Provincial Communication Practitioner

KEY OUTPUTS AND ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Provide inputs into the Strategic Plan and annual Business Plan in line with the Strategic Plan.
• Manage the successful cascading of the organisation's Business Plan across the province.
• Provide monthly management reports accurately reflecting the status of implementation of the Business Plan.
• Implement the organisation's Communication Strategy successfully in the province.
• Monitor the implementation of the Business Plan quarterly and address non-compliance by Local Offices.
• Undertake liaison and communication with all internal stakeholders to secure participation and co-ordinate inputs into policy changes.
• Effective communication of changes in policy and procedures to all affected internal stakeholders within seven 7 days from approval.
• Manage and monitor expenditure on a monthly basis against approved budget/forecast, ensuring that all variances are addressed timeously with the Public Finance Management Act PFMA.
• Ensure that all procurement is in line with the approved supply chain management policies and practices including the monitoring of payments within stipulated timeframes.
• Assist with implementation of events arranged by National Office Communication Department targeted at stakeholders at Local Office level, ensuring participation by all Local Offices.
• Increased relationship with media houses; four 4 media events, e.g., press conference, media briefing, provincial assistance and one 1 event per annum.
• Engage in advocacy/lobbying interventions with relevant stakeholders to advance the interests of Legal Aid SA and its clients.
• Ensure that each Local Office arranges a Client Stakeholder Forum to promote the services of Legal Aid SA as well as facilitate networking opportunities for client organisations.
• Maintain a database of client community organisations within the province and ensure telephonic communication with them at scheduled intervals to strengthen awareness of Legal Aid SA services as well as ensure that the referral mechanism is maintained and maintain healthy relationships with Non-Governmental Organisation NGOs, Faith-Based Organisation FBOs, Community-Based Organisation CBOs.
• Provide communication support of Achiever Awards programme for provincial nominations and award ceremony.
• Inform staff by annual publishing and distribution of 12 National Office newsletters and two 2 Provincial Office newsletters.
• Ongoing monitoring of suggestion boxes and development and implementation of feedback mechanism suggestion boxes.
• Ongoing analysis of complaints registers to identify communication gaps and address negative perceptions of Legal Aid SA.
• Accurate quarterly audits to ensure compliance with Legal Aid SA marketing/communication policies.
• Assistance with the implementation of all Organisational Culture Programmes and recommendations at Local Offices.
• Approved and communicated events calendar to promote Legal Aid SA's brand and image.
• Quality information input into Intranet content to best serve the information needs of Legal Aid SA employees and Management.
• Effective and efficient media relations plan to be in line with Marketing and Communication Strategy.
• Handle all media briefings and interviews according to Media Relations Policy.
• Monthly press release/article/radio coverage on topical issues e.g., success stories.

COMPETENCIES SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE AND ATTRIBUTES REQUIRED

• A recognised tertiary qualification in Communication/Media/Marketing/Public Relations related studies, e.g., Bachelor's Degree/National Diploma.
• Postgraduate qualification in above field is a recommendation.
• Registration with a professional body, e.g., PRISA, is a recommendation.
• Five 5 years of relevant experience in communications/marketing/public relations, with three 3 years at Management level.