Individual Contractor – Media Advisor

Result of Service With Sustainable Development at the core, and in response to the General Assembly resolution 71/243 on the quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system, the UN Secretary General's report (December 2017) "Repositioning the United Nations development system to deliver on the 2030 Agenda: our promise for dignity, prosperity and peace on a healthy planet puts forward a comprehensive proposal on further improvements to the resident coordinator system to ensure more coherent, accountable and effective support for the 2030 Agenda. This was further reinforced by General Assembly resolution 72/729 of 1 June 2018, which gave the Secretary- General the mandate to implement the repositioning. A reinvigorated Resident Coordinator System is at the centre of a repositioned United Nations development system, and while the system has been instrumental in driving coherence on the ground over the past four decades, it is now insufficiently robust to respond to the needs of the 2030 Agenda. The UN Secretary General's report stresses that resident coordinator offices will need to be adequately staffed to ensure sufficient substantive capacities to lead United Nations country teams. The UN system in the Islamic Republic of Iran consists of 18 resident UN funds, programmes and specialized agencies. The UN Country Team in Iran is diverse both in terms of operational modalities and in terms of the scale of engagement in-country. Some agencies are accredited with core funding and core staff, while others are project-based. The communications capacity of UN entities in Iran is also diverse, some agencies are staffed with senior level international and national professionals, while in other UN entities, the administrative assistants are performing the duties of communications focal points.

To coordinate the work of the UN system at the country level, the new generation of RC and UNCT is supported by the strengthened RC Office (RCO) that serves as a catalyst and vehicle for taking forward the planned results and priorities set by the UNCT in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

To strengthen the communications capacity of the reinvigorated RC system and UNCT, the UN development reform envisaged a further integration of UN Information Centres (UNICs) with the RCO, thus empowering UNIC and strengthening the capacity of RC and UNCT to communicate as one.

While the integration is progressing successfully in Iran, the RCO activities as well as joint UNCT tasks are expanding, and the demand for strategic communications support from UNIC is increasing, particularly due to challenges that UN Iran is facing in the current sensitive political, economic and social environment of the host country.

The UN Communications Group (UNCG) leads the joint strategic communications and advocacy efforts to support the RC and UNCT to achieve tangible results in line with the UN Iran development and humanitarian mandate. The UNCG consists of media focal points from UN entities in Iran and it meets regularly to coordinate the implementation of joint communications activities and campaigns, within the framework of the annual action plan. The annual plan is based on the UN Iran communications strategy. The UNCG regularly reports to the UNCT and its activities are co-funded by UNCT. The UNIC director is the chair, while UNIC serves as the UNCG secretariat.

Work Location Tehran

Expected duration 6 months (mid-April to mid-October, 2022)

Duties and Responsibilities 1. On a daily basis support the monitoring of national and international media as well as other sources of information to highlight developments relevant to the work of UN in I.R. of Iran.

2. Keep an effective flow of information and communication crucial for assessing developments relevant to the works of the UN.

3. Contribute to maintaining an updated, bilingual iran.un.org website. Develop, produce, edit or translate stories, videos, audios, and visuals.

4. Contribute to producing strategically aligned and compelling content for UN Iran Social Media channels.

5. To assist the UNCT and UNCG with the capacity building in the area of strategic communications.

6. Coordinate with relevant teams—internally and externally with partners—to promote UN in Iran narratives across digital platforms; use new or existing digital assets to reinforce strategic key messages.

7. Copywriting (online & offline), editing, translating and proofreading of communication products (brochure, booklet, newsletters)

8. Ensure branding and donor visibility on events and related materials.

9. Monitoring feedback and reactions on the UN digital platforms, including social media accounts and website; analysing the trends of social media participation and proposing relevant adjustments to the communications strategies.

10. Supporting UN Communications Group and UN Country Team communication campaigns and other activities and promoting key messages, sharing modern social media technologies with the UNCG members.

11. Research and respond to information requests from the general public.

Qualifications/special skills Competency: Communication: - speaks and writes clearly and effectively, - listen to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately - asks questions to clarify; exhibit interest in having two-way communication - tailors language, tone, style and format to match the audience - Planning and organizing: - Identifies priority activities and assignments - Foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning - Monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary - Accountability: - Takes ownership of all responsibilities and honours commitments - Delivers outputs for which one has responsibility within prescribed time, cost and quality standards - Operates in compliance with organizational regulations and rules - Creativity: - Actively seeks to improve programmes or services - Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively; - Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others. Promoting learning and knowledge management/sharing is the responsibility of each staff member; - Client Orientation: - Considers all those to whom services are provided to be “clients ” and seeks to see things from clients’ point of view - Keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects - Meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client Skills: - Familiarity with the UN mandate and its work in Iran. - Knowledge of strategic communications in the specific Iranian context. - Experience in provision of high-level communications policy advice in complex and sensitive political environments. - Experience in managing social media tools including planning, monitoring, reporting on and analysing social media campaigns is desirable. Academic Qualifications: BA from a relevant field. Experience: - Minimum of two year of progressively responsible experience in public information, journalism, international relations, public administration, strategic communications or related area is required. Language: Fluency in Persian (Farsi) and English is required.

Additional Information Remuneration: the position is full time, 22 working days/months and will be paid in Rials equal to USD 1000 – 1250, depending on qualifications and work experience, Monthly payment based on time sheets and approval by UNIC Director (OiC).

No Fee THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.