CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

Director of Communications

THE Climate Vulnerable Forum and V20 Finance Ministers

The Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), founded in 2009, is an independent intergovernmental organization of countries most threatened by climate change, headquartered in Accra, Ghana. It is composed of leaders of 70 governments from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Pacific, who together represent 1.74 billion people.

Major bodies of the CVF and V20 include:

  • CVF Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Environment who coordinate, cooperate in key international arenas such as the UNFCCC, UNCBD, UNCCD, and IMO.
  • V20 Finance Ministers (V20): founded in 2015, which operates as a dedicated international collaboration of ministers of finance (or, for some, economic planning ministries) working to tackle climate change by mobilizing and realizing economic and development strategies and programs while leveraging public and private finance for an enhanced response to climate change. The V20 also founded a Central Bank Governors Working Group in 2023 to focus on three key areas: (1) Liquidity Support; (2) Inclusive Green Finance; and (3) Central Banks as movers greening the financial system.
  • Global Parliamentary Group (GPG): founded in 2022, the GPG generates further impetus to climate action by supporting green industrial policy, establishing durable long-term reform by driving investment opportunities in Climate Prosperity Plans through the leadership of parliament and the legislature.


Together, the CVF-V20 aims to achieve climate justice through Climate Prosperity Plans with ambitious economic and financial resilience strategies designed to attract investment and resources that advance and accelerate the realization of Sustainable Development Goals, 30×30 Global Biodiversity, and keeping average global temperatures to the 1.5°C safety threshold of the Paris Agreement.

CVF-V20 SECRETARIAT

The Secretariat supports the work of the CVF and the V20 Finance Ministers by advancing and delivering the CVF and the V20 Finance Ministers objectives. The Secretariat’s role shall include, but shall not be limited to:

  1. Act to support convening of Member States on climate change at the Heads of State/Government and Ministers of Finance level;
  2. Support the coordination and organization of meetings focused on international financial reform agenda and trade between Members as well as helping facilitate CVF’s participation in strategic international events such as UN General Assembly, UNFCCC, UNCBD, Spring and Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, etc.;
  3. Organize meetings and workshops throughout the calendar year;
  4. Represent the perspective of CVF in international forums;
  5. Provide technical expertise and support to Members in the development and implementation of climate resilience and mitigation strategies to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement, and other biodiversity goals that foster climate prosperity;
  6. Support the oversight of fund management, resource mobilization efforts, and coordination with donors and financing institutions;
  7. Create work programs that influence and mobilize resources in line with the Paris Agreement, Sustainable Development Goals, and biodiversity targets;
  8. Represent the perspective of CVF in relevant international forums and advocate for their interests and priorities concerning climate change adaptation, mitigation, and finance;
  9. Sustain engagement with a broad range of stakeholders, including Members, international financial institutions, partners, regions, subnational entities such as cities, businesses, investors, and civil society, to advance CVF-V20 Objectives;
  10. Establishment and ongoing management of the experts in Washington D.C. and elsewhere, focusing on international financial reform, and other key themes;
  11. Facilitate access to climate finance including loss and damage funds for Members through constant innovation of financial products and instruments, and through assistance with project development, proposal preparation, and engagement with the financial mechanisms of the UNFCCC and similar initiatives in the SDG, biodiversity, and related policy arenas;
  12. Engage with the G7 and G20, including working groups, and similar country groupings as well as international financial institutions and partners to advocate for increased climate finance flows to Members; and
  13. Provide technical assistance and capacity acceleration opportunities to member countries in accessing, tracking, managing, and reporting on climate finance received and utilized.

PROGRAMS OVERVIEW

  1. Membership and Partnerships Coordination
  2. CPP Coordination and Implementation
  3. Global Economic Reform and Resilience
  4. Regional Offices
  5. Science and Health
  6. Administration and Support Services

OBJECTIVE

The influence of the Climate Vulnerable Forum and the V20 Finance Ministers rests on the strength and clarity of the case its members make in the arenas where economic and climate decisions are taken. Communications is the function that converts the CVF-V20’s analytical and diplomatic work, including Climate Prosperity Plans, the V20-DFI Compact, the cost of capital and credit ratings agenda, liquidity and debt, and adaptation and loss and damage finance, into political traction with governments, international financial institutions, investors, and the public.

In this context, the CVF-V20 seeks a Director of Communications to set and own the institution’s global communications strategy and to lead its communications practice. The Director is the principal communications adviser and holds editorial leadership over the CVF-V20’s outbound voice, and is accountable for translating the organization’s agenda into a coherent narrative that is carried consistently across the Secretariat, its members, and its partners.

The role is both strategy-setting and hands-on. The Director sets the direction and holds the institutional voice, and, working within a lean team, is also expected to produce directly: press releases, drafting statements, op-eds, and briefs, guiding content for the digital channels, and managing media on the ground at major moments.  

SCOPE OF WORK

The Director of Communications will have the following roles and responsibilities:

  1. Set and own the global communications strategy of the CVF-V20, defining the core narrative, priority audiences, channel mix, and an annual campaign calendar anchored to the moments that matter: the UN General Assembly, the UNFCCC Conferences of the Parties, the Spring and Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, G20 and G7 processes, and CVF-V20 Leaders’ and Ministerial meetings;
  2. Maintain the CVF-V20 messaging architecture: a single master narrative and message framework covering Climate Prosperity Plans, the V20-DFI Compact and country platforms, cost of capital and credit ratings, liquidity and debt sustainability, adaptation, and loss and damage. Ensure that every product, speech, and campaign ladders up to it;
  3. Serve as principal communications adviser, advising on positioning, sequencing of announcements, choice of platform, reputational risk, and which opportunities to accept or decline;
  4. Hold editorial leadership and final quality assurance over the CVF-V20’s outbound voice, including press releases, statements, op-eds, policy briefs, the website, and flagship publications, ensuring accuracy, and consistency;
  5. Lead the CVF-V20’s global media strategy and relationships, building and sustaining direct relationships with senior editors and correspondents at leading international outlets and with major media in member regions across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Pacific; place principals for interviews, commentary, and briefings; and lead press operations at summits and ministerial meetings;
  6. Build, lead, and mentor a lean, high-performing communications team, overseeing recruitment, work-planning, professional standards, and performance, and managing external agencies and consultants for design, digital, film, translation, and media services; and, given the size of the team, personally carry a share of the drafting and production alongside them;
  7. Coordinate communications with member states, supporting the Presidency, Chair, and Troika communications teams and member country focal points so that Secretariat and member messaging reinforce one another, and supporting member-led moments such as Climate Prosperity Plan launches and country platform announcements;
  8. Lead joint communications with partners and coalitions, including multilateral development banks, the UN system, climate funds, philanthropies, civil society, and allied groupings, securing CVF-V20 positioning in shared moments while protecting the independence of its voice;
  9. Own the CVF-V20 brand and digital estate, including visual identity, house style, the website and associated platforms, publication standards, and the growth and management of social media channels, with content produced in the languages of member constituencies where feasible;
  10. Establish and report against a measurement framework, providing the Chief Executive Officer with quarterly analysis of reach, share of voice, message pull-through, and policy and media outcomes, and adjusting strategy on the basis of that evidence;
  11. Lead crisis and reputational risk communications, maintaining escalation protocols, prepared lines, and rapid response capacity, and advising leadership in sensitive or contested situations;
  12. Support with guidance on the production of flagship institutional products, including the CVF-V20 Secretariat Annual Report and major campaign assets; and
  13. Perform other strategic, representational, or communications tasks as requested by the Chief Executive Officer.

QUALIFICATIONS

The Director of Communications shall possess the following minimum qualifications:

  1. Master’s degree in communications, journalism, international relations, public policy, political science, development, or a related discipline; a Bachelor’s degree combined with extensive relevant experience may be accepted in lieu;
  2. A minimum of ten (10) years of progressively responsible communications experience, including at least three(3) years leading a communications function or team in an international or intergovernmental organization, government, financial institution, major foundation or non-governmental organization, or media house;
  3. A demonstrated record of designing and executing communications strategy that changed the terms of a policy debate or delivered a defined institutional objective, evidenced by specific campaigns and outcomes rather than output volume;
  4. Proven senior-level media relations, with existing relationships among editors and correspondents at leading international outlets and demonstrated ability to place principals and secure sustained coverage, including in Global South media markets;
  5. Strong command of the substance, sufficient to communicate credibly and without supervision on climate finance, sovereign debt and the cost of capital, adaptation, loss and damage, and the international financial architecture;
  6. Demonstrated experience advising principals at head of state, ministerial, or chief executive level, including speechwriting and real-time counsel in high-stakes and politically sensitive settings;
  7. Experience leading communications and press operations at major multilateral moments, such as the UNFCCC Conferences of the Parties, the UN General Assembly, and the meetings of the World Bank Group, the International Monetary Fund, and the G20;
  8. Proven ability to build and lead teams, manage budgets, and direct external agencies and consultants to a high professional standard;
  9. Willingness and ability to operate as a practitioner as well as a strategist, drafting, editing, and producing to a publishable standard in a lean team and without dedicated support staff;
  10. Experience working in or with climate-vulnerable countries across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Pacific, with the cultural sensitivity to adapt messaging to diverse political and media contexts;
  11. Outstanding written and spoken English, with editing and quality-assurance ability across the work of others; proficiency in French, Spanish, Arabic, or Portuguese is a distinct advantage;
  12. Digital fluency, including audience analytics, social platforms, web content management, and video and design production workflows;
  13. Sound political judgment, discretion, and the ability to hold confidences and manage reputational risk in a membership organization of sovereign governments;
  14. Ability to work under pressure, to tight deadlines, and across multiple time zones, and to work effectively within interdisciplinary and intercultural teams; and
  15. Ability and willingness to travel internationally on a frequent basis.

Interested candidates should submit a curriculum vitae and a cover letter together with the names of two professional referees, to the CVF-V20 Secretariat at [email protected] by the submission deadline of 13 September 2026.