Thanks for your interest in applying to be Director of Communications at The Elders.
This is a unique opportunity to work with some of the most inspiring leaders of recent times. The Elders are twelve extraordinary individuals from around the world – former Presidents, Prime Ministers and other leaders, including three Nobel peace laureates. They have a mandate from our founder, Nelson Mandela, to use their experience, wisdom and moral authority on some of the world’s toughest challenges.
The Elders’ 2023-27 strategy focuses on four programmes – the climate and nature crisis, pandemics, nuclear weapons, and conflict, with cross-cutting commitments on multilateralism, human rights, gender equality/women in leadership, and intergenerational dialogue. We also have a renewed focus on impact, including through our communications work, where we are increasingly using digital analytics to assess our reach.
We are regularly told our brand is very strong. There’s enormous potential to use it, and the credibility of individual Elders, to get their voices heard all over the world through a range of channels, including top-tier publications, broadcast interviews, social media and high-profile collaborations. Leading our comms team requires an understanding of the issues, strategic thinking about priority audiences and how to reach them, a commitment to comms outputs of the highest quality, and a good grasp of the global media landscape and the changing ways people acquire information. You will need to capture the voices of these iconic leaders, build their collective voice, and advise them which opportunities to take.
We are well-established in major Western/Northern media outlets. But we need to do more to get Elders’ voices heard across the world. The successful candidate will be passionate about doing that, and ideally have experience of the global media outside Europe/North America.
We are a small team working at pace and nimbly. This is a job for someone who likes getting stuck in, as well as managing and coaching. As a member of our Senior Management Team you will also be involved in leading change, including helping us transition from a solely UK-based team to one with staff around the world, to better meet the needs of the Elders we serve. We value diversity because it helps us deliver better.
Our current Director of Communications has been with us for nearly six years. This is an inspiring place to work, and a hard one to leave. I hope you will apply.
Alistair Fernie
CEO, The Elders