Senior Manager PR, Lead Poisoning Prevention, South Africa

Job Brief

Senior Manager PR, Lead Poisoning Prevention, South Africa

Vital Strategies is a global public health organization. Our programs strengthen public health systems and address the world’s leading causes of illness, injury, and death. We currently work in more than 80 countries, supporting data-driven decision-making in government, advancing evidence-based public health policies, and mounting strategic communication campaigns. Vital Strategies’ priorities are driven by the greatest potential to improve and save lives. They include noncommunicable disease prevention, tobacco control, road safety, food policy, environmental health, and data for health. Our programs are concentrated in low- and middle-income countries and cities in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Pacific. Please visit our website at www.vitalstrategies.org to find out more about our work.

We believe our programs are strengthened when they are developed and supported by individuals with diverse life experiences, whose understanding of social and cultural issues can help make Vital’s work more inclusive. We encourage people of all racial, economic, social, cultural, sexual orientation, and gender expressions to apply.

About the Program:

Vital Strategies is expanding its Lead Poisoning Prevention Program to include nine countries and five states in India, to tackle one of the most pressing global health challenges. Lead poisoning is a widespread but preventable crisis that affects millions—particularly children—leading to severe cognitive, developmental, and health consequences with lifelong impacts. Through this program, Vital Strategies will partner with governments in Africa, Asia and Latin America to strengthen health systems, improve surveillance, promote sound and cost-effective policies, and expand public health interventions to reduce lead exposure.

Communication will play a pivotal role in this effort—building visibility and stakeholder support, amplifying the need for interventions and their impact, and sharing program achievements and milestones with a diverse audience, including our donors. To support this work, Vital Strategies is hiring two communication experts with a wide range of communication skills to collaborate with a global technical team of approximately 50 epidemiologists, program managers, and policy experts. Each will manage a portfolio of countries, specializing in public relations—working with journalists and key opinion leaders—and focusing on marketing strategies to engage the public, program beneficiaries, and community leaders.

Job Purpose:

This position will be responsible for guiding, implementing, coordinating and managing communication, especially public relations and stakeholder engagement, to advance the public health goals of our lead poisoning prevention program.

This is a full-time remote position that can be based anywhere in South Africa. Through its local employer of record in South Africa, Vital Strategies provides a comprehensive benefits package. The salary range for this position is ZAR 850,000 to ZAR 1,000,000. The candidate must have authorization to work legally in South Africa at the time of hire.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Lead the development and execution of media engagement strategies to elevate awareness of lead poisoning prevention efforts across a portfolio of seven to eight countries.
• Cultivate and manage strong relationships with global and regional partners, journalists, editors, and key media outlets to secure high-impact coverage.
• Develop compelling press materials, including media pitches, press releases, op-eds, and talking points for spokespersons.
• Guide and support country-level teams in crafting and refining key messages for diverse stakeholder audiences, ensuring alignment with program goals.
• Provide media training and strategic counsel to program leaders and technical experts to enhance their ability to engage with press and key opinion leaders.
• Monitor media coverage and conduct sentiment analysis to inform program strategies and refine messaging.
• Create speaking and thought leadership opportunities ---draft pitches, and prepare staff for external engagements to increase our reach to target audiences.
• Collaborate with in-country partners and our HQ communication team to adapt global messaging to local contexts and emerging issues.
• Identify and engage key opinion leaders, influencers and advocates to amplify awareness and support for lead poisoning prevention.
• At the request of program leadership, provide crisis communication support in response to media inquiries, emerging health concerns and other urgent situations.
• Lead efforts to draw greater attention to lead poisoning in the media including identifying speaking and writing opportunities for technical leads, promoting program results and highlighting the issues of lead poisoning.
• Work closely with program leads to ensure alignment between communication and programmatic objectives.
• Contribute to broader initiative-wide communication efforts by sharing best practices and supporting global messaging and media outreach as needed.
• Work closely with the Marketing Manager to ensure coordinated outreach and message consistency.
• Other duties as assigned.
  
  

Qualifications:

Education and Degree -

• Bachelor’s degree preferably in communications, journalism, public policy, public health, public relations or marketing.
  
  

Skills And Abilities -

• Demonstrated mastery of project management, including budget, vendors and contractors.
• Excellent organizational and problem-solving skills and ability to think creatively.
• Demonstrated mastery of managing inbound requests and message development for written responses and talking points.
• Mastery of writing and preparing press materials, including press releases, fact sheets, and talking points.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Ability to communicate and collaborate effectively across time zones and platforms.
  
  

Experience:

• Minimum eight years of PR, communication and/or marketing experience
• Project management and coordination experience
• Self-starter with the ability to work independently and collaboratively within a global, cross-functional team.
• At least five years of progressive experience in communication and public relations, preferably within public health, environmental health or international development.
• Strong track record of successful media engagement and high-impact placements, with expertise in developing media strategies, targeting key outlets, and managing press outreach across diverse geographies.
• Extensive experience in writing and editing for various audiences, including press releases, op-eds, talking points, and stakeholder communication across print, digital, and multimedia platforms.
• Proven ability to cultivate relationships with journalists, editors, and key opinion leaders, positioning public health issues effectively in the media to drive awareness and policy change.
• Experience supporting or training in-country teams on press engagement and messaging, ensuring alignment with global and local communication strategies.
• Strong familiarity with crisis communication and the ability to manage media responses in high-stakes public health situations.
• Experience working on public health, environmental health, or policy-driven advocacy initiatives, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
• Fluent in English. Proficiency in one or more languages in our target area is an advantage.
  
  

Working Conditions and Physical Requirements:

• This position will be required to travel internationally up to 15% of the time.
• This position must be willing and able to work across different time zones.