The Development Communications Coordinator (DCC) will play a central role in ensuring that Semilla Nueva communicates effectively with a wide range of stakeholders, including individual, corporate, foundation, and government donors; government agencies and politicians; and other actors whose understanding of our work and impact will advance our mission.

Reporting to the Director of Development, the DCC will interact with staff in all of Semilla Nueva’s functional areas and with program beneficiaries and collaborators to create stories and various communication tools that inspire philanthropic support and strengthen our organization’s visibility and reputation.

Summary of the Organization

Malnutrition is one of the greatest barriers to the world’s poorest people escaping poverty. The 900 million people in Africa and Central America who eat corn daily are some of the most affected, with nearly half of Guatemala’s children suffering from stunted growth. Semilla Nueva launched the world’s first social enterprise dedicated to the development, production, and sale of more nutritious, biofortified corn seed directly to small farming families. Farmers buying our seed increase their yields and incomes, while improving the diets of hundreds of thousands— and someday millions—of the world’s poorest consumers. Semilla Nueva is currently expanding our model to work with other seed companies, the Guatemalan government, and partnerships in other countries. In 2021, our fourth year of sales, our seed reached 12,000 families directly and over 20,000 through partnerships. 

Semilla Nueva works with some of the world’s leading scientists at organizations such as CIMMYT, HarvestPlus, INCAP, and universities like Purdue, Cornell, Tufts, and Harvard. Our donors include some of the most prestigious in impact philanthropy, including Cartier Philanthropy, Mulago and the U.S. Government. Our seeds are based on conventional breeding (non-GMO), although we are not opposed to well-tested biotechnology. Our work has led to rapid growth and international recognition, including an Ashoka fellowship, Mulago fellowship, and Forbes 30 under 30 for our founder. 

 Specific Tasks

• Development communications strategy 
  • Provide strategic input in the creation and execution of an effective development communications plan to advance fund development priorities and other organizational goals and objectives.
  • Use metrics and insights to regularly assess the efficacy of the communications plan against fund development and other key metrics to support learning and improvement.
    
• Storytelling
  • Develop and coordinate dissemination of inspiring stories about our work and impact through different media. 
  • Work across Semilla Nueva departments, especially with our M&E and Operations teams, to collect up-to-date information, photographs, videos, and audio recordings for compelling storytelling.
  • Make field visits as needed to interview program beneficiaries and collaborators and to take photographs and videos to use in our storytelling. 
    
• Brand/visual image optimization 
  •  Keep the Development Team up to date about and focused on best practices and evolving trends in nonprofit development communications and marketing. 
  • Lead active creation, maintenance, relevance, and compliance of the organization’s brand and marketing research, assets, collateral, events, and messaging. 
  • Ensure the Development Team maintains branding and messaging standards in all its activities.
    
• Development collateral 
  • Design, create, and coordinate the production of printed and electronic development collateral (videos, reports, brochures, newsletters, invitations, special donor recognitions, etc.) with input from the Development Team.
  • Write and edit fundraising communications, press releases, letters, newsletter articles, LinkedIn articles, and other written materials as needed.
    
• Social media presence
  • Keep the website current and coordinate any significant improvements with third-party web specialists. 
  • Develop and implement an effective strategy to improve the impact of Semilla Nueva’s other social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn).
    
• Media relations 
  • Support Semilla Nueva’s response to media inquiries, including draft press releases, fact sheets, and other materials. 
  • Develop and maintain a local and international network of media contacts Semilla Nueva will want to engage when big news occurs. 
  • Maintain a stakeholder map. 

This individual will be based full-time in Guatemala, with up to 30% travel to the field.

Qualifications

Required:

• Passion for Semilla Nueva’s mission 
• Excellent interpersonal skills 
• Exceptional storytelling skills using different media 
• Strong writing skills in English and Spanish 
• The ability to simplify complex technical information 
• Intermediate level command of graphic design, video editing, and website management (WordPress) software. 
• The ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment
• SEO, SEM, content marketing, email marketing experience
• Google Analytics, other measurement tools 

Desired:

• Strong photography, graphic design, video editing, and/or web design skills 
• Experience developing and managing communications related to large donors, such as USAID, World Bank, BID

Salary: Commensurate with experience

Before applying, please review our website, blog, and Annual Report at www.semillanueva.org
To apply, please send your CV and a brief introduction to Trabajo@semillanueva.org with the subject, “Development Communications Coordinator” and your last name. 

Feel free to send any recent publications and/or an explanation of why you think you would be a good fit.

Semilla Nueva is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to sustaining a diverse community with a
work environment that is welcoming, respectful, and encouraging to all. We foster a culture of inclusion
that celebrates and cultivates diversity along multiple dimensions, including race, ethnicity, sex, gender
identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, out of home care, age, national origin, socioeconomic
status, religion, ability, culture, and experience.