Communications Officer

WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles.

Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance.

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide.  The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes.  Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

The Government of Armenia and WFP stepped up cooperation in 1993.  The first years of this strong partnership marked different food relief projects gradually evolving into community development initiatives. In 2010, the Government of Armenia, WFP and their strategic partners joined hands for improved nutrition, education and social protection by relaunching School Feeding Programme. The common goal and vision is a nationally-owned, sustainable National School Feeding Programme for the benefit of Armenian people. Nowadays, it is a state-of-the-art Programme that is fully integrated in the life of children, their families and communities. WFP's plans for the next five years, created as a joint effort with national and international partners, will continue tackling food insecurity, malnutrition and poverty as important national issues identified by the National Strategic Review (NSR) that embraces the future development priorities of Armenia.

Capitalizing on current and present outstanding achievements, WFP and partners will enhance focus on nutrition and creation of innovative and sustainable nutrition sensitive food value chains. Simultaneously, WFP will support communities, provinces, Ministries and the Government of Armenia to strengthen their capacities for improved national policies, programmes and systems.

Service Contract (SC8)

6 months with possible extension.

In its efforts to position the Organization as a development partner of choice, provide visibility to donors, share key messages with the national and international audience as well as communicate the achievements of ongoing and future activities, WFP Armenia seeks a Communications Officer to join the Partnerships Unit.

Under the overall guidance of the Country Director, the Communications Officer will directly report to the Head of Partnerships.

- Design WFP Armenia's communication action plan for 2020 and the communication strategy aligned with the Country Strategic Plan for 2019-2024 with the support and guidance of the head of unit;

- Within the communication strategy, identify targeted audience groups, platforms and key messages to maximize the visibility of WFP Armenia activities and its endeavors to eradicate food insecurity and malnutrition across the country by 2030;

- Act as a liaison between the different functional units in the Country Office to identify communication needs of the different activities and be responsible for the production of communication and visibility materials (photos, videos, stories);

- Provide communication expertise in line with WFP standards to, when necessary, externalizing the production of communication material to external stakeholders;

- Provide guidance and work with the Business Support Assistant (Social Media Specialist) to produce content, develop and scale-up the implementation of social media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, as communication, advocacy and fundraising tools for national and international audiences;

- Improve and increase donor visibility activities on the impacts of WFP Armenia interventions through traditional and non-traditional communication material;

- Coordinate and maintain close contacts with national and international media based in the country and region; maintain a contact list of journalists and media outlets and support the flow of news/information about WFP's work to the media, in order to support regular and appropriate communications;

- Monitor and analyse traditional and social media to inform the development and/or evaluation of communication activities and strategies;

- Support in generating donor specific visibility content including text, photos, videos and audio for use across a range of integrated online platforms, in order to contribute to global and country fund-raising activities, ensuring consistency with corporate messages;

- Support and train, when necessary, colleagues and field staff to produce communication material (photos, videos, stories) to be used for broad dissemination using different platforms;

- As required, coordinate and translate press releases, opinion editorials and other public documents;

- Support and lead the establishment of media partnerships for WFP Armenia;

- Play an active role in interagency UN advocacy and media opportunities; in coordination with partners feed and update UN Armenia social media and website by developing high quality communication materials reflecting the work of WFP in the country;

- Position WFP Armenia within WFP's internal and external communication initiatives;

- Liaise and interact with WFP staff and external counterparts to support aligned activities and a coherent approach to communications within WFP;

- Collate outreach data, contribute to the preparation of accurate and timely reports, support communications activities that enable informed decision making and ensure consistency of information presented to the media and other stakeholders; 

- Support in producing reports on WFP public information activities as required;

- Perform other duties as required.

Education: Advanced University degree in Journalism, International Relations, Public Relations, Communications or other relevant field, or First University degree with additional years of related work experience and/or trainings/courses.
 

Experience: Has at least four years of experience in utilising specialist communications techniques to enhance functional outputs. Has experience in producing tailored products, managing and using social media platforms for communication activities. Has supported projects and operational activities that maintain and develop donor and host government partnerships. Has collated data, assisted in drafting resourcing analysis and collaborated with accurate and timely briefs as well as reporting to donors. Is knowledgeable on how to create and use relevant tools and software to edit photos, videos and produce stories.
 

Knowledge & Skills: Strong written and oral communication skills, including substantive analysis and report writing skills. Additionally, is a great team player and can work with minimum supervision.
 

Languages: Fluency (level C) in English and Armenian languages; Intermediate knowledge (level B) of Russian language is desirable.
 

Purpose

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Understands WFP's Strategic Objectives and the link to own work objectives.
•  Be a force for positive change: Flexibly adapts individual contributions to accommodate changes in direction from supervisors and internal/external changes (such as evolving needs of beneficiaries, new requirements of partners).
•  Make the mission inspiring to our team: Recognizes and shares with team members the ways in which individual contributions relate to WFP's mission.
•  Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Sets own goals in alignment with WFP's overall operations, and is able to communicate this link to others.

People

• Look for ways to strengthen people's skills: Assesses own strengths and weaknesses to increase self-awareness, and includes these in conversations on own developmental needs.
•  Create an inclusive culture: Participates in open dialogue, and values the diverse opinion of others, regardless of background, culture, experience, or country assignment.
•  Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Proactively seeks feedback and coaching to build confidence, and develop and improve individual skills.
•  Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Participates in accomplishing team activities and goals in the face of challenging circumstances.

Performance

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Shows willingness to explore and experiment with new ideas and approaches in own work.
•  Focus on getting results: Consistently delivers results within individual scope of work on time, on budget and without errors.
•  Make commitments and make good on commitments: Commits to upholding individual accountabilities and responsibilities in the face of ever-changing country or functional priorities.
•  Be Decisive: Makes rational decisions about individual activities when faced with uncertain circumstances, including in times of ambiguity regarding information or manager direction.

Partnership

• Connect and share across WFP units: Seeks to understand and adapt to internal or cross-unit teams’ priorities and preferred working styles.
•  Build strong external partnerships: Demonstrates ability to understand and appropriately respond to and/or escalate needs of external partners.
•  Be politically agile & adaptable: Portrays an informed and professional demeanor toward internal and external partners and stakeholders.
•  Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Provides operational support on analyses and assessments that quantifies and demonstrates WFP's unique value as a partner.

All qualified candidates who meet the above requirements are encouraged to submit their online application accompanied by an updated Curriculum Vitae (in English) and UN Personal History Form (P11) available at the following link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/pbcpo4y88i29imw/P11%20form.doc?dl=0   

Qualified female candidates are especially encouraged to apply.

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

28 January 2020