Who are we?
Malala Fund is working for a world where all girls can learn and lead. Malala Fund advocates for resources and policy changes needed to give all girls a secondary education, invests in local education leaders and amplifies the voices of girls fighting for change. Learn more at malala.org.
What does this position do?
The Advisor, Executive Office is a senior, time-bound advisory role to the CEO, providing support for co-founder communications, protocol and strategy and strategic counsel on the organization’s global communications priorities, capabilities, and long-term operating model.
Working closely with the CEO, co-founders, and senior communications leadership, the Senior Strategic Advisor will help translate the organization’s five-year strategic plan and mission into a clear, integrated communications strategy. The role will provide senior-level advice on how communications can best support the organization’s priorities, strengthen the voices and visibility of its co-founders, and engage key audiences around its mission and impact.
The Advisor will partner closely with the Senior Director, Strategic Communications, and executive leaders to align the co-founders’ availability, skill set and affinities with organizational and departmental goals. The role will also work to strengthen current communications operations while developing recommendations for the future communications function, helping to define the optimal structure, scope, capabilities, and ways of working for strategic communications across the organization.
The role is intended to bring experienced, enterprise-level perspective during an important period of strategic evolution, helping ensure the organization has the communications strategy, leadership, structure, and capabilities needed to deliver its current five-year plan and position itself for the future.
Day-to-Day Duties and Responsibilities
Co-Founder Voice & External Engagements
- Advise on how best to support and amplify the voices, perspectives, and priorities of the cofounders in ways that advance the organization’s mission.
- Help develop a coherent approach and process to executive and cofounder communications and engagements, including briefing process, communications products, public positioning, and outreach to key external audiences.
- Serve as point-person for cofounder communications products including rapid response, social media, speeches, talking points and op-eds.
- Ensure the cofounder’s external narrative and positioning are aligned with the organization's mission, strategy, values, and evolving role in the world.
Strategic Communications Counsel
- Serve as a trusted strategic advisor to the CEO on global communications opportunities, priorities, risks, and challenges.
- Advise the CEO and co-founders on communications strategies that advance the organization’s mission, strategic priorities, and external influence.
- Help define how communications can most effectively support the organization’s immediate and longer-term ambitions.
- Provide counsel on high-priority, complex, or sensitive communications matters and opportunities.
- Identify emerging trends, opportunities, and risks that may affect the organization’s reputation, influence, or ability to achieve its strategic objectives.
Communications Strategy & Operating Model
Working in partnership with the CEO, Chiefs, communications team, and other relevant team members to:
- Assess the organization’s current communications capabilities, structure, roles, and ways of working.
- Develop recommendations to inform the future structure and operating model for strategic communications across the organization.
- Support clarity on roles, responsibilities, decision rights, and interfaces across communications and relevant functions.
- Identify the capabilities, expertise, and resources required to support the organization’s evolving strategic priorities.
- Recommend best practices, processes, and approaches that strengthen integration, effectiveness, and impact across communications.
- Support the evolution of a sustainable communications function that can serve the organization beyond the term of this role.
Partnership & Execution
- Work closely with the Senior Director, Strategic Communications to strengthen current communications strategy and operations.
- Partner with senior leaders and relevant teams to ensure communications considerations are integrated into strategic planning and execution.
- Provide mentoring, coaching, advice, and strategic perspective to communications leaders and colleagues as appropriate.
- Support selected high-priority communications initiatives where senior strategic counsel or leadership is required.
- Build strong relationships across the organization and help foster a coordinated, enterprise-wide approach to communications.
- Meet with Chief of Growth and Sr. Director, Strategic Communications weekly to review comms priorities and help strategize the work.
Long-Term Recommendations
- Develop a clear set of recommendations for the future communications function, including organizational structure, leadership, roles, capabilities, and resources.
- Establish a practical roadmap for implementing recommended changes.
- Help the CEO and senior leadership evaluate progress and make informed decisions about the organization’s future communications model.
- Ensure knowledge, frameworks, and recommendations are effectively transferred to the permanent communications structure and leadership.
What you bring to us and the role!
- Significant senior-level experience in strategic communications, corporate affairs, executive communications, or a related field.
- Demonstrated experience advising CEOs, founders, boards, or other senior leaders on complex strategic communications issues.
- Strong track record of developing and implementing communications strategies that support organizational strategy and transformation.
- Experience designing or evolving communications functions, teams, operating models, or organizational structures.
- Exceptional strategic judgment, with the ability to see across organizational, reputational, and external issues and connect communications to broader strategic objectives.
- Strong understanding of executive positioning, thought leadership, reputation, and stakeholder engagement.
- Experience working across complex, global, or highly matrixed organizations.
- Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
- Ability to operate with discretion, independence, sound judgment, and a high degree of trust.
- Comfortable working in an evolving environment and balancing strategic thinking with practical execution.
Success will mean that, over the course of the appointment, the organization has:
- A clear and compelling global communications strategy aligned with its five-year strategic plan.
- Stronger and more coordinated support for the CEO and co-founders’ voices and external engagement.
- Develop the protocol and procedures for how we best prep for and work with our co-founders.
- A clear understanding of the optimal future structure, roles, capabilities, and operating model for strategic communications.
- Stronger communications practices and collaboration across the organization.
- A practical roadmap and recommendations that enable the organization to build the right communications function for its next stage of growth and impact.
Supervisory Responsibilities
The Advisor will not have direct line-management responsibility for communications staff. The role will provide executive-level mentoring, coaching, and strategic guidance to communications leaders and team members, helping strengthen capability, leadership, and effectiveness across the function.
The Advisor will also support the CEO and relevant leaders in assessing communications talent needs and, where appropriate, contribute to the recruitment, selection, and onboarding of communications hires.
Travel Required
Approximately 10-20% depending on need.
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Malala Fund is an equal opportunity employer and inclusive organization who welcomes employees from under-represented and intersectional communities including BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and persons with disabilities. We seek people with diverse backgrounds, cultures, ages, experiences and identities to provide a wide range of perspectives, ideas, views and insights into the strategy, policies, culture and ambitions of Malala Fund.
Malala Fund is committed to safeguarding and ensuring the safety and dignity of all of those involved in our work. Our first priority is protecting everyone who comes in direct or indirect contact with our organization, including staff, partners, grantees, and the communities in which we work
Malala Fund has a zero-tolerance approach to abuse, exploitation, harassment, or discrimination of any kind by any of our staff, representatives or partners. We commit to ensuring that those who work with Malala Fund or on our behalf are able to work in an environment that is safe, respectful, and free from harm. To uphold this commitment, Malala Fund reserves the right to conduct background checks on prospective and current employees.
