National Communications Specialist

Organizational Setting

FAO in collaboration with the government, UN organizations and development partners began serving both the host communities and Rohingya population in building their livelihoods and skill development opportunities in Cox’s Bazar from October 2017. FAO Cox’s Bazar sub-office has been operating programmes in attaining productive and sustainable agriculture, fisheries, livestock and increasing the resilience of livelihoods in the emergency humanitarian context. Several initiatives were undertaken particularly to address the sustainable productivity, resilient livelihoods and improved food security for communities in Cox’s Bazar, specifically prioritizing the poor and marginalized farmers. FAO is implementing various multi-donor projects through developing, testing, and piloting several innovative sustainable livelihood approaches and intervention models. Through these innovative approaches and models, FAO is supporting marginal and smallholder farming families in four sub-districts of Cox’s Bazar district (Cox’s Bazar Sadar, Ukhiya, Ramu and Teknaf) for increasing their farm productivity and income generation by improving the existing production and management practices.

Reporting lines

The National Communications Specialist is a SC8 position and will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative, and the direct supervision of the Senior Emergency and Rehabilitation Officer and the International Communications Specialist. He or she will work in coordination with the operations team and monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning (MEAL) unit.

Responsbilites

The incumbent shall familiarize him/herself with FAO’s corporate communication policy and operational guidelines to ensure mandatory coherence of all communication and information outputs. He or she will need to work within the framework of the overall annual communications plan of FAO Banlgadesh and be expected to delvelop and implent his or her own annual plan and deliverables. The incumbent will be expected to work on communication requirements for Cox’s Bazar and contribute to other project communications and country level communication needs when required.

Tasks

In line with FAO’s Corporate Communications Strategy and Policy, the specialist will carry out the following specific tasks:

• Develop, maintain and update a communication strategy and work plan, in line with programme priorities and FAO’s corporate communications guidelines. • Research and produce communications materials (in both high-quality English and Bengali) including progress reports, news releases, human interest stories, newsletter content, brochures, opinion articles, talking points, donor reports, and social media content for Cox’s Bazar, plus other FAO Bangladesh projects as required. • Develop and articulate key messages for external communication and advocacy purposes. • Edit texts of a technical nature in order to ensure accuracy, clarity, cohesion and conformity with FAO house-style English, policy and practice. • Develop and coordinate production of engaging and informative multimedia products (video and radio) in line with guidelines from the Office of Corporate Communication (OCC). • Oversee graphic design solutions including publication templates, visual presentations, pamphlets, info-graphics, icons, and other publication materials that illustrate information and make it legible to different audiences. • Take high quality photos and commission professional photography according to OCC production guidelines and advance collaboration with OCCM Photo Editor. • In close collaboration with OCC, support and promote the World Food Day campaign and other observances campaigns including international years, days and UN Decades, on the national level by adapting communication material in Bangla when possible and disseminating them among partners. • Create content for sharing via existing FAO social media channels that raises visibility with key target audiences. • Cultivate relations with the media, organise and facilitate media coverage for events, guide media engagement for technical experts. • Monitor and evaluate the impact of communication materials and advocacy events/campaigns to target audiences. • Set up, organize, and maintain an archive of images and video content. • Organize and archive key project documents. • Prepare, edit, and submit key project documents for publishing approval. • Liaise with the procurement team to initiate and oversee procurement of printed and other communications materials. • Represent FAO at the country UN Communications Group when required and ensure that FAO’s priorities are reflected. • Ensure visibility of projects and FAO Bangladesh in project partners’ materials and publications, and provide guidance on the correct use of the FAO logo, in line with corporate guidelines; • Organise procurement of communications products. • Organise field trips and willingness to participate in field trips in Cox’s Bazar and else where in Banlgladesh. • Perform other duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent, in Communication, Journalism or a related field. Masters would be an advantage. • Minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible professional work experiences with the United Nations or international development organizations in corporate communications, public information, journalism, or international relations. • Professional experience in working with the emergency environment and /or humanitarian responses at team leader or project manager position including the food security sector would be considered an asset. • Working knowledge (level C) of English and Bengali.National of Bangladesh.

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus • Teamwork • Communication • Building Effective Relationships • Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Relevant work experience. • Expertise in preparing a range of high quality communictions products. • Demonstrated ability to project positive corporate images, reporting on key achievements and effectively advocating vision and priorities to internal and external stakeholders; • Ability to work independently and without close supervision. • Self-motivation, willingness to learn and strong work ethics in managing a multi-disciplinary team.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• FAO does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing)
• Incomplete applications will not be considered. If you need help please contact: [email protected]
• Applications received after the closing date will not be accepted
• Please note that FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/
• For additional employment opportunities visit the FAO employment website: http://www.fao.org/employment/home/en/
• Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment, accreditation, any residency or visa requirements, and security clearances.