About Media Challenge Initiative (MCI)

Media Challenge Initiative (MCI) envisions a humane and healthy media ecosystem shaping the future. At the core of this vision is Africa’s first apprenticeship-driven social newsroom — a living system where young journalists, creators, editors, designers, researchers, and media entrepreneurs learn by doing, shape culture, and build sustainable media futures.

MCI operates as a dual system:

• A mission-driven media development NGO
• A growing social enterprise using media to sustain the NGO

The dual system is structured around a 7S intervention model to solve the media challenges of our times;

• S1: Skilling the Next Generation of Journalists,
• S2: Space for Media Innovation,
• S3: Shaping Narratives and Culture,
• S4: Safeguarding the Information Ecosystem,
• S5: Stabilizing Local and Rural Journalism
• S6: Strengthening Media Coverage of the Development Sector
• S7: Sustainability Through Social Enterprise

Here we believe that people are the connective tissue that makes this system work.

To sustain this vision beyond donors, MCI is intentionally investing in media viability, social enterprise, and narrative-driven revenue models.

The Role: Sustainability Officer

We are looking for a Narrative Revenue and Sustainability Officer —to design, grow, and steward the business systems that sustain MCI and our apprenticeship newsroom. We are looking for a Media Business Builder, someone who lives comfortably at the intersection of:

• media + money
• content + commerce
• impact + income
• youth culture + business logic

Most importantly, the candidate we are looking for must understand, deeply, that money and impact are not opposites — they are design partners.

Your Core Mandate

You are responsible for turning impact into revenue — ethically, creatively, and strategically.

You design the business behind the stories, project, outreach and campaign.

Key Responsibilities

1. Design MCI’s Sustainability Architecture

   You will:

   • Design and implement MCI’s revenue strategy across:
     • NGO work
     • Social enterprise services
     • Newsroom operations
   • Diversify income beyond grants into:
     • Campaign partnerships
     • Corporate collaborations
     • Content partnerships
     • Training & skilling products
     • Consulting and facilitation
   • Ensure sustainability aligns with MCI’s values, mission, and editorial independence

2. Narrative Revenue Design (Business Behind Stories)

   You will:

   • Work with the newsroom to identify revenue pathways for stories, series, and channels
   • Design campaign-based partnerships around themes (health, climate, youth, money, creativity)
   • Package content as:
     • Campaigns
     • Experiences
     • Community activations
     • Learning products
   • Ensure sustainability thinking starts at story conception, not at the end

3. Partnership Development with corporate and private sector

   You will:

   • Attract and steward corporate, private, foundation, and institutional partners
   • Design partnerships that go beyond branding to shared value
   • Position MCI as a long-term partner, not a service provider

4. Story–Brand Matchmaking

   You will:

   • Match brands and institutions to:
     • Switch Africa channels
     • Youth communities
     • Cultural conversations
   • Develop ethical frameworks for:
     • Sponsored content
     • Branded storytelling
     • Co-created campaigns

5. Pipeline, Sales & Relationship Management

   You will:

   • Build and manage a partnership pipeline
   • Lead pitching, negotiations, and closing
   • Maintain long-term partner relationships
   • Track revenue targets and performance
   • Collaborate closely with:
     • CEO
     • Newsroom Manager
     • People & Culture Officer
     • Finance

6. Internal Capacity Building

   You will help the organization learn to think sustainably by:

   • Training project managers, editors and producers to think commercially
   • Building simple sustainability tools for teams
   • Creating templates for proposals, decks, and pitches
   • Supporting apprentices to understand media business models
   • Train and mentor the next generation of sustainability and narrative revenue experts.

Who We’re Looking For

You are:

• A media-native business thinker
• Comfortable in newsrooms, creative spaces, and boardrooms
• Able to speak impact language and business language
• Excited by experimentation and iteration
• A strong relationship builder
• Values-driven and ethically grounded

You enjoy:

• Following the money and money follows you right back.
• Designing models, not just chasing money
• Turning ideas into revenue systems
• Working with creatives and journalists
• Building something new from the ground up

You Bring

• Experience in:
  • Media business development
  • Content monetization
  • Partnerships or fundraising
  • Creative or cultural industries
• Understanding of:
  • Newsroom economics
  • Campaign-based partnerships
  • Youth and audience-first media
• Strong communication, negotiation, and storytelling skills
• Ability to work in fast-moving, ambiguous environments

Why This Role Matters

This role exists to answer one of the most important questions in African media:

How do we fund journalism and storytelling that serves young people — without losing our soul?

You will help build:

• A sustainable not-for-profit youth newsroom
• A viable media development organization
• A media business model others across Africa can learn from

Success in This Role Looks Like

• Reduced donor dependency
• Clear revenue logic for Switch Africa channels
• Increase revenue flows to sustain the organization
• Strong, repeat partners
• A growing, trusted social enterprise
• A newsroom that can plan long-term with confidence

• Design and implement MCI’s revenue strategy across: NGO work, Social enterprise services, Newsroom operations
• Diversify income beyond grants into: Campaign partnerships, Corporate collaborations, Content partnerships, Training & skilling products, Consulting and facilitation
• Ensure sustainability aligns with MCI’s values, mission, and editorial independence
• Work with the newsroom to identify revenue pathways for stories, series, and channels
• Design campaign-based partnerships around themes (health, climate, youth, money, creativity)
• Package content as: Campaigns, Experiences, Community activations, Learning products
• Ensure sustainability thinking starts at story conception, not at the end
• Attract and steward corporate, private, foundation, and institutional partners
• Design partnerships that go beyond branding to shared value
• Position MCI as a long-term partner, not a service provider
• Match brands and institutions to: Switch Africa channels, Youth communities, Cultural conversations
• Develop ethical frameworks for: Sponsored content, Branded storytelling, Co-created campaigns
• Build and manage a partnership pipeline
• Lead pitching, negotiations, and closing
• Maintain long-term partner relationships
• Track revenue targets and performance
• Collaborate closely with: CEO, Newsroom Manager, People & Culture Officer, Finance
• Training project managers, editors and producers to think commercially
• Building simple sustainability tools for teams
• Creating templates for proposals, decks, and pitches
• Supporting apprentices to understand media business models
• Train and mentor the next generation of sustainability and narrative revenue experts.

• Media business development
• Content monetization
• Partnerships or fundraising
• Creative or cultural industries
• Newsroom economics
• Campaign-based partnerships
• Youth and audience-first media
• Strong communication, negotiation, and storytelling skills
• Ability to work in fast-moving, ambiguous environments

• Media-native business thinker
• Comfortable in newsrooms, creative spaces, and boardrooms
• Able to speak impact language and business language
• Excited by experimentation and iteration
• A strong relationship builder
• Values-driven and ethically grounded