and produced, such as on consent, on DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), and other relevant communications standards or guidelines.
• Maintains a record of communications production in the country to enhance institutional memory.
• Digital and media monitoring
• Uses digital and media monitoring to build, update and strengthen understanding of the media landscape, of audiences, of public narratives of relevance, and to track the organization coverage, and identify misinformation or reputational challenges.
• Ensures that problematic mentions of the organization are promptly reported to operations and/or communications as needed, advises how to address them, and supervises or leads the response.
• Internal stakeholder engagement and reporting:
• In the absence of a Field Communications Coordinator, the FCM is the primary focal point for heads of mission in the country on public communications. The FCM engages with Heads of Mission, field coordinators, medical coordinators, and humanitarian affairs, and other relevant operational colleagues, to understand needs, advise on strategy and public messaging, and coordinate requests for communication support.
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• Develops regular reporting mechanisms on planned activities and achieved results.
• In case of other field communications teams in the same country, field comms staff are responsible of informing one another of activities and coordinating the use of common tools, such as digital channels and managing press relations.
• Global the organization communications network:
• Provides the organization communications network with firsthand updates and guidance on the operational and humanitarian situations, advising on communications opportunities and messaging.
• Responds to the the organization communications network's requests by providing content for international use, facilitating journalist visits, or contributing to specific campaigns or fundraising efforts, when possible.
• Team management and budget
• When applicable, the FCM manages, supports and supervises staff under their direct responsibility. 

• When applicable; the FCM produces an annual communications budget for approval to the Head of Mission (s) and communications department at HQ. 

  Organization Section/Context Specific Accountabilities

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• The FCM will handle media visits by local, regional and international press to the OCA projects in northeast Syria and if needed - in south Syria and prepare identified spokepersons for interviews with the media.
• Briefs all IMS on Communication in OCA missions in NES and in south Syria.
• Works in close collaboration with intersectional FCM for Syria and the field comms team; participates in joint comms discussions and meetings; coordinates media management and monitoring and social media management with colleagues in the intresectional field comms team.
• FCM will go on regular field visits to work on content production for comms packages and to take interviews and produce audiovisual material in NES and if needed – in south Syria.
• The FCM works closely with the OCA Humanitarian Affairs Manager and Officer in NES and OCA Humanitarian Affairs Manager in south Syria on joint comms and advocacy initiatives.
• In times of emergency and critical situations FCM will liaise and work closely with the CA who will be leading such situations.
• In case of critical incident situations, the FCM will be the comms representative in the field incident management team.
• Emergency Competencies. In an emergency response, this role will be expected to: participate in discussions for reprioritization; pivot to provide the appropriate adjustments to policies, procedures, and tools and; encourage flexibility, emergency mindset, and reactivity.
• Visits locations as required both in NES and Syria Mission