Communications Officer

The Asia Pacific Regional Office, based in Bangkok, Thailand, provides strategic leadership and oversight for UNOPS operations across 17 countries, ensuring high performance, operational excellence, and alignment with organizational goals. Operations currently span Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Pacific Islands. Across these countries, we work closely with key stakeholders to strengthen partnerships and maximize impact through five main operating units: Afghanistan (AFCO), Myanmar (MMCO), South Asia Multi-Country Office (SAMCO), East Asia and Pacific Multi-Country Office (EAPMCO), and the Asia Regional Health Cluster (ARHC). Through these entities, we provide agile, client-focused service delivery across diverse sectors - including infrastructure, health, procurement, and project management - supporting the implementation of sustainable development solutions across the region.

The South Asia Multi-Country Office (SAMCO) supports UNOPS operations across six countries: Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. SAMCO delivers a broad range of services and technical expertise in climate change, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), infrastructure, procurement, human resource management, and fund management. Each country office is staffed with local technical experts and maintains strong partnerships with national governments, ensuring context-specific solutions and effective project implementation.

The Communications Officer develops and executes strategic communication plans to support project and programme objectives. This role requires analyzing communication contexts, managing editorial calendars, and producing a wide range of high-quality content, including press releases, social media posts, and reports. The incumbent also serves as a key point of contact for external partners and donors, ensuring effective stakeholder engagement and representation. 

Communications Strategy and Planning

• Support the creation and execution of approved project/ programme communication strategy and plans.
• Provide analyzed data and insights to inform the communication strategy definition.
• Ensure timely high-quality execution of communications activities aligned with project/ programme objectives.
• Track implementation and ensure compliance with UNOPS rules and regulations. 
• Analyze local communication context, target audiences and channels to optimize outreach.
• Support the delivery of strategic messages across various fora and media.

Content Creation and Management 

• Develop editorial content - including talking points, frequently asked questions (FAQs), press releases, social-media and website posts, videos and fact sheets.
• Collect and structure data into accessible communication outputs.
• Manage editorial calendars and coordinate content production across channels. 
• Partner with technical experts to produce comprehensive reports and features.

Stakeholder Engagement and Representation

• Maintain effective communication with donors, clients, partners and other stakeholders.
• Support organization of external events and ensure representation meets UNOPS standards.
• Collaborate with subject-matter experts for strategic reporting and visibility initiatives.

Knowledge Building and Sharing 

• Support the organization, facilitation and delivery of training and learning sessions on communications topics.
• Participate in knowledge-sharing initiatives and Communities of Practice (CoPs), contributing insights and lessons learned from communications project implementation, 
• Conduct research on communication-related topics and contribute to the drafting of reports, summaries and briefing notes.

Required

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) with 2 years of relevant experience OR
• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in any discipline with 0 years of relevant experience is required.

Desired

• A globally or nationally recognized professional certificate in communications, journalism, or digital and social media communications is desired.

Required

• Relevant experience is work in communications, public relations, media, journalism or related fields.
• Experience in the use of collaboration and productivity tools (e.g. MS Office, G-Suite, etc) and web-based management systems is required.

Desired

• Experience of working in multicultural environments or UN system organizations in a developing country is desired.
• Experience in development or humanitarian contexts is desired.
• Experience in developing and monitoring content for grassroots-level audiences is desired.
• Experience in use of graphic design, video production, and content creation tools is desired.

• Please note that UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes. 
• Please note that UNOPS will at no stage of the recruitment process request candidates to make payments of any kind.
• Applications to vacancies must be received before midnight Copenhagen time (CET) on the closing date of the announcement. Applications received after the closing date will not be considered. 
• Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments. 
• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. UNOPS seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. 
• Qualified women and candidates from groups which are underrepresented in the UNOPS workforce are encouraged to apply. These include in particular candidates from racialized and/or indigenous groups, members of minority gender identities and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities. 
• We would like to ensure all candidates perform at their best during the assessment process. If you are shortlisted and require additional assistance to complete any assessment, including reasonable accommodation, please inform our human resources team when you receive an invitation.

• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post. 
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few mandatory courses (they take around 4 hours to complete) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract. Please note that you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers. For more information on a retainer contract here. 
• For more details about the contract types, please click here.
• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda. 
• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.