Communication Officer

As the United Nations lead agency on international development, UNDP works in 170 countries and territories to eradicate poverty and reduce inequality. We help countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities, and to build resilience to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Our work is concentrated in three focus areas; sustainable development, democratic governance and peacebuilding, and climate and disaster resilience.

UNDP’s mandate is to end poverty, build democratic governance, rule of law, and inclusive institutions. We advocate for change and connect countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life.

The Communications Officer, working under the guidance and direct supervision of the Deputy Resident Representative, will assist in executing the corporate communications strategy. He/she will also provide input for designing, managing, and implementing the Country Office’s communication and publication strategies aimed at influencing the development agenda, enhancing public and media outreach, and securing political and financial support for UNDP.

This role involves close collaboration with Programme and Operations teams, staff from other UN Agencies, UNDP Communications at Regional and Headquarters levels, government officials, international and local media, subject matter experts, donors, and civil society to ensure effective delivery of UNDP’s communication strategy within the Country Office.

Under the direct supervision of the Deputy Resident Representative, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:
• Implement internal/external communication strategies and outreach, and contribute to their development
o Conduct communications needs assessments for the country office (e.g., for projects, the country programme, and corporate change initiatives)
o Draft and edit the country office communications and outreach strategy based on country office strategic priorities and the UNDP External Communications Action Plan
o Provide communication input during the project and programme formulation stage to integrate communication needs and strategies in all aspects of project development
o Maintain increased coverage and understanding of the UNDP’s work in the country or practice area through local and global media stories as guided by the UNDP External Communications Action Plan.
• Implement the country office publications strategy and plan based on the corporate publications policy
o Identify and develop storylines for publications, and draft substantive articles that contribute to and generate conversations on key development issues
o Coordinate and manage the country office publication activities, such as content management in line with corporate guidelines (including Newsletters)
o Liaison with and maintain a database of contact details for journalists.
• Provide technical support to UNDP digital communications in the country office, that includes social media, website, and the Country Office web-based knowledge management system
o Provide support in implementing the country office digital communication strategy
o Generate content for the website and other social media platforms to ensure consistency and better outreach
• Implement UNDP’s campaign initiatives to engage different stakeholders (i.e., government, donors, media ,and public) and increase awareness of UNDP’s mandate and goals
o Promote and maintain public information campaigns on UNDP activities
o Collect and package information for donor review in collaboration with programme staff and supervisors to support campaign and advocacy initiatives
o Organize roundtable discussions, press conferences, briefing sessions, interviews, launches to engage stakeholders
o Support “One UN” agenda in line with UNDP’s Campaign and Advocacy agenda
o Ensure access of journalists to subject-matter experts and UNDP spokespeople; and provide newsworthy information to the national public
• Assist in leading the effort of the country office’s knowledge management and dissemination
o Identify and synthesize best practices and lessons learned directly linked to programme country goals and activities
o Provide sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice, including corporate communications repositories
o Provide training, consultancy, and advice to UNDP staff on internal and external knowledge management
o Maintain UNDP’s Intranet on country office activities for internal knowledge sharing, and share relevant knowledge products with external stakeholders through the corporate website
o Work with the Programme teams to ensure all knowledge products are captured, updated, readily available, and in the right order, as and when necessary