Communications Officer (on-call retainer position)

The European Union Support to Social Housing and Active Inclusion Programme (SHAI) is designed to enhance implementation of social inclusion policies in Serbia and provide sustainable housing solutions accompanied with active inclusion measures for the most vulnerable population. The European Union (EU) has allocated 20 million Euros through the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) 2018 for the 36 month-long implementation of the Programme, and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) has been selected as the implementing partner. National partners and the Programme beneficiaries are the Ministry for Construction, Transport, and Infrastructure, the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs and the Ministry of European Integration.

The Programme will strengthen capacities at the national and local level for identification, programming, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of sustainable social housing programmes and projects. It will also provide a range of housing solutions for vulnerable beneficiaries, ranging from construction of multi-family residential blocks, to procurement of village or prefabricated houses, and reconstruction of self-owned properties. Interventions will also include small scale infrastructure works in sub-standard settlements. In order to facilitate sustainability, the Programme will support implementation of complementary social inclusion measures, which will primarily focus on employment and economic empowerment of beneficiaries. The projects will be selected through open calls for proposals, which are transparent solicitation methods, respecting fairness and integrity. 

Particularly targeted groups belong to the vulnerable and at-risk-of-poverty population, such as Roma, disadvantaged women, in particular women victims of domestic violence, youth in/leaving care, persons with disabilities, and others who live in inadequate housing conditions. The Programme will also benefit national institutions and local self-governments, as well as social inclusion service providers from the public and civil society sector. 

The Programme, grounded in national and international frameworks, will contribute to meeting the European Union accession criteria under Chapters 19 that relates to social inclusion and Chapter 23 that covers fundamental rights, along with achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Under the direct supervision and in close coordination with the Communications Officer, the On-call Communications Officer will provide strong contribution to Project’ efforts related to communications and visibility activities. He/she will be responsible for contributing to the delivery of the required outputs related to design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of communication activities, while ensuring full compliance with the donor’s visibility requirements and guidelines, with objective to raise awareness of target audiences about activities, results and impact of the Project. 

The On-call Communications Officer will undertake the following activities/responsibilities:

• Support the Communications Officer in establishing and cultivating partnerships with the key national, regional and local media 
• Collating and developing external reports used to inform donor and the key stakeholders of SHAI Project interventions, and key developments in the Project Area 
• Contribute to presentation of the Project’s support to key stakeholders, as per agreement with the Communications Officer and Project Manager 
• Provide technical advice and support related to the donor communications and visibility requirements and support to the organisation of official visits, public events, press conferences, etc.
• Contribute to the development of communication products and media materials, publications, reports, briefings 
• Contribute to preparation of briefs and analysis of political, socio and economic trends relevant for the Project
• Contribute to the development of the Project website and social network accounts 
• Contribute to mapping of Project’s stakeholders and provide inputs to the Communications Officer for the Project Communication Strategy and the Project’s Internal and External Communications Plan 
• Contribute to promotion of activities, results and impact of the Project through development and implementation of public relation activities 
• Contribute to the expansion of relations with Government communications counterparts and national media 
• Provide technical advice and participate in crisis communications 
• Perform other duties as may be reasonably required and in line with the incumbent’s scope of services above.

Education 

• Bachelor degree preferably in communications, journalism, public relations, international relations or a related field is required

Work Experience 

• Minimum two years of relevant work experience in communications, public relations, media or journalism is required
• Experience with international organisations is highly desirable 

Language Requirements

• Fluency in Serbian and English is required

Driving license 

• Driving license and ability to travel independently is required

• 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.
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• 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 checks.

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.

The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) has been active in Serbia since 2000, and the operations of UNOPS Serbia Project Office (RSPO) have since 2017 expanded to North Macedonia and Montenegro.

UNOPS has been a reliable partner primarily of the Government of Serbia, and later of the Governments of North Macedonia and Montenegro, in providing support for demanding socio-economic reforms and facilitating accession to the European Union.

Currently, the RSPO is implementing 12 projects focussed on sustainable socio-economic development, social cohesion, creating environment for employability, business and infrastructure growth, increased security, improved education, enhanced social inclusion either via enabling durable housing solutions or providing access to health, education and jobs for the most vulnerable population. All projects have good governance and gender equality as transversal themes. UNOPS projects are contextualised within the broader Sustainable Development Goals framework and objectives.