Visual Communications Officer at Finance Watch

Finance Watch is a Brussels-based NGO that works to make finance serve society. We are looking for a creative communication expert to strengthen our Communication & Networks department and expand our visual universe.

This exciting new position would suit a communications professional with strong graphic design and visual storytelling skills who is highly motivated by the Finance Watch mission.

The Visual Communications Officer will be part of the Communications & Networks department. The successful candidate will work in collaboration with colleagues across the organisation specialising in research & advocacy, digital communication, press, policy communication, campaigning, grant management and more. The Visual Communications Officer will report to the Head of Communications & Networks.

Core responsibilities

The Visual Communications Officer will consolidate Finance Watch’s visual identity and convey messages of varying complexity to different audiences while balancing diverse projects and deadlines.

There are 3 major types of activities in this role:

Design & storytelling

• Contribute to communication and advocacy campaigns, advise on audience segmentation, build narratives
• Help colleagues convey their messages in an engaging format through visual communication
• Juggle audiences (engaged citizens, civil society, policymakers, politicians, funders)
• Produce videos and contribute to the development of short-form video content, animation, motion graphics, particularly on Instagram Reels
• Track relevant KPIs (downloads, engagement, open rates, visits) and suggest visual improvements to outputs of all types
• Design social media assets such as thumbnails, carousels, ads, stories, and videos
• Contribute to the publication and archival of media assets for social media channels (Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, X, etc).
• Coordinate the production of educational materials such as cartoons and infographics

Day-to-day delivery

• Provide visual assets (images, illustrations, infographics etc.) for, and design the layouts of, reports, blogs, open letters, social media, slides, video scripts, agendas, event programmes, newsletters, emails, and internal notes
• Design print material such as merchandise, posters, banners, and flyers
• Contribute to the reporting of the team’s activities to funders
• Coordinate with external providers
• Contribute to webmastering tasks and online publishing activities

Framework building

• Develop templates for social media, publications, emailing, slide decks and other digital communications material
• Maintain and develop the brand guidelines & identity
• Review the design of internal communications, such as internal notes
• Promote design best practices and ensure consistency across outputs

Additional responsibilities: policy communication

At Finance Watch, members of the Communication department have a unique opportunity to collaborate with a member of the Research & Advocacy department to learn more about a specific policy area. This “Tandem” structure will enable the Visual Communications Officer to learn more about Finance Watch’s core workstreams, and advise their Research & Advocacy counterpart on how best to communicate this work externally:

• Organising weekly knowledge-sharing meetings with the Research & Advocacy Officer responsible for the stability & supervision workstream
• Keeping up-to-date on the latest developments in the workstream (for example, a new legislative proposal or participation at an important event)
• Helping plan and deliver Finance Watch outputs for this workstream, for example a new report, social media posts, communications with members or an open letter

Profile / Qualifications

Essential

• University degree in communications, visual communications, marketing, community management or equivalent with a specialisation in graphic design and/or multimedia
• Proven experience in video editing and graphic design across digital platforms, with a strong portfolio showcasing creative, visually impactful, brand-aligned work
• Excellent use of video and graphic design tools and desktop publishing software (Canva, CapCut, Adobe Creative Cloud, especially InDesign, After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, Express)
• Ability to apply design best practices with particular attention to usability, accessibility, and consistency across outputs
• Fluency in English

Desirable

• Experience in shaping/contributing to communication strategies

• High level of digital literacy: community management, digital marketing, analytics, CRM management (Hubspot), webmastering (WordPress)
• Knowledge of a second language, particularly German
• Brand strategy experience
• Experience in data management / CRM (Hubspot)
• Experience in analytics (Google Analytics (GA4), social media analytics, CRM analytics) and project management tools (Asana, Trello, Notion, Slack, Figma, Miro)
• Interest in finance/economics, awareness of European politics and knowledge of the European economic and financial landscape

Skills

• Strong project management, internal communication and organising skills
• Able to manage a substantial and varied workload effectively, autonomously under defined objectives, and to manage competing demands, while maintaining accuracy
• Excellent communication skills, ensuring consistency with brand strategy across digital marketing, social media and public relations.
• Reliable, proactive, eager to learn
• Ability to convey complex messages visually, shape compelling storytelling and inspire others with your ideas
• Basic photography, photojournalism-style work, or retouching
• A passion for social media and a strong track record of leveraging it effectively
• Strong understanding of social media trends, memes, and culturally relevant content that can spark conversation or go viral
• Ability to react fast with visuals during news cycles or advocacy opportunities
• Capacity to adapt visuals for multilingual, multicultural audiences
• Motivated by Finance Watch’s mission and capacity to work on complex advocacy topics in the field of economics and finance in the context of European policymaking
• A team player with a positive outlook who can listen and collaborate with colleagues in an international work environment
• Be eager to propose new ideas, lead projects, and influence comms tactics