GBLCAREERS

UN Women – In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. In doing so, UN Member States took an historic step in accelerating the Organization’s goals on 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.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Communications Officer

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.
• Under the overall guidance and direction of the Country Representative, the Communications Officer leads the implementation of the UN Women corporate communications strategy, as well as the development, management and implementation of the Country communications and  advocacy strategies which are geared towards awareness raising of gender equality and the empowerment of women, promote public and media outreach, and increase the visibility of key programmatic results, and UN Women global campaign initiatives in Nigeria.
• She/he works in close collaboration with the country programme and operations team, UN Women HQ Communications Team and UN Women West and Central Africa Regional Communications focal point, UN Communications Group in Nigeria, media and journalists ensuring successful UN Women communications strategy implementation.

Duties and Responsibilities
Summary of Key Functions:

• Formulate and implement a communications, advocacy and outreach strategy in support of Country Office visibility and resource mobilization efforts.
• Supervision of UN Women Nigeria content production and publication via multiple channels for dissemination via Print, Radio, TV and Social media as well as internal media platforms such as UN Women websites, intranet, and other related web-based knowledge management systems.
• Implementation of key knowledge sharing UN Women products and publications
• Facilitation of knowledge building and knowledge sharing on gender equality and women’s empowerment among key stakeholders for UN Women in Nigeria.
• Perform any other related activity that may be assigned by the Management Team.
• Development and implementation of an elaborate Monitoring and Evaluation framework for tracking and assessing progress and performance of the implementation of communications and advocacy activities.

Description of Functions
Provides support to the planning and design of internal and external strategies for communications and outreach focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Lead the preparation of country office communication and advocacy instruments including presentations, fast facts, brochures, briefing material for dissemination to different audiences as need be in coordination with supervisor. These include, for instance, monthly donor bulletins, a brochure on the new Country Programme, updated information leaflets per programme and project, etc;
• Carry out communications needs assessments for UN Women Nigeria Office (projects, country programme and corporate change initiatives/campaigns, etc.)
• Play significant role in Strengthening the Communication and Visibility partnership with stakeholders (including print and electronic media organizations/ professionals) at all levels on the all programmes
• Analysis of requirements and synthesis of proposals for elaboration of the country office communications and outreach strategy based on the communications strategy.
• Play significant role in the systematic documentation, monitoring and evaluation of the visibility activities, at all levels, as an integral component of the overall Programme M&E framework and in line with UN Women corporate policy.
• Development/production of communication and advocacy instruments and materials (News Letter, Brochures, etc.) for marketing and awareness-raising campaigns, including briefing materials and press releases in coordination with the supervisor and relevant Project Managers.
• Synthesis of proposals for project formulations to integrate advocacy and development communication strategies into all aspects of UN Women’s development programming.
• Work closely with UN Women Porgramme Managers programme managers for the effective management of the communications and visibility component of the respective programme.
• Support in strengthening strategic partnership and visibility and communication initiatives with Government, Multilateral and Bilateral Donors, Civil Society Organizations, Community Leaders, Private sector and Media Organizations, among others in line with UN Women Corporate Communication policy.

Ensure the effective implementation of the UN Women country advocacy and visibility strategy and plan:

• Ensure effective implementation of advocacy and visibility strategy and plan for content publications including project specific publications are produced in line with the UN Women brand guidelines.
• Management of programme specific content production activities, to include the drafting of success story articles, content management and ensuring the corporate policies, norms and standards for publishing, design is upheld
• Develop and Maintain a close collaboration and coordination with the Programme and Operations team to ensure effective communications support for country office programme and operations teams.
• Provide regular, constructive and timely advice/recommendations on both general and emerging issues related to the Communications and Visibility Component of the WPS programme in line with UN Women Corporate Communication policy
• Play significant role in the systematic documentation, monitoring and evaluation of the visibility activities, at all levels, as an integral component of the overall Programme M&E framework.
• Build strong networks with key programme partners including the media (print, digital, TV and radio.)

Provides support to the provision of content to the UN Women web site, intranet, UN Women web-based knowledge management system and dissemination of information through social media:

• Generation, preparation and editing of content for the websites and social media to ensure material is consistent and up to date.
• Preparation of the content for dissemination via social media, print and TV while ensuring systematic, timely and excellence in the production and quality of the materials.
• Document sequential programme implementation from inception to programme closure through video and print success stories at the Country Office level story telling.

Events and Campaign Management:

• Managing flagship events and campaigns including promotion and dissemination of corporate advocacy materials for initiatives and publications such as Progress of the World’s Women, UNiTE Campaign and HeforShe.
• Promotion and management of public information campaigns on UN Women Nigeria activities, gender equality and women’s empowerment, violence against women and implementation of normative frameworks on gender equality and women’s human rights, in close collaborations with country office Management and respective Program Managers.

Outreach:

• Dissemination of communication materials and media mobilization through a regularly updated and populated contact database;
• Preparation and dissemination of newsletter to key stakeholders, partners and target groups donors, target beneficiaries, donor reports, civic education and community awareness, where appropriate to support the office for advocacy and resource mobilization
• Timely and effective responses to inquiries from public and interested stakeholders.
• Document and widely disseminate success stories, lessons learnt, and best practices from the projects in print and electronically, including photos, infographics, short video clips, and documentaries of selected Programme initiatives.
• Provide technical support in the production of audio-visual material and sound recordings for radio broadcast, and the organization of regular information campaigns and face-to-face meetings at National, State and LGA levels to raise the visibility of the action and to promote discussion of Programme-related issues
• Ensures facilitation of research, knowledge building and management focusing on achievement of the following results:
• Identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learned directly linked to programme country goals and activities.
• Contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice including corporate communications repositories.
• Provision of training of UN Women staff on communications for development
• Professional growth through active learning.

Building Strategic Partnerships:

• Identifying and building partnerships:
  • Sensitizes UN Partners, donors and other international organizations to the UN Women’s strategic agenda, especially WPD component
  • identifying areas for joint efforts;
  • Promotes UN Women’s agenda in inter-agency meetings.

Promoting Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

• Developing tools and mechanisms:
  • Makes the case for innovative ideas documenting successes and building them into the design of new approaches;(for all UN Women Projects)
  • Identifies new approaches and strategies that promote the use of tools and mechanisms.

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise:

• In-depth knowledge of the subject-matter
• Understands more advanced aspects of primary area of specialization as well as the fundamental concepts of related disciplines;
• Continues to seeks new and improved methods and systems for accomplishing the work of the unit;
• Keeps abreast of new developments in area of professional discipline and job knowledge and seeks to develop him/herself professionally;
• Demonstrates comprehensive knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments.
• Creating Visibility for UN WOMEN (All Projects) /Supporting UN WOMEN’s Capacity to Advocate:
• Developing promotional projects and organizational messages
• Develops promotional activities based on monitoring/evaluation information identifying areas requiring higher visibility; (for all UN Women Projects)
• Develops messages for use by UN WOMEN staff when working with partners, internationally and nationally;
• Reviews documents and materials intended for use within and outside the organization to ensure consistency and validity of messages.

Global Leadership and Advocacy for UN WOMEN’s Goals:

• Analysis and creation of messages and strategies:
  • Creates effective global advocacy messages/strategies;
  • Contributes to the elaboration of a global advocacy strategy by identifying and prioritizing audiences and messages.

Conceptual Innovation in the Provision of Technical Expertise:

• Developing innovative and creative approaches:
  • Leverages different experiences and expertise of team members to achieve better and more innovative outcomes.

Competencies

Core Values/Guiding Principles
Core Values:

• Integrity: Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct
• Professionalism: Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.
• Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity: Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff.
• Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

• Ethics and Values: Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity
• Organizational Awareness: Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment
• Development and Innovation: Take charge of self-development and take initiative
• Work in teams: Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
• Communicating and Information Sharing: Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication
• Self-management and Emotional Intelligence: Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others
• Conflict Management: Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution
• Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making: Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making

Functional Competencies:

• Knowledge Management and Learning:
  • Shares knowledge and experience and contributes to UN Women Practice Areas
  • Develops knowledge in Practice Areas
  • Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more Practice Areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills

Development and Operational Effectiveness:

• Ability to implement communications and publications strategies
• Advocates effectively
• Communicates sensitively and effectively across different constituencies
• Excellent communication skills, excellent writing skills
• Ability to conceptualize issues and analyze data
• Demonstrates strong IT skills
• Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning. Promoting learning and knowledge management/sharing is the responsibility of each staff member;

Management and Leadership:

• Focuses on impact and result for the client
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
• Ability to remain calm, in control and good humored even under pressure and tight deadlines
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities
• Responds positively to critical feedback and differing points of view
• Solicits feedback about the impact of his/her own behavior