Consultant, Media Engagement Toolkit and Media Training at Palladium Group

Project Overview

• Nigeria SCALE project is a USAID-funded 5-year project (Oct 08, 2020 – Oct 07, 2025), implemented by Palladium in collaboration with the local resource partners. The goal of the Nigeria SCALE project is to strengthen the financial, management and advocacy capacity of local civil society organizations (CSOs) and business membership organizations (BMOs) in Nigeria to create a more accountable, transparent, peaceful, and democratic Nigeria with more effective and efficient public service delivery.
• The SCALE project supports CSOs and BMOs across all of USAID/Nigeria’s programmatic sectors with a basket of managerial, business strengthening, and advocacy capacity-building interventions aimed at advancing Nigerian CSO sustainability combined with targeted grants to advance mutually agreed upon priorities. The project is designed to enhance local CSOs’ ability to be positive and responsible change agents in Nigeria.
• The project has five main technical components: 1) Component One – Improve CSO organizational capacity, 2) Component Two – Enhance capacity for CSO advocacy, collaboration and management, 3) Component Three – Improve the policy and regulatory environment for civil society, 4) Component Four – Countering Trafficking in Persons (CTIP), and 5) Component Five – Sector strengthening and advocacy.
• Palladium is looking to engage the expertise of a media consultant with a background in communications and experience developing communications toolkits and media strategies. The consultant should be adept in effective knowledge and skills transfer to strengthen the capacity of SCALE advocacy partners to effectively engage and use the media to achieve project objectives.

Purpose of Consultancy

• The purpose of this consultancy is to design, develop and deploy a Media Engagement Toolkit aimed at enhancing the capacity of SCALE-supported CSO partners to effectively engage journalists and media organizations towards achieving their policy reform agendas.
• The consultant will support these partners to develop media strategies that will serve as frameworks to help them plan and effectively engage in ongoing strategic thinking about their media efforts.

Specific Tasks
The consultant will be responsible for conducting a media engagement capacity assessment, designing a media engagement toolkit, and delivering training to SCALE partners on effective media engagement and strategy. Specific tasks include the following:

• Hold an inception meeting with the project team to define expectations of the consultancy.
• Design and remotely conduct a media communications capacity needs assessment for SCALE partners to isolate both generic and specific knowledge and skills gaps to inform the development of the Media Engagement (ME) toolkit.
• Based on the outcome of the capacity needs assessment, design and develop the ME Toolkit.
• Design and develop a training guide for the implementation of the ME Toolkit.
• Facilitate two batches of a 4-day media training workshop to deliver the ME Toolkit and the development of partner media strategies.

Type of Contract:

• This consultancy will be a deliverable-based contract. Acceptance of the deliverables will be determined by the project’s Policy and Governance Reform (PGR) Advisor. The final report will be approved by the Chief of Party.

Deliverables
The consultant will submit the following deliverables to SCALE’s PGR Advisor:

• Inception Report: This is a detailed description of the understanding of the tasks and deliverables, and a work plan detailing the timeline and LOE required for the implementation of the consultancy
• Needs Assessment Report: This is a report that documents the result of the media engagement capacity assessments of SCALE partners that will inform the development of the ME toolkit.
• ME Toolkit: This is the ME toolkit with infographics and artistic illustrations where needed. The ME Toolkit is expected to have templates and materials to help SCALE partners frame media content and messages.
• TOT Guide/Manual: This is the training manual/guide that will be used to deliver the ME toolkit and facilitate the development of partners’ media strategies. The guide will include the pre and post-test tool.
• Training report and draft media strategies: This is a detailed report of the 4-day training delivered to SCALE partners in two batches. The report will include draft media strategies of all the partners with a clear action plan for finalizing them.
• Final report: This is a final report of the consultancy that should include reports of all the tasks performed under the assignment including annexes.

Anticipated Period of Performance and Level of Effort:

•  Period of Performance: From contract inception to June 30, 2022
• Level of Effort: The LOE for the consultant should not exceed 25 days

Required Qualifications
The minimum educational qualifications and associated knowledge, skills, abilities are outlined below:

Educational Qualifications:

• Degree in Communications, Development Studies, Social Sciences or a related field or significant continuous experience in providing communications solutions in Nigeria’s development sector.

Essential:

• A proactive, experienced media practitioner/ training consultant with significant experience in journalistic pedagogy and media communication
• Knowledge and experience developing media engagement toolkits
• Experience facilitating media training for CSO audiences
• Strong communication and engagement skills, and ability to liaise with media and CSOs
• Experience in collaborating productively with diverse media and CSO Stakeholders
• Effective time and project management skills
• Highly organized and ability and willingness to travel within Nigeria
• Virtual training experience highly desirable.

Preferred:

• Previous experience developing communication products for USAID funded projects and beneficiaries
• Knowledge and previous experience in organizational capacity building in communications.