UN Women: Communications and Advocacy Specialist

Contract

This is a P-4 contract. This kind of contract is known as Professional and Director staff. It is normally internationally recruited only. It's a staff contract. It usually requires 7 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 171,387 USD and 220,969 USD.

Please keep in mind that the salary displayed here is an estimation by UN Talent based on the location and the type of contract. It may vary depending on the organization. The recruiter should be able to inform you about the exact salary range. In case the job description contains another salary information, please refer to this one.

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

The Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) is a partnership between the United Nations, Member States, and civil society, which supports women-led and women’s rights organizations working to build peace and provide humanitarian response throughout the world. Since the end of 2016, the WPHF has supported close to 1000 civil society organizations in 41 countries.

UN Women hosts the Secretariat of the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund. The WPHF Secretariat provides support to the Funding Board, mobilizes resources from Governments, companies, foundations and individuals, designs funding windows and mechanisms, provides day-to-day support to Country Offices implementing WPHF programmes, and ensures timely and quality monitoring and reporting. The Secretariat’s mandate is also to strengthen stakeholders’ knowledge of and engagement with women, peace and security issues through proper internal and external communications, advocacy and outreach. Finally, the Secretariat provides knowledge management services for the WPHF, and manages the Community of Practice (CoP) for WPHF partners and grantees.

Reporting to the Head the WPHF Secretariat (P5), the Communications and Advocacy Specialist will oversee the Fund’s communications, advocacy initiatives and engagement with the private sector. They will be in charge of overseeing the Fund’s strategic communications and advocacy, including the successful implementation of WPHF newly launched InvestInWomen Campaign. They will manage the design and dissemination of the Fund’s communications material as well as the growth of the Fund’s media, web and social media presence. The Communications and Advocacy Specialist will also be in charge of diversifying and growing WPHF’s partnerships with the private sector.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Manage the development and implementation of communications, advocacy and outreach strategies and plans

• Design, develop and implement a communications strategy for WPHF in collaboration with relevant partners;
• Conduct communication needs assessments for the Fund at the global level and support the same for the Fund’s programmes at country and/or regional levels;
• Design, develop and implement the Fund’s communications, advocacy and outreach strategy, including media strategies;
• Ensure the integration of communications, advocacy and outreach strategies into proposals for the Fund’s programmes;
• Launch and/or support global and local/regional campaigns and special events, as needed;
• Provide substantive advice and guidance on communications, advocacy and outreach to and coordinate with the Fund’s programme teams at country and/or regional levels.

2. Manage the design, development and dissemination of the Fund’s communications materials globally and in the Fund’s countries:

• Design, develop and produce communications and advocacy instruments and materials, including briefing materials, press releases, and articles and coordinate its dissemination through effective channels;
• Identify, launch and manage information opportunities, activities, approaches and platforms and partners;
• Provide substantive advice on advocacy materials and publications to the Fund’s programmes;
• Lead the engagement and supervision of video producers and other communication specialists to produce audio/ visual material on the Fund’s programmes;
• Finalize advocacy brochures, factsheets, stories from the field to inform media and general public on the Fund’s programmes;
• Keep an ongoing repository of country and global level assets on impact.

3. Oversee the Fund’s online presence:

• Oversee and maintain the Fund’s website, including developing design and content;
• Coordinate with the Fund’s programmes to solicit engagement and ensure a dynamic web presence;
• Oversee and manage the global social media accounts in line with corporate social media policies and provide support to the Fund’s programmes.

4. Manage media relations for the Fund:

• Lead relationship-building with press in relation to the Fund’s programmes;
• Manage and update database of relevant press for the Fund’s programmes;
• Respond in a timely manner and clearly to media inquiries and to a variety of inquiries and information requests; prepare related correspondence; identify topics, background information, news-related development and coverage of interest;
• Facilitate interviews with principals and senior managers and connect media with WPHF civil society partners and subject experts from the core implementing agencies, funds and programmes;

5. Build and manage partnerships to strengthen WPHF’s visibility and advocacy:

• Identify and develop new communications partnerships and alliances to enhance the Fund’s visibility; manage and nurture existing partnerships;
• Liaise with advocacy partners and undertake outreach to civil society organizations, governments, and other groups to ensure that newsworthy information on the Fund reaches the public and donors;
• Guide and collaborate closely with communications colleagues of the Fund’s core implementing agencies and Board members to ensure consistency with corporate policies, messaging and initiatives.

6. Lead the Fund’s private sector strategy and engagement and increase the Fund’s revenue from private sector

• Secure new and deepen existing partnerships with private sector entities to diversify funding sources for WPHF
• Oversee the activities of the Fund’s Resource Development Committee, a network of philanthropists that champions the Fund’s InvestInWomen Campaign goals.
• Manage relationships with the UN Foundation and UNFIP.

Key Performance Indicators

• High Quality communications strategy and timely implementation which leads to greater exposure and understanding of WPHF’s work
• High Quality and relevant advocacy materials and content or the website and social media channels
• Regular interactions with mass media, as shown by coverage
• Regular interactions with private donors, as shown in increased funds
• Regular targeted outreach and exchange of information between the Fund’s Secretariat and country offices in region as shown in coherent and relevant regional public presence

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competencies

• Ability to communicate sensitively, effectively and creatively across different constituencies
• Strong knowledge of managing web-based knowledge management systems
• Strong understanding of production, graphic design and photography standards
• Strong knowledge of social media platforms and experience in social media outreach
• Strong oral and written communication and editing skills
• Strong communication, networking and advocacy skills
• Ability to provide advice and be strategic and analytical
• Good knowledge of media landscape
• Knowledge of gender and human rights issues

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in international relations, human rights, communications, public relations, journalism or relevant field is required
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of professional work experience at national or international level in public relations, communications or advocacy, including in media relations.
• Experience in elaborating and executing a global multi-channel communications strategy.
• Experience working on women, peace and security and humanitarian issues.
• Experience in enhancing the visibility and impact of civil society organizations.
• Experience working a multi-partner trustfund or programme is an asset.
• Previous experience with the UN is an asset.
• Experience in media relations is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required
• Knowledge of another UN official working language is an asset

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc. Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

Note:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)