Public Information Officer (Publishing Officer)

ECA's mission is to deliver ideas and actions for an empowered and transformed Africa; informed by the 2030 SDGs and Agenda 2063. The mission is guided by ECA's five new strategic directions which are: advancing ECA's position as a premier knowledge institution that builds on its unique position and privilege to bring global solutions to the continent's problems and take local solutions to the continent; developing macroeconomic and structural policy options to accelerate economic diversification and job creation; designing and implementing innovative financing models for infrastructure, and for human, physical and social assets for a transforming Africa; contributing solutions to regional and transboundary challenges, with a focus on peace security and social inclusion as an important development nexus; advocating Africa's position at the global level and developing regional responses as a contribution to global governance issues. The Administration and Conference Management Division (ACMD) is headed by a Director and reports to the Deputy Executive Secretary (Programme Support). It is divided into seven main sections: Facilities Management Section (FMS), Finance and Budget Section (FBS), Digital and IT Management Section (DITMS), Human Resources Management Section (HRMS), Publications and Conference Management Section (PCMS), Supply Chain Management Section (SCMS) and United Nations Health Care Centre (UNHCC). This position is located in the Administration and Conference Management Division (ACMD), Publications and Conference Management Section (PCMS) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The incumbent works under the overall guidance of the Chief of PCMS, and the direct supervision of the Chief of Production Services Unit (PSU) and the incumbent will be responsible for the following:

Within delegated authority and depending on location, the Publishing Officer may be responsible for the following duties: • Ensures implementation of publishing and information programs to support priority issues and/or major events, to include drafting publishing strategies, coordinating production efforts, monitoring and reporting on progress, taking appropriate follow-up action, and analyzing the outcome. • Monitors and analyzes current developments in publishing, design and digital distribution, identifies issues and trends, and advises management on appropriate actions/responses. • Undertakes activities to promote dissemination of UN publications (e.g. print, electronic, and multimedia publications), to include development of outreach and distribution plans, initiating proactive engagement with partners, consulting with clients on design and production needs, disseminating materials and consulting with press on approach/story angle and other information requests, undertaking appropriate follow-up action and analyzing and reporting on reach and impact. • Produces or oversees the end-to-end production of United Nations publications, including publication planning, graphic design, page layout, typography, infographics, cover design, prepress preparation, colour management, accessibility compliance, print production, digital publishing and quality assurance. • Prepares on the basis of official UN documentation and other sources, initial drafts of content for inclusion in UN publications and knowledge products. • Initiates and sustains professional relationships with key constituencies, including authors, editors, translators, designers, printers and vendors. • Acts as focal point on specific publishing issues, monitoring and reporting on developments, responding to inquiries, etc. • Participates in selecting information and materials to be published and transmitted to key constituencies. • Provides guidance to, and may supervise, more junior staff, while also contributing directly to design jobs and mentoring staff on publishing workflows, design assignments, and production tasks. • Collects and analyzes publishing-related data to identify trends or patterns and provide insights through graphs, charts, tables, and reports using data visualization methods to enable data-driven planning, decision-making, presentation, and reporting. • Ensures that requirements, background information used for data analysis are documented.

Professionalism: Knowledge of and proven ability to produce digital publications with interactive content. Demonstrated creative approach to visual and/or multimedia presentation of information. Proven analytical and problem-solving skills. Ability to identify issues, formulate opinions, make recommendations, and provide expert advice and guidance; Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations. Commitment to implementing the goal of gender equality by ensuring the equal participation and full involvement of women and men in all aspects of work. The ability to analyze and interpret data in support of decision-making and convey resulting information to management. Creativity: Actively seeks to improve programmes or services; offers new and different options to solve problems or meet client needs; promotes and persuades others to consider new ideas; takes calculated risks on new and unusual ideas; thinks “outside the box”; takes an interest in new ideas and new ways of doing things; is not bound by current thinking or traditional approaches. Client Orientation: Considers all those to whom services are provided to be “clients” and seeks to see things from clients’ point of view; establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect; identifies clients’ needs and matches them to appropriate solutions; monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients’ environment to keep informed and anticipate problems; keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects; meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client. Managing Performance: Delegates the appropriate responsibility, accountability and decision-making authority; makes sure that roles, responsibilities and reporting lines are clear to each staff member; accurately judges the amount of time and resources needed to accomplish a task and matches task to skills; monitors progress against milestones and deadlines; regularly discusses performance and provides feedback and coaching to staff; encourages risk-taking and supports creativity and initiative; actively supports the development and career aspirations of staff; appraises performance fairly.

Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in publishing, in publishing, graphic design, visual communication design, print and media technology, Digital publishing, desktop publishing, industrial design, multimedia design (with emphasis on publication design), or related field. A first-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. Successful completion of both degree and non-degree programs in data analytics, business analytics or data science programs is an advantage.

Not available.

A minimum of five years of progressively responsible experience in publication production, graphic design, desktop publishing, editorial production, print production or digital publishing is required. Experience using professional desktop publishing software, including Adobe InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop, is required. Experience must include the production of reports, books or other publications from manuscript to final print-ready and digital formats, including page layout, typography, graphic design, prepress preparation, quality assurance and coordination with editors, translators, designers and printers is desirable Experience producing accessible digital publications and interactive PDF publications is desirable. Experience working with international organizations or large publishing environments is desirable. Experience in data analytics or a related area is desirable.

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this job opening, English is required. French is desirable. The table below shows the minimum required level for each skill in these languages, according to the UN Language Framework (please consult

https://languages.un.org

for details).

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Required Languages

Language

Reading

Writing

Listening

Speaking

English

UN Level II

UN Level II

UN Level II

UN Level II

Desirable Languages

Language

Reading

Writing

Listening

Speaking

French

UN Level I

UN Level I

UN Level I

UN Level I

Evaluation of qualified candidates may include a substantive assessment, which may be followed by a competency-based interview.

This position is funded from Regular Programme of Technical Cooperation funds (RPTC). Extension of the appointment is subject to the availability of funds and/or extension of the mandate. The appointment against this post will be on a fixed-term basis and does not carry any expectancy, legal or otherwise, of renewal or conversion to any other type of appointment. Extension of appointment is subject to satisfactory performance and continuing need for the functions. National Professional Officer category shall be of the nationality of the country where this position is located and will be recruited in the country or within commuting distance of the office. If no suitable local candidate is identified, Ethiopian nationals residing elsewhere may be considered, in which case the candidate would be responsible for any costs related to traveling and relocating to Ethiopia in the event of an employment offer. Locally recruited General Service staff members applying for this post must meet the minimum requirements, including academic qualifications and years of relevant experience. Relevant experience in the General Service category at G-6 and G-7 levels may count towards experience requirements. The United Nations Secretariat is committed to achieving 50/50 gender balance and geographical diversity in its staff. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for this position. Staff members are subject to the authority of the Secretary-General and to assignment by him or her. In this context, all staff are expected to move periodically to new functions in their careers in accordance with established rules and procedures. At the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the recruitment and employment of staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity, with due regard to geographic diversity. All employment decisions are made on the basis of qualifications and organizational needs. The United Nations is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The United Nations recruits and employs staff regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, race, religious, cultural and ethnic backgrounds or disabilities. Reasonable accommodation for applicants with disabilities may be provided to support participation in the recruitment process when requested and indicated in the application. All applicants are strongly encouraged to apply online as soon as possible after the job opening has been posted and well before the deadline stated in the job opening. Online applications will be acknowledged where an email address has been provided. If you do not receive an e-mail acknowledgment within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. If the problem persists, please seek technical assistance through the Inspira "Contact Us" link

According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Candidates will not be considered for employment with the United Nations if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts. The term “sexual exploitation” means any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another. The term “sexual abuse” means the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions. The term “sexual harassment” means any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offence or humiliation, when such conduct interferes with work, is made a condition of employment or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, and when the gravity of the conduct warrants the termination of the perpetrator’s working relationship. Candidates who have committed crimes other than minor traffic offences may not be considered for employment. Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible. The United Nations places no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs. The United Nations Secretariat is a non-smoking environment. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to applicants with disabilities upon request, to support their participation in the recruitment process. By accepting a letter of appointment, staff members are subject to the authority of the Secretary-General, who may assign them to any of the activities or offices of the United Nations in accordance with staff regulation 1.2 (c). Further, staff members in the Professional and higher category up to and including the D-2 level and the Field Service category are normally required to move periodically to discharge functions in different duty stations under conditions established in ST/AI/2023/3 on Mobility, as may be amended or revised. This condition of service applies to all position specific job openings and does not apply to temporary positions. Applicants are urged to carefully follow all instructions available in the online recruitment platform, inspira, and to refer to the Applicant Guide by clicking on “Manuals” in the “Help” tile of the inspira account-holder homepage. The evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted in the application according to the evaluation criteria of the job opening and the applicable internal legislations of the United Nations including the Charter of the United Nations, resolutions of the General Assembly, the Staff Regulations and Rules, administrative issuances and guidelines. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications according to the instructions provided in inspira to be considered for the current job opening. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application. All external candidates recruited in accordance with section ‎2.2 (a) of ST/AI/2025/3 for a fixed term appointment without limitation and all external candidates recruited in accordance with section 2.2. (c) of ST/AI/2025/3 for a fixed term appointment limited to the entity are subject to an initial probationary period of one year under a fixed-term appointment. Job openings advertised on the Careers Portal will be removed at 11:59 p.m. (New York time) on the deadline date.

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.