Regional Content Manager ( National Position)
Description
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Position Status: Full-time
Salary Level: National Salary Scale
Risk Level: X Level 3 ☐Level 2 ☐Level 1
(Level 3: Frequent contact with participants, direct contact with children, access to sensitive data, and/or high level of accountability.
Level 2: Some contact with participants; unplanned non-direct contact with children.
Level 1: Likely to have no contact with participants or sensitive data)
About Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 35 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.
The Department & Team
The Global Communications Team elevates Mercy Corps’ global profile and influence through powerful storytelling and strategic media engagement. We are a nimble, globally connected team dedicated to amplifying Mercy Corps’ impact and inspiring action from donors, partners, policymakers, and the public. We raise visibility and credibility for Mercy Corps across top-tier international, regional, and other media platforms, positioning our leaders and experts as trusted voices in a rapidly evolving global landscape. We anticipate moments that matter and ensure Mercy Corps’ voice is heard, our expertise recognized, and our programs and impact understood.
The Global Communications Team sits within the Philanthropic Growth & Engagement (PG&E) Department. The mission of the Department is to advance Mercy Corps' mission by raising impactful and flexible funds—with a focus on growing unrestricted fundraising—from individuals, companies, and foundations, and elevating our global profile and influence. Our team brings together private fundraising professionals, marketing and communications specialists, development operations experts, and digital platform managers. Together, we boldly share Mercy Corps' global impact with our audiences through best-in-class storytelling with a focus on building trust, engagement, and long-term relationships among our supporters.
The Position
The Regional Content Manager will serve as Mercy Corps’ primary field content and storytelling lead for Africa, helping bring the forthcoming Prosper Global brand to life through compelling, community-centered narratives and multimedia content. Embedded within the region, this role will identify, capture, and produce high-quality stories, photography, video, and digital-first content that support media engagement, fundraising, marketing, communications, and brand awareness objectives.
This role will report to the Senior Manager of Regional Communications, based in Nairobi, and work closely with the Director of Global Photography to ensure regional content is strategically planned, ethically gathered and ready for use across earned, paid, and owned channels. Working closely with country teams, regional leadership, and global communications and fundraising teams, the Regional Content Manager will also build and manage a steady pipeline of timely, impactful content; strengthen storytelling capacity across the region to ensure Mercy Corps is able to respond quickly to emerging opportunities and crises. This role is a critical investment in expanding the volume, quality, and strategic value of field-based storytelling to support timely external communications that raise awareness, engage supporters, reach new audiences, and support long-term unrestricted revenue growth.
Essential Responsibilities
STORYTELLING & ASSET CAPTURE
Lead the collection of high-quality storytelling assets across the region, including photography, video, written stories, interviews, and social-first content.
Capture timely and compelling stories that center community voices and demonstrate the impact of our work, and deploy, as needed, to support rapid asset gathering during emerging crises.
Support basic editing and development of captured content for use across digital, social, fundraising, donor engagement, media, and brand efforts.
Ensure all storytelling, photography, videography, and content-gathering activities adhere to organizational standards for quality, ethics, safeguarding, informed consent, and brand alignment under the direction of Director of Photography to align with audience needs.
Integrate safeguarding principles into all aspects of content creation, prioritizing the dignity, agency, privacy, and well-being of participants and communities.
CONTENT STRATEGY & PLANNING
Support the development and implementation of a regional content strategy under the guidance of the Senior Manager, Africa Communications & Media and the Director of Global Photography aligned with organizational priorities, fundraising objectives, media opportunities, and brand needs.
Proactively identify and develop a pipeline of strong storytelling opportunities across country programs, campaigns, emergencies, and strategic initiatives.
Contribute to Global Communications editorial planning meetings and trainings, helping shape strategic communications priorities, identify newsworthy storytelling opportunities, and inform content approaches based on emerging media trends and technologies.
Support efforts to measure content performance and continuously improve storytelling effectiveness and audience engagement
CONTENT PRODUCTION & ASSET MANAGEMENT
Serve as the primary regional focal point for storytelling and visual asset needs with direction from Sr. Manager of Africa Communications and Media and Director of Global Photography
Coordinate with country teams to identify content opportunities, secure access, obtain permissions, and facilitate field visits.
Provide basic editing and production support for photography, video, and other multimedia assets for global campaigns and priority communications initiatives.
In coordination with the Director of Photography and Multimedia Editor, organize, catalog, select, and prepare multimedia assets from regional and global teams for organization-wide use.
Ensure captured assets are properly organized, documented, consented, and accessible for future use across communications, fundraising, media, and brand channels.
CAPACITY BUILDING
Train and coach country teams to capture storytelling assets where direct deployment is not feasible.
Build storytelling capacity among program teams, communications focal points, and local partners with an emphasis on ethical, audience-centered visual and human storytelling.
Develop practical tools, guidance, and best practices to strengthen storytelling and asset capture across the region.
Supervisory Responsibility
N/A
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Senior Manager, Africa Communications & Media
Works Directly With: Director of Global Photography, Global Communications Team, Country and Regional Teams, Philanthropic Growth & Engagement Team including but not limited to the Creative and Marketing teams, and External Content Consultants and Freelancers as needed.
Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.
Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills
Bachelor's degree in Journalism, Communications, Marketing, Media Production or related field preferred.
6-8+ years of professional experience in communications, journalism, photography, videography, multimedia storytelling, field-based content capture, or related field.
Demonstrated experience planning and capturing compelling, high-quality storytelling assets including photography, video, interviews, and written stories suitable for media, fundraising, digital, and organizational communications.
Strong interviewing, writing, editing, and storytelling skills.
Experience working in complex international environments with multi-cultural teams.
Experience working with external vendors and creative teams preferred.
Understanding of social media audience engagement including adapting content for digital and social media platforms.
Familiarly with digital asset management systems and production file organization preferred.
Previous experience with basic multimedia editing and Adobe Creative Cloud tools is an advantage.
Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
Ability to travel as needed within the region, including to remote and challenging operating environments.
Success Factors
The successful candidate is a proactive storyteller who can identify compelling narratives, build trusted relationships across diverse teams, and translate complex programs into engaging, audience-centered content, including for media engagement. They are highly collaborative, organized, and comfortable operating in fast-moving environments where priorities shift quickly. They demonstrate strong editorial judgment, creativity, cultural sensitivity, and a commitment to ethical storytelling. Success in this role requires pairing strong strategic thinking with the ability to proactively identify, capture, and develop high-quality storytelling assets—from photography and video to interviews and written stories—that elevate community voices, support organizational growth objectives, and bring the brand to life.
Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions
The position is based in Nairobi and it requires up to 40% travel which may include travel to insecure locations where freedom of movement is limited and areas where amenities are limited.
Ongoing Learning
In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development.
Team Engagement and Effectiveness
Achieving our mission starts with how we build our team and collaborate. By bringing together individuals with a variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives, we strengthen our ability to solve complex challenges and drive innovation. We foster a culture of trust and respect, where every team member is valued for their contributions, empowered to reach their full potential, and motivated to do their best work.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected under applicable law.
Safeguarding & Ethics
Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.
As an applicant, if you witness or experience any form of sexual misconduct during the recruitment process, please report this to Mercy Corps Integrity Hotline ([email protected]).