Communication and Marketing Manager (For the nationals of Sierra Leone only)

Contract

This is a NPSA-10 contract. This kind of contract is known as National Personnel Services Agreement. It is normally only for nationals. It usually requires 5 years of experience, depending on education. More about NPSA-10 contracts.

Background

The following documents shall be required from the applicants:

• Personal CV - indicating all part positions held and their main underlying functions, their durations, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the candidate and at least three (3) references.
• Cover letter - indicating why the candidate considers him/herself to be suitable for the position.

The UN Secretary-General established the UN SDG Action Campaign to inspire people and organizations from all backgrounds and every part of the world to take actions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, while holding decision-makers to account for progress society-wide. The UN SDG Action Campaign is hosted and supported by UNDP and is based in Bonn (Germany) with a lean team that marshals rapid support for new initiatives as opportunities arise and provides partners with on-demand strategic creative services that inspire SDG local action.

The UN SDG Action Campaign is working closely with cities and local governments to showcase how they are actively contributing to implement Agenda 2030, accelerating transformative action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals for all, and everywhere. The UN SDG Action Campaign, together with the office of UNDP in Sierra Leone are supporting the city of Freetown to implement a component of their #FreetownTheTreeTown project, one of the winners of the 2021 Global Mayors Challenge.

Freetown, Sierra Leone, is among the world’s rainiest cities. They have also experienced rapid tree loss in recent years, estimated at some 555 hectares – or 500,000-plus trees – annually since 2011. The national government oversees the legal framework governing urban greening and land use, limiting Freetown’s options for curbing tree loss, and requiring reforestation. Heavy rains, coupled with this deforestation, have resulted in devastating landslides, including an event in 2017 which claimed nearly 1,000 lives.1 #FreetownTheTreetown is an initiative to reforest the city and surrounding areas to reverse tree loss and reduce disaster risks. The overall goal is to increase canopy cover by 50% from 2018 levels by the end of 2022.

In the first two years since its launch in January 2020, 560,000 trees have been planted, digitally tracked and ‘tokenised’, with 578 hectares of urban land in and around Freetown restored. The project is targeting the following objectives:

• To improve the equitable distribution of trees and green space, as 35% of areas targeted for new trees or vegetation are informal settlements that currently have low coverage.
• Planting by roadsides, schools and in residential areas (totaling almost 165 hectares to date) aims to reduce heat stress and improve air quality.
• Planting in Freetown’s water catchment and greenbelt (104 hectares) aims to improve water security.
• Planting in the upper water catchment and on high slopes around Freetown (280 hectares) aims to reduce the risk of flash flooding and landslides.
• Mangrove reforestation (32 hectares) aims to reduce coastal erosion and flooding.

As well as planting new trees, #FreetownTheTreetown is helping to discourage environmentally harmful practices, such as sand mining, and to reduce deforestation and mangrove destruction in targeted areas. The full ecosystem services from the trees planted during the initial three-year campaign will come later, around 2030, once they are more established. There has already been a discernible reduction in flooding and landslide risk because of planting in the upper catchment areas.

The campaign has also directly or indirectly created over 1,000 green jobs along the value chain, from workers in tree nurseries to community growers – of whom 80% are youths and 48% are women.

Within this context, the UN SDG Action Campaign is seeking to recruit a Communication and Marketing Manager to support the implementation of the #FreetownTheTreeTown project in the City of Freetown in Sierra Leone.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Communication and Marketing Manager will work with the designated third- party Fund Manager and the Freetown City Council and UNDP to implement the following functions:

• Develop, establish, and maintain all marketing strategies to promote the #FreetownTheTreeTownCampaign;
• Manage the sales of impact tokens and carbon credits;
• Manage the #FreetowTheTreeTown brand across all communication channels to ensure a clear and consistent message, tailored for local and global audiences;
• Set, manage, and review the overall marketing strategy for the #FreetownThe TreeTown Campaign;
• Develop clear brand guidelines and policies for all communications;
• Effectively manage and coordinate all marketing, social media, and promotional activities;
• Monitor, review and generate report on the overall marketing activity and results;
• Help create marketing/sales presentations;
• Liaise with media, advertising, and conference organizers;
• Collaborate with all #TreeTown teams and personnel to originate and develop content;
• Monitor industry best practices; and
• Co-ordinate and manage all photo and video shoots for all projects, including determining required consents.

Institutional Arrangement:

Under the overall guidance of the Mayor of Freetown and through the Mayor’s Delivery Unit, the Communication and Marketing Manager will directly report to the Team Leader, Mayor’s Delivery Unit, Office of the Mayor, Freetown City Council. The Communication and Marketing Manager will work closely and collaborate with #Freetown the Tree Town Component Leads, Third Pary Fund Manager, Project Technical Advisors, the Mayor’s Delivery Unit, FCC Climate and Disaster Risk Unit, Delivery Associates, and the technical team in UNDP Country Office, Sierra Leone.

Competencies

Core:

Achieve Results:Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact.Think Innovatively:Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems.

Learn Continuously:Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences.Adapt with Agility:Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands.Act with Determination:Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results.Engage and Partner:Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration.Enable Diversity and Inclusion:Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity.Cross-Functional and Technical Competencies:

Thematic Area****Name****DefinitionBusiness Direction & StrategyEffective Decision Making- Ability to take decisions in a timely and efficient manner in line with one’s authority, area of expertise and resources.

Business ManagementCustomer Satisfaction / Client Management- Ability to respond timely and appropriately with a sense of urgency, provide consistent solutions, and deliver timely and quality results and/or solutions to fulfil and understand the real customers' needs. Provide inputs to the development of customer service strategy. Look for ways to add value beyond clients' immediate requests. - Ability to anticipate client's upcoming needs and concerns.

CommunicationsMarketing research and data analysis- Ability to create actionable marketing intelligence based on primary and secondary research and data analysis.

Partnership ManagementPrivate sector resource mobilization- Ability to identify, develop and manage partnerships that leverage private sector technical expertise and resources.

Relationship Management- Ability to engage with a wide range of public and private partners, build, sustain and/or strengthen working relations, trust and mutual understanding.

Resource mobilization: Emerging partnerships- Ability to engage with emerging partners, develop and manage a strategy and develop approaches to developing and managing these new strategic partnerships.

Digital & InnovationDigital strategy- Ability to plan the use of resources through digital channels to reach and engage target audiences effectively and to achieve objectives.

Graphic Design- Ability to communicate visually and create appealing #FreetownTheTreeTown graphic products.

Required Skills and Experience

Min. education requirements:- Master’s Degree in Marketing, Business, Communications, Journalism or any related field, or a - Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Communications, Journalism or related field with seven (7) years of relevant work experience, is required.

Min. years of relevant work experience:- A minimum of five (5) years with Master’s Degree or seven (7) with Bachelor’s Degree of relevant professional work experience in areas related to communication, finance, product marketing and distribution, or projects related to mobilizing private sector investment for social good in partnership with government is required.

Required skills:- Proven experience in identifying target audiences and devising across channels marketing, is required; - Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc.) is required; - Excellent written and verbal communication skills is required.

Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies Section:- Proven experience in working with local governments is an advantage; - Experience in an environmental and/or technical business is an advantage; - Experience in marketing analytics and customer relationship management is a plus; - Experience in brand management is an advantage; - Experience with e-commerce and conversion optimization is an advantage; - Proficiency in Graphic Design and Layout of promotional / pitch investor outreach material, is desirable; - Experience in Corporate/Private Sector engagement is an advantage.

Required Language/s- Proficiency in the English language is required. - Working knowledge of another UN language is desirable.