Communications Specialist at Unilever

About Job

Africa Supply Chain plays a vital role in keeping our consumers supplied with the products they want at the right price, driving innovation and delivering our sustainability ambition.  Staff work in factories, planning and logistics across Africa.  This is a complex operation that stretches across Africa and global supply chains but also one team with shared objectives and a common African culture.

We want to recruit a Communications Specialist to Business Partner the Africa Supply Chain Vice President, reporting into the Africa Head of Corporate Affairs.  The role will be Johannesburg based with some travel in South Africa, part of both the Africa corporate affairs team and the Africa Supply Chain team, with full access to support and development from Unilever’s class-leading global corporate affairs and communications function.  The role is primarily employee engagement and internal communications but with some external facing work. The successful candidate will need to:

• Innovate and use cost effective traditional and digital communication channels to engage Supply Chain teams in the leadership vision, build a team spirit and keep morale high

• Set a strategic vision for Africa Supply Chain communications then develop a clear strategy and tactics such webcasts, townhalls, newsletters and specific campaigns such as safety.

• Help plan and deliver Africa Supply Chain Leadership meetings to drive better alignment and clear and engaging messages

• Support external partnerships and events to bring in outside support for our sustainability ambition in sourcing and factory operations

• Liaise with Unilever global supply chain communications team to ensure consistent and smooth messaging

• Celebrate and create pride in the great achievements of the Africa supply chain team inside the company and outside working with the relevant communications teams as needed

• Support the Unilever Africa and South Africa communications teams on an ad hoc basis when an extra pair of hands is needed.

• Work with Factory admin and HR teams to ensure seamless deployment of global and local communication campaigns across all Africa factories and plantations.

• Manage the personal leadership communications of the Supply Chain Vice President and identify opportunities to engage with staff and leadership teams.

The successful candidate should be a team player and self-starter, willing to take on a range of tasks from event administration to agency management or communications campaigns.  They need to have a passion for communications with experience or a keen interest and willingness to engage in and understand the factory and supply chain operations.  They will need to be comfortable working directly with senior management while equally happy driving project delivery.  They will need good interpersonal skills and be happy working with multiple stakeholders to align on delivery.

This role requires 5 years of relevant experience with a relevant degree level qualification or another degree plus demonstrated professional experience in communications and corporate affairs.  This should include an ability to write clear simple and engaging texts and track record of innovating new ideas and exciting engagement plans.  External facing roles would be an advantage as would supply chain and partnership funding experience.

Unilever is an organisation committed to equity, inclusion and diversity to drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. At Unilever we are interested in every individual bringing their ‘Whole Self’ to work and this includes you! Thus if you require any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of your application so that we can support you through your recruitment journey.