Engagement Manager, Media Freedom

Join a team which has unique expertise combining the power of journalism and the law to advance media freedom, foster more inclusive economies, and promote human rights.

For more than 40 years, we have promoted the highest standards in journalism by training reporters around the world to cover issues relevant to their local context, accurately and impartially. Today, we work to strengthen local and national journalism, improve media ethics and standards, bolster newsroom sustainability and explore and shape the future of the profession. We do this through newsroom consultancy, journalism training and mentoring, capacity-building, and via our funding of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford. We also provide legal solutions through our Legal Service for Independent Media.

We are seeking a highly organised Engagement Manager with excellent communications skills and knowledge of media development to support the Foundation’s Media Freedom team. The function of the team is to provide technical oversight to all media development projects (organised by the Programme team), develop new and innovative approaches and products to address emerging and longstanding media freedom issues, leverage TRF’s existing assets at the juncture of journalism and the law, increase TRF’s thought leadership standing, explore collaboration and research with external stakeholders, and engage and support our network of over 20,000 alumni.

This role will manage TRF’s responsibilities and support to the Media Viability Accelerator, an initiative spearheaded by Internews and supported by a range of other media development, technology and government partners. The Engagement Manager will also project manage our journalist alumni programme, coordinating all engagement, as well as support our wider Newsroom Transformation strategy.

The ideal candidate must be a self-starter with the ability to deliver on competing tasks, communicate and solve problems effectively. As TRF projects are multi-layered and leverage the expertise of a variety of teams, they require a high level of cross-team coordination. Accordingly, the candidate will also have risk-management, trust-building and prioritisation skills to achieve project success in a fast-paced organisation. You will be working on Microsoft Outlook and Excel as well as in Salesforce to ensure our contact databases are up to date.

Travel may be required.

The role is based in Canary Wharf, with a minimum of two days in the office.

This is initially a 12 month fixed term role.

About the Role

As the Engagement Manager at the Thomson Reuters Foundation, you will work closely with the Director of Media Freedom and the Head of Media Initiatives to implement the Media Freedom strategy, with the following responsibilities:

• Project manage TRF’s work with the Media Viability Accelerator, driving adoption with TRF’s partner newsrooms and soliciting feedback, and work with other MVA partners as needed.
• Develop and coordinate TRF’s alumni engagement plan, becoming the focal point for alumni coordination, communications and innovation, and design processes for maintaining TRF databases and data capture.
• Be the focal point and driver for TRF’s newsroom engagement, internally and externally, working closely with the Head of Media Initiatives, the Newsroom Development Advisor to develop the engagement strategy and to support Programme Team-led newsroom transformation programmes.
• Provide event management and logistical support for remote and in-person activities including workshops, round tables and award ceremonies as needed.
• Develop and implement a clear communication plan to ensure high levels of engagement with the alumni and newsroom communities.
• Coordinate activities of the Media Freedom team with different teams across the Foundation.
• Support knowledge capture, ensuring that we document our networks, relationships and ongoing conversations systematically.
• Support project development, where appropriate.
• Participate in designated meetings with external stakeholders, conferences and events and feedback information to the team.
• Assist with other duties or work on other programmes, as required.

About You

To be our Engagement Manager, you will likely have:

• Prior experience in building relationships and working with networks and communities across organisations, and working constructively with a diverse range of people.
• Understanding of journalism, media capacity building, the media legal environment or demonstrable strong willingness and capacity to learn.
• A pro-active, highly motivated self-starting and problem-solving attitude, including paying attention to detail and being good on follow-through with ability to work independently or in a team environment.
• Outstanding communication, risk management, prioritisation and relationship-building skills.
• Excellent organisational skills and the ability to work with changing priorities and time pressures.
• Prior experience in project management.
• Experience of administrative or finance processes and excellent numerical skills. Competency with Microsoft Office. Experience with databases (e.g. Salesforce) would be an advantage.
• Fluency in English. Other languages desirable.

About Thomson Reuters Foundation

The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the corporate foundation of Thomson Reuters, the global news and information services company. As an independent charity, registered in the UK and the USA, we work to advance media freedom, foster more inclusive economies, and promote human rights. Through news, media development, free legal assistance and convening initiatives, we combine our unique media and legal services to drive systemic change.

What’s in it For You

At the Thomson Reuters Foundation, our people are our greatest assets. Here are some of the benefits we offer for your personal and professional growth:

• Global Perspective and Impact: Interested in working for a dynamic global organization with a focus on social impact? With hubs all over the world from Bangkok to Madrid to Rio de Janeiro, join a truly international team with a shared goal of helping to build societies around the world that are free, fair and informed.

• A Unique Approach: Our expertise in media and the law is world class; we combine the power of both to address the critical issues faced by humanity.

• Our Relevance: With a focus on advancing media freedom, fostering more inclusive economies and promoting human rights, our work has never been more needed than right now.

• Benefits: We offer competitive salary packages and market-leading benefits.

• Learning & Development: We are dedicated to the continual professional development of our employees and offer access to both in-house and external training opportunities.

Accessibility

As a global business, we rely on diversity of culture and thought to deliver on our goals. To ensure we can do that, we seek talented, qualified employees in all our operations around the world regardless of race, color, sex/gender, including pregnancy, gender identity and expression, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, citizen status, veteran status, or any other protected classification under applicable law. Thomson Reuters is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer providing a drug-free workplace.

We also make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and for sincerely held religious beliefs in accordance with applicable law.