Individual Contractor: Communications, Advocacy and Partnerships Specialist, Education/UNGEI Education Section/ PD/ NYHQ/Home Based, Req

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, hope

The preferred location for this role is in New York, USA. Exceptional candidates who want to work from a different country will be considered so long as their working hours overlap at least 75% with working hours in New York.

Duration: August 31st 2021 – August 15th 2022 (subject to change)

Number of working Days: 250 (includes 9 UN holidays + 17.5 paid time off)

BACKGROUND

Within this framework, UNICEF is committed to inter-agency cooperation and strengthening global goods that contribute to evidence-based programming.

About UNGEI

UNGEI is a global partnership for gender equality in and through education. Our mandate is to catalyze and galvanize action locally, nationally, regionally and global for girls’ education and gender equality in education. We bring together diverse partners to support Ministries of Education and other national actors to develop and implement bold commitments to gender equality in education. We convene regional global conversations and action for girls’ education and gender equality in education, including through the leadership of young feminist activists . The UNGEI Secretariat is governed by UNICEF policies of employment. We strive to uphold feminist and anti-racist principles in how we work and offer flexible work arrangements. Gender at the Centre Initiative (GCI) is an eight-country partnership and programme launched by the G7 in 2019 to support Ministries of Education and other national actors in eight countries in sub-Saharan Africa to progress on gender equality in education. The programme is implemented jointly by UNGEI and UNESCO IIEP. For more information, please visit https://www.ungei.org/publication/gender-centre-initiative.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

The Communications, Advocacy and Partnerships Specialist will:

-be responsible for developing, managing and overseeing the implementation of UNGEI’s overarching advocacy and communications strategy, including a separate and clear communications strategy for GCI. The consultant will ensure that UNGEI’s and GCI’s position, plans, partnerships and approaches are highlighted and amplified through a vibrant and ambitious communications strategy. This includes overseeing the digital communications contributions to multiple advocacy initiatives and partnerships and contributing to building evidence and sharing best practices in girls’ education and gender equality.

-lead and support the policy advocacy, digital communications and youth leadership team to ensure that UNGEI’s advocacy and communications activities are well-coordinated. For GCI, the Specialist will support the GCI Manager in developing and maintaining strong relationships with key partners in the region and in supporting young feminist activists to participate meaningfully in the programme.

Deliverables

Under the guidance of the Director of the UNGEI Secretariat, the consultant will complete the following tasks/milestones for the deliverables:

Communications and advocacy portfolio lead

• Work closely with the Lead, Policy and Advocacy and under the supervision of the Director of the UNGEI Secretariat to develop an advocacy strategy that supports UNGEI’s strategic goals and elevates the efforts of UNGEI and its key partners, including donors, to a wider audience
• Oversee and implement this overarching Advocacy and Communications strategy for UNGEI, and separately for GCI, that targets and engages key audiences, including children and young people in target populations
• Oversee the production of compelling high-quality policy advocacy and communications material based on complex themes for print and digital platforms
• Operationalize a comprehensive media strategy including in the preparation of news articles, press releases, media pitches, and op-eds etc. and maintain good working relationships with key outlets and journalists
• Support the production of advocacy and communications content by other members of the UNGEI team and external contributors; quality assure all content distributed by UNGEI to maintain strong visual and editorial identity and reputation
• Work with UNGEI and GCI contractors and team members to produce original audio, video, written and visual content for the UNGEI campaigns and communications activities
• Provide risk and strategic guidance to the UNGEI team on potential issues that may emerge, especially those that may pose a reputational risk
• Support and advise the members of the UNGEI team as needed on communications, advocacy, policy advocacy, digital strategies and youth leadership. This specifically includes working with the youth leadership team and young feminist leaders around the world to understand and fill the gap in the knowledge of disenfranchised children and young people around the world on gender and education rights
• Support the members of the UNGEI team and partners in the planning, set up and promotion of digital and in person events
• Represent UNGEI and partners in a variety of fora and channels

Digital platform and communications management

• Working closely with Lead, Digital Communications, develop new and creative engagement strategies and campaign ideas to elevate brand awareness, increase digital audiences and drive targeted outreach
• Maintain UNGEI standards and systems for digital content creation, distribution and repurposing
• Monitor current and emerging trends in digital marketing and communications, and stay up to date on industry best practices
• Oversee the monitoring and analysis of social media and web content metrics and use this for course correction to ensure effective communication strategies, planning and advocacy
• Support team members to develop content for and manage the UNGEI website and Knowledge Hub, ensuring that these digital platforms are aligned with the overall communications and advocacy strategy
• Define communications analytics and outreach benchmarks and KPIs to measure content effectiveness and optimize digital communications content, campaigns, community features and function

Support to Partnerships

• Working under the supervision of the Director of the Secretariat and in close partnership with the UNGEI and GCI teams, map and track key partnerships, including through the Global Advisory Committee
• Liaise with UNGEI members and partners and their respective communications focal points, including GCI Board members and key partners
• Support the Director of the Secretariat and the Steering Committee to develop a compelling value proposition for being an UNGEI member and a clear articulation of the experience of being an UNGEI member
• Support the GCI Manager in developing and maintaining strong relationships with key partners in the region and in supporting young feminist activists to participate meaningfully in the programme
• Collaborate with partners to design and implement communications and advocacy campaigns across multiple communication channels – ensuring coherence with UNGEI’s overarching strategy
• Identify and cultivate key influencers within and external to the UNGEI partnership to strengthen UNGEI’s outreach and visibility

Work Assignment Overview

1. Produce compelling high-quality policy advocacy and communications materials that meet advocacy objectives and messages for UNGEI digital platforms, with a focus on strong written content, as needed and relevant

• Gender equality in and through education publications and assets produced
• All content distributed by UNGEI quality assured to maintain strong visual and editorial identity and reputation

2. Lead communications, outreach and visibility of UNGEI’s on-line and face to face events

• Communications strategy and materials developed for each UNGEI public-facing event
• Lead on communications and outreach on events with target audiences and UNGEI partners
• Mapping and prioritization of ongoing and prospective events and partnership opportunities to increase UNGEI’s visibility globally

3. Support digital platform and communications management

• Initial mapping and ongoing monitoring of current and emerging trends in digital marketing and communications
• Oversee monitoring and analysis of social media and web content metrics to ensure effective communication strategies, delivered in monthly/quarterly reports
• Content developed, and ongoing management of the UNGEI website and Knowledge Hub, ensuring that these digital platforms are aligned with the overall communications and advocacy strategy
• Cross-channel advocacy and communications calendar developed and managed

4. Update and strengthen UNGEI advocacy and communications strategy. Identify and cultivate partnerships within and external to the UNGEI partnership to strengthen UNGEI’s outreach and visibility

• Advocacy and communications strategy/roadmap developed
• Stakeholder mapping for key organisations, influencers, etc. to engage with produced
• Creative growth strategies and campaign ideas developed
• Brief monthly status reports on ongoing advocacy and comms activities, including progress and challenges, produced

5. Manage partnerships with advocacy and communications focal points within and beyond UNGEI partnership

• Communications and advocacy campaigns designed and implemented in collaboration with UNGEI partners
• Schedule quarterly update meetings and liaise with UNGEI members and partners and their respective communications focal points

Qualifications

• 5 to 8 years of mid-level relevant professional work experience at the national and international levels in strategic communications, managing digital advocacy and communications, developing campaigns and strategic plans, developing and managing partnerships in international development. Experience in the UN and in the education sector preferred
• Demonstrated experience in policy and programming for gender equality with working knowledge of global and regional actors and networks in gender equality programming
• Editorial experience overseeing and managing the production of written and visual/audio content in a relevant field, including digital social media
• Experience as a strategist, planner and content creator with a proven track record of developing creative ideas and campaigns, including a focus on profile-raising

Superior communications skills in professional writing and a demonstrated ability to develop, pitch and secure feature coverage in top-tier media. Extensive experience with digital platforms, including organizing and managing and developing online blogs, consultations, outreach, and social media, including Drupal, Wordpress and other content management systems.

• Demonstrated planning, communication and writing skills. Ability to handle multiple tasks, prioritize and work to tight deadlines
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment. Strong team player
• Fluency in another UN language an asset
• Commitment to advancing gender equality, girls’ education, and human rights. Demonstrated commitment to UNGEI values, including feminist principles

Minimum Qualifications Required:

Master’s in public and/or private sector partnerships, education, communications, marketing, public relations, business administration and management, technology, or social sciences. Knowledge and experience in gender and/or education is a plus.

Your application needs to include:

• Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and provide Personal History Form (P11) Upload copy of academic credentials
• Financial proposal that will include:
• your daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference
  • Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
  • Indicate your availability
• Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.
• At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.
• Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process