Introduction
CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance, which has over 11,000 members in 175 countries, has an important role to play in amplifying the voices of civil society. With growing demand for audio content, between 2021 and 2025 CIVICUS has produced 5 seasons of CIVICUS Voices. The podcast showcases the stories of civil society changemakers who defend human rights in the face of restrictions. Similar to season 2-5, the intention for season 6 (6 episodes) is to focus on the power of protests.
We are looking for both an audio podcast producer and host who has technical expertise in sound engineering and managing the production of a podcast or a radio program. The ideal applicant will be able to do the show producing, hosting and show editing. This will include:
- Developing story outline and scriptwriting, with support from CIVICUS and based on the existing show template.
- Scripting and editing of podcast episodes
- Conducting interviews & gathering content from staff, members and partners.
- Recording, editing, and producing the podcast’s episodes and teasers.
- Hosting the podcast, being the official voice of the show. This does not need to be the same person as the producer/person doing the technical editing, but we would prefer proposals include host capacity. We are also accepting proposals that do not include host capacity.
- Publishing episodes to podcast libraries and creating multi-media content to promote on social media. We have templates that can be reused.
About CIVICUS
CIVICUS is a global alliance of civil society organisations and activists dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society throughout the world. Established in 1993, since 2002 we have been proudly headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with additional hubs across the globe. The Alliance currently comprises over 11,000 members in more than 175 countries.
Scope and Goal
The overall goal of the consultancy is to work together with the communications team to produce 6 podcast episodes (minimum);
- Develop story outline and script writing, with support from CIVICUS, based on existing show template. Edit and produce at least 6 podcast episodes.
Working in collaboration with CIVICUS, the consultant will develop episode outlines and segments, according to an existing story planning sheet. We envisage that this will include an initial planning session, drafting story ideas, and meetings as needed to review the episode ideas. Once episodes are ready for scripting, the consultant will draft the episodes’ scripts. Episodes should have a connecting line that makes the series more than just collated interviews with civil society.
- Conduct interviews
Based on the episode outlines and theme and with help from the CIVICUS team, the consultant will be conducting interviews & gathering content from staff, partners, and our membership.
- Host the podcast
Be the voice of the show, including being the one that is recorded as the interviewer, and also providing opening and closing remarks of the show.
- Record, edit and produce the podcasts
Activities will include: deciding how and where interviews will be recorded; recording of interviews, links and all pre-recorded material; editing audio files to make sure sound quality is good; trim the raw recordings and rearrange audio into engaging packages; add sound effects; sequence audio recordings and music in show rundown; export for publishing.
- Publish episodes to podcast libraries and work out a promotion plan
Upload the podcast on selected podcast platforms following the podcast schedule. When uploading, make sure that all the requisite details are included (e.g. episode title, description, publish date, episode #). With support from the CIVICUS team, work on a promotion plan for the podcast and the individual episodes.
CIVICUS will:
- Provide an existing podcast platform (established on Buzzsprout)
- Provide Audio templates that have been used during previous seasons of the show
- Provide multi-media templates used to promote teasers of the show on social media.
- Resource materials to draw ideas from, provide a list of potential themes and episode ideas
- Review draft episode outlines, review draft script in a timely manners
- Provide names and contacts of potential interviewees, draft introductory emails whether needed.
Application deadline: 21 April 2025
To express interest in this role please submit the following, with the subject line "Podcast production application", to:
- Short motivation/CV demonstrating experience
- Estimated timeline/ plan of action
- Detailed quote
Due to the high volumes of applications received, should you not have received feedback on your application within three weeks of the closing date, please consider your application unsuccessful. We reserve the right to withdraw any of our vacancies at any time.
Duration of work: Beginning of May through end of June. Work to be completed by 30 June 2025
