Senior Communication Officer [Re-advertisement]

OVERVIEW

Post Number : 1CAUIS0077PA

Grade : P-5

Parent Sector : UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)

Duty Station: Montreal

Job Family: Communication and Information

Type of contract : Project Appointment

Duration of contract : 2 years, renewable

Recruitment open to : Internal and external candidates

Application Deadline (Midnight Paris Time) : 06-MAR-2023

 

UNESCO Core Values: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism

 

Duration of contract: initially 2 years, with possibility of extension subject to availability of funds and satisfactory performance.

OVERVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE POST

 

The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)  produces data to fuel the policies and investments needed to transform lives and propel the world towards its development goals. Providing statistical and technical inputs for global, regional and funding mechanisms for education, the UIS enables the work of the UN Transforming Education Summit, the Global Education Cooperation Mechanism (GCM), G7, G20, etc. The UIS meets data needs for emerging priorities, for example, most recently, tracking and monitoring impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education worldwide. The UIS maintains the most comprehensive education statistics database in the world – the official source of data of the UN system, used for various purposes, including for the SDG monitoring.

Established in 1999, the UIS serves as UNESCO’s statistical agency.  The UIS is focused on delivering cross-nationally comparable data for global, regional and development agendas, covering the fields of education, science, culture, and communication and information. The UIS assures the technical support for Member States to produce transformative data based on the 3 pillars (Standards and methodologies; Data production; Brokerage and outreach). The UIS vision, described in its 2022-2029 Medium Term strategy, is to serve the needs of Member States, ensuring that their policies and decision-making are informed by sound statistical information, that they can benchmark progress towards national and international goals, and learn from the experience of others.

The UIS is seeking to build a new senior staff management team that will lead the successful implementation of that vision, enabling the UIS further transformation to remain relevant, innovative, and agile in the constantly changing global environment.

As a member of the senior staff management team, working under the overall authority and supervision of the UIS Director, the Senior Communication Officer leads the Communication and Advocacy Unit of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. She/he is responsible for developing the Institute’s communications and advocacy strategy in an integrated manner, and implementing it through impactful, coordinated evidence-based campaigns which promote a culture of data use. The incumbent will also provide support to the Director in building partnerships and positioning across a range of bilateral and multilateral technical, political and funding partners.  
 

Long Description

Main responsibilities and tasks

1. Advocacy and partnerships 

• Provide leadership and elaboration of a multi-faceted communications strategy to enhance the visibility of UIS products and their usage as advocacy and policy tools.  
• Contribute to the development and execution of a resource mobilisation strategy, supporting research of opportunities, outreach and the development of proposals.
• Promote use of UIS data, and establish, strengthen, and maintain the highest level of collaboration with key partners and contacts including representatives of Member States, UNESCO, World Bank, UNICEF, OECD, African Union, regional agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), regional commissions and other operational partners.
• Act as spokesperson, representing the UIS to the media and other partners. 
• Lead the conception, strategy, and work plans to produce a range of communications and advocacy materials and tools in accessible non-technical language for the products generated by the programmatic areas.
• Co-ordinate various projects carried out by the team related to public facing materials in liaison with other organizations of the United Nations System, donors, NGOs and agencies as appropriate; provide programmatic and substantive reviews of materials for presentation to internal and external stakeholders; ensure that the UIS outputs are of high quality and that materials are clear and accurate.

 

2. Dissemination

• Supervise the multilingual production of UIS materials. 
• Supervise the development and implementation of a comprehensive distribution strategy, including the maintenance of a contact and distribution database.
• Manage the international, regional and national launches of UIS reports, setting the strategic direction, conceptualizing and managing high-profile events.
• Develop a vision and implement a strategy for the promotion of a UIS identity in all UIS products.

 

Long Description

3. Contribution to UIS core work

• Perform additional activities required in support of the UIS mandate and to ensure the success of the team’s work programme.
• Contribute to UIS reporting, including the preparation of documents for UIS and UNESCO governing bodies as well as for other internal and external stakeholder including donors and development partners.
• Contribute to building partnerships and resource mobilisation to support the UIS work.

COMPETENCIES (Core / Managerial) Communication (C) Accountability (C) Innovation (C) Knowledge sharing and continuous improvement (C) Planning and organizing (C) Results focus (C) Teamwork (C) Professionalism (C) Building partnerships (M) Driving and managing change (M) Leading and empowering others (M) Making quality decisions (M) Managing performance (M) Strategic thinking (M) - For detailed information, please consult the UNESCO Competency Framework. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

 

Education

• Advanced university degree (Master's or equivalent) in communication, public administration or closely related discipline(s). A first level university degree in the aforementioned fields, in combination with two years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree.

 

Work Experience

• Minimum of ten (10) years of progressively responsible relevant professional experience in the area of communication, of which five (5) years acquired at international level.
• Experience leading strategic global communications, advocacy, and innovative partnerships aimed at policy influence and adoption at the international level, especially on social and economic transformation issues.  
• Experience in designing interactive data visualization products and other products designed to engage users in statistical storytelling.
• Experience with the production and distribution of multilingual publications, management of websites.

 

Skills and competencies 

• Excellent analytical, diplomacy and advocacy skills, in particular the ability to collect, synthesize and analyse information from various sources and convey messages.
• Ability to develop communication strategies and manage implementation of public information campaigns with various promotional and publicity techniques.
• Excellent writing skills.
• Knowledge of media strategy development.

 

Languages

• Excellent knowledge (written and spoken) of English.  

 

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS

 

Work Experience

• Production of content on statistical issues related to UNESCO's fields.    
• Production of content in the field of education.
• Relevant experience in development contexts.
• Resource Mobilisation.
• Experience in both private and public sector environments.

 

Languages

• Excellent knowledge of French. 
• Knowledge of another official language of UNESCO (Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Spanish).
   

BENEFITS AND ENTITLEMENTS

UNESCO’s salaries consist of a basic salary and other benefits which may include if applicable: 30 days annual leave, family allowance, medical insurance, pension plan etc.

The approximate annual starting salary for this post is 141,254 US $.

For full information on benefits and entitlements, please consult our Guide to Staff Benefits.

SELECTION AND RECRUITMENT PROCESS

Please note that all candidates must complete an on-line application and provide complete and accurate information. To apply, please visit the UNESCO careers website. No modifications can be made to the application submitted.

The evaluation of candidates is based on the criteria in the vacancy notice, and may include tests and/or assessments, as well as a competency-based interview. 

UNESCO uses communication technologies such as video or teleconference, e-mail correspondence, etc. for the assessment and evaluation of candidates.

Please note that only selected candidates will be further contacted and candidates in the final selection step will be subject to reference checks based on the information provided.

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UNESCO recalls that paramount consideration in the appointment of staff members shall be the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, technical competence and integrity. UNESCO applies a zero-tolerance policy against all forms of harassment. UNESCO is committed to achieving and sustaining equitable and diverse geographical distribution, as well as gender parity among its staff members in all categories and at all grades. Furthermore, UNESCO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Candidates from non- and under-represented Member States (last update here) are particularly welcome and strongly encouraged to apply. Individuals from minority groups and indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the highest level of confidentiality. Worldwide mobility is required for staff members appointed to international posts.

UNESCO does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process.