Community Liaison and Communications Associate

The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is looking for an experienced Community Liaison and Communications Associate to work with our team across West Africa specifically in our Gambia Country Office.
Whether it’s fighting Ebola by securing works contracts for new isolation wards, procuring life-saving medical equipment for the most vulnerable or helping establish West Africa’s largest renewable energy micro-grids, the work you do at UNOPS is about building a future we all can believe in.

If you have experience leading teams, are excited to expand our sustainable project management initiatives, are great at facilitating technical teams to develop specifications, are always ready to get hands on with the work and can lead partners through best practice in communications, then this is your opportunity.

Things happen quickly at UNOPS and we are looking for enthusiastic team players who are ready to not only keep up but blaze a path forward. The sub-regional office based in Accra, Ghana is UNOPS newest and covers the Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. As a central resource for the United Nations and its member governments, UNOPS is a global organization that is focused on making a local difference with some of the world’s top services in Project Management, Infrastructure and Procurement.

What drives us is a passion to fight inequalities and to provide opportunities to those most vulnerable. Come help us build the foundations for communities to function and people to live with dignity and respect. 

Functional Responsibilities

The Community Liaison & Communications Associate will support the Project Manager (PM) in liaising with all key stakeholders in the project to facilitate the successful implementation of the project.  Key areas of responsibility will include the development and implementation of a community engagement strategy as well as leading the implementation of the Communications Strategy.  The responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Participate in designing the community engagement strategy and materials to be used for/by the Community and direct the communicating of information to affected communities identified by the project teams.
• Support the PM in developing and maintain an effective system to capture and monitor stakeholder engagement and communication for the Project;
• Implement all aspects of the community engagement activities in the project area including awareness and information dissemination efforts;
• Assist the project team for the mobilization of communities and local government stakeholders as required;
• Undertake missions to project locations as required;
• Contribute to the collection and collation of data in support of project outcomes (and indicators);
• Lead the implementation of the Project Communications and Visibility Strategy,
• Support the PM in the organization of workshops, meetings and events and the implementation of the stakeholder engagement strategy;
• Draft and prepare press releases and other communication materials for onwards approval by the PM;
• Liaise regularly with the HUB (GHOH based in Ghana) and the UNOPS Communications Group on the development of project communications products. Ensuring products are aligned with the UNOPS guidelines;
• Support the Project Manager in the preparation of reports, including but not limited to reporting on communications/visibility and community liaison activities;
• Support the project manager in ensuring implementing knowledge management practices in the project;
• Draft the briefs and talking points for discussions with partners in relation to the project.

Monitoring and Progress Controls

• Stakeholders Satisfaction
• Full implementation of Communications and Visibility Strategy
• Timeliness and accuracy of reporting
• Full implementation of the Community Engagement Strategy

• Master's Degree in Social Sciences including Community Development, Monitoring and Evaluation, Political/Security/Development Studies.  Degree in Engineering will also be acceptable provided sufficient work experience as indicated below can be demonstrated.

• A Bachelor's Degree combined with 3 additional years of relevant work experience may be accepted instead of the above requirement.
• A Diploma Certification combined with 5 additional years of relevant work experience will also be considered.

• Senior secondary School Certification together with 7 years work experience will as well be considered.

• A minimum of one (1) year experience in the field of community mobilization, development and capacity building for rural communities is required.
• Demonstrated experience in communications and visibility activities;
• Experience working with NGOs or other UN agencies is an asset
• Exposure to projects with an infrastructure component is an advantage;
• Knowledge of research methods and monitoring and evaluation principles is an advantage;
• Experience organizing workshops and media events is highly desirable
• Knowledge of participatory tools and techniques is an advantage;

C. Language

• Fluency in both written and Oral English is essential
• Knowledge of other local languages both written and oral (in Gambia) is an advantage.

• Accountability
• Institutional Orientation
• Resourcefulness
• Shares Knowledge and Experience
• Client Focus
• Professionalism
• Ability to work independently
• Respect for Diversity
• Creativity and innovation
• Commitment to continuous Learning
• Teamwork skills

UNOPS is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development.

UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources.

Working with us

UNOPS offers short- and long-term work opportunities in diverse and challenging environments across the globe. We are looking for creative, results-focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines.

Diversity

With over 4,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of UNOPS partners spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a wide range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced, diverse workforce — a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs, and continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates.

Work life harmonization

UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands.

• This is a local position, therefore only Nationals of the duty station or applicants who are legally entitled to be employed in the duty station will be considered.
• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Work life harmonization - UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types
• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns.  Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such check