Senior External Relations Officer

Only candidates who are not nationals of the country of assignment are eligible to apply to this position

H (no hardship)

Family

PR4

Professional

* Staff members will not normally serve in International Professional positions in the country of their nationality. In addition, in case of a first appointment upon recruitment, the assignment must be outside the staff member’s country of nationality.

In practical terms this means that you are not eligible to apply for International Professional vacancies advertised in the country where you are national of.

Reason

Regular > Regular Assignment

No

2023-10-13

November 9, 2023

Senior External Relations Officer

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships
The Senior External Relations Officer normally reports to the Representative or Deputy Representative. The incumbent has direct supervisory responsibility for External Relations staff.
External contacts are predominantly with partners, media, government, embassies and other international organizations in the country on matters of importance to the organization.

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR¿s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties
- Stay abreast of the challenges posed by the political context, the UN and humanitarian reform, and institutional developments in the area of forced displacement and humanitarian operations.
- Through a consultative process with UNHCR colleagues (Programme, Protection, etc.) with external actors and partners, develop and implement protection and assistance strategy, with clearly articulated objectives, timelines and outputs.
- Implement a communications strategy that generates support for UNHCR¿s operations from external partners (e.g. the general public, governments, partners, the media, academia and persons of concern).
- Articulate all issues pertaining to the needs of the populations of concern and the strategies in place to respond to their needs.
- Ensure that the UNHCR priorities are given adequate weight in the documentation of the UN Country Team.
- Maintain a close dialogue with and provide accurate information to donors by organizing regular briefings, bilateral meetings and donor missions. Prepare reports as appropriate.
- In accordance with the operational context and in close cooperation with headquarters, access new and non-traditional funding sources, as appropriate, including private sector and humanitarian pooled/basket funds (e.g. Central Emergency Response Fund, Human Security Fund).
- Through a consultative process with headquarters, disseminate information on UNHCR¿s global funding situation and mobilize additional funds to implement special projects aimed at enhancing the quality of protection for persons of concern in the country operation.
- Participate in inter-agency cooperation and communication strategies, initiatives and tools.
- Support senior management in representing UNHCR in the UN Country Team and other UN coordination fora.
- Support, and participate in, local UN integrated missions, Inter-Agency Standing Committee, Emergency Relief Coordinator and Cluster communication strategies and initiatives.
- Manage the information flow within the country operations by identifying priority matters, securing, analyzing and disseminating documentation and information to support country operations and corporate communication processes and priorities.
- Consolidate information on UNHCR¿s country operations and identify appropriate messages for campaigns and appeals.
- Coordinate the drafting of, and/or draft, situation reports, briefing notes, background material, talking points, fact sheets, press releases and articles.
- Develop targeted communications strategies and media packages for situations and/or activities that require focused attention.
- Identify and target major events and initiatives (e.g. commercial, cultural, political and sports) to promote the work of UNHCR.
- Manage media relations by, inter alia, responding to direct queries, publishing press releases and organizing regular briefings and visits to country operations.
- Approve fund-raising messages.
- Approve any relevant expenditure for the implementation of fund-raising activities.
- Decide which donors to approach and which operations or activities to prioritize for special fundraising appeals.
- Approve the communications strategy.
- Approve budgets and expenditures for communications activities.
- Clear external relations/communication products and tools.
- Represent UNHCR fund-raising and communication priorities in inter-agency initiatives and fora.

- Lead risk assessments and discussions with team(s) to proactively manage risks and seize opportunities impacting objectives. Ensure that risk management principles are integrated in decision-making both at strategic and operational levels. Allocate resources for planned treatments with resource requirements in Strategic Plans. Ensure that risks are managed to acceptable levels and escalate, as needed. If a Risk Owner, designate the Risk Focal Point and certify that the annual risk review is completed and ensure that the risk register is updated during the year, as needed.
- Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications
Education & Professional Work Experience
Years of Experience / Degree Level
For P4/NOD - 9 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 8 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 7 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education
Political Sciences; Social Sciences; International Relations;
Journalism; or other relevant field.

Certificates and/or Licenses
Not specified

Relevant Job Experience
Essential
Experience in humanitarian operations in a field environment.
Excellent knowledge of local institution, politics and culture.

Desirable
Good knowledge of UNHCR operations both at Headquarters and in the Field.
Fund-raising and programming/programme management experience.
Experience of working with social media.

Functional Skills
IT-Web Content Management
IT-Computer Literacy
ER-Inter-Agency External Relations
ER-Inter-Agency Leadership/Coordination
CO-Drafting and Documentation
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Language Requirements
For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.
For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.
For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.

All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination and abuse of power.

As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.

This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates.

The candidate needs to demonstrate the following:

- Proven ability to engage in external relations and advocacy, including excellent drafting and interaction skills with government and other counterparts in German language
- Understanding of UNHCR 's resource mobilization efforts
- Familiarity and experience with UNHCR's operations globally, as an enabler for successful advocacy work in the German context, including interagency efforts
- Political awareness

Excellent German language skills, both spoken and in writing are essential.

German

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Operational context

Occupational Safety and Health Considerations

To view occupational safety and health considerations for this duty station, please visit this link:

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel

Nature of Position

Over the last few years, Germany has become one of the most important humanitarian donors worldwide and the second largest and most flexible donor to UNHCR. Germany is also playing an important role in international humanitarian assistance matters and global refugee policy. It remains engaged in the Grand Bargain process, was actively engaged in the development of the Global Compact on Refugees and was a co-convener of the first Global Refugee Forum (GRF), with close engagement on the way also for the second GRF. It continues to assume important functions in donor coordination bodies and initiatives. Its financial growth and engagement in international processes and fora led to an internal restructuring and a continuous increase over the past few years in staff working in the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO) on humanitarian assistance. This has resulted in a more proactive dialogue of UNHCR Germany with government counterparts on a range of thematic aspects of humanitarian assistance and refugee protection as well as on displacement situations. At the same time, UNHCR 's engagement with the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development has grown significantly since 2019, in line with the objectives of the GCR. There is active interest and engagement by MPs on humanitarian and refugee protection matters, and Berlin is attracting a growing number of humanitarian actors, including a larger UN agency presence. In this environment, proactive engagement, information-sharing and advocacy is required, including outreach to Parliamentarians to raise awareness on needs, UNHCR 's priorities and resource requirements and to maintain Germany 's support for UNHCR. The Representation is also engaging more with the increasingly vibrant and diverse humanitarian community (e.g. civil society, think tanks) in Germany, and in supporting and contributing to visibility for Germany’s engagement as a humanitarian partner and donor for audiences in Germany. With regard to private sector engagement for fundraising purposes and under the lead of PSP, there is a National Association Partner of UNHCR in Germany, the UNO-Flüchtlingshilfe e.V.. The Country Office engages with UNO-Flüchtlingshilfe e.V. on a variety of matters, in particular related to communication and messaging in Germany. Relevant to its international engagement, Germany is also among the largest host countries of refugees globally and the largest in the European Union. This and the engagement of Germany in resettlement are important dimension in UNHCR’s external relations work.

The Senior External Relations Officer (Advocacy) is directly supervised by the Representative, both managerially and functionally supervises the External Relations Associate. The incumbent works closely with the Senior Communications Officer (Spokesperson) and the Communications Team, as well as with the Senior Legal Officer and Protection Team on relevant cross-cutting matters. The incumbent closely liaises with DRRM, in particular the focal point for donor relations with Germany, DRS, RBE and in some instances also with relevant COs/RBx.

Living and Working Conditions

Berlin is a family duty station offering high standard living conditions.
Medical care is up to international standards.
There are an international school, an American, a British and a French school as well as several bilingual schools.
Germany is in general a safe place with little violent crime

Additional Qualifications

Skills

SO-Networking, SO-Presentation skills

Bachelor of Arts (BA): International Relations, Bachelor of Arts (BA): Journalism, Bachelor of Arts (BA): Political Science, Bachelor of Arts (BA): Social Science

Certifications

Annual Budget OL in Operation/Office, Number of Persons of Concern Served, Number of Workforce in Operation/Work Setting, Workforce to Supervise, Working with Persons of Concern: Asylum Seekers, Working with Persons of Concern: Others of Concern, Working with Persons of Concern: Refugees, Working with Persons of Concern: Stateless

Competencies

Accountability, Analytical thinking, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Empowering & building trust, Judgement & decision making, Leadership, Managing performance, Organizational awareness, Political awareness, Strategic planning & visions, Teamwork & collaboration

https://icsc.un.org/Home/SalaryScales

Compendium

Bi-annual Compendium 2023 Part B - October 2023

Additional Information

This position doesn't require a functional clearance