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Communications, Partnership and Donor Liaison Specialist (IPSA10)

Suva

  • Organization: UNDP - United Nations Development Programme
  • Location: Suva
  • Grade: Mid level - IPSA-10, International Personnel Services Agreement
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Communication and Public Information
    • External Relations, Partnerships and Resource mobilization
    • Public, Private Partnership
  • Closing Date: 2023-05-24
Background
 
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are core principles at UNDP:  we value diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate, we foster inclusion as a way of ensuring all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, and we ensure equity and fairness in all our actions. Taking a ‘leave no one behind’ approach to our diversity efforts means increasing representation of underserved populations. People who identify as belonging to marginalized or excluded populations are strongly encouraged to apply. Learn more about working at UNDP including our values and inspiring stories.
 
UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.
 
The Pacific region is facing considerable economic and social development challenges due to the increasing impact of climate change and geo-hazards. At the same time, development in these countries is potentially increasing this vulnerability to climate change and disasters. The Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific (FRDP), endorsed in 2016 by Pacific leaders, demonstrates a clear recognition that managing climate change and disaster related risk must be undertaken in the context of economic development and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 
 
The Governance for Resilience (Gov4Res) Project works with Pacific governments to ensure that countries adapt their decision making and governance systems towards more resilient development. The projects theory of change rests on a core assumption that Pacific Island people will be more resilient to the impacts of climate change and disasters if countries manage all development through a risk informed approach. This is consistent with the Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific which calls for the ‘mainstreaming’ of climate and disaster risk treating risk management as fundamental to all development decisions. 
 
The Gov4Res Project three outcome areas, to work with countries across the region to address these risks by development, are: 1) government planning and financing systems enable gender and socially inclusive risk-informed development; 2) country oversight and accountability systems require gender and socially inclusive risk-informed development; and 3) regional organisations, policies and practices are actively supporting gender and socially inclusive risk-informed development. UNDP is partnering with a range of partners to deliver this project across the Pacific including Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).
 
Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Governance for Resilience Project Manager based in UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji, the Communications, Partnership and Donor Liasion Specialist will be responsible for supporting the project to: 
  • Setting up mechanisms to establish and track donor relationships, including leading donor specific reporting in parallel to broader project reporting requirements; and
  • Finalising and delivering the initial objectives of the Gov4Res Communications Strategy, which includes profiling and branding of the project, knowledge building and communications support at project events.
Duties and Responsibilities
 
The Partnerships, Donor Liaison and Communications Specialist will report directly to the Project Manager for the UNDP Gov4Res Project under the overall guidance of the Resilience and Sustainable Development Team Leader and will work in collaboration with other members of the Resilience and Sustainable Development team including Gov4Res team and key partners.
 
Working under the direction of the Governance for Resilience Project Manager, the Communications, Partnership and Donor Liasion Specialist will be responsible for the following: 
 
Lead Partnership Liaison 
  • Facilitate donor liaison on behalf of the project team, including being the focal point for some day to day communication
  • Support the Gov4Res team in the preparation of meetings and other consultations with donors, including the preparation of notes, briefs and other materials as required
  • Track upcoming opportunities for Gov4Res to jointly deliver risk informed demonstration projects with donor bilateral offices
  • Support mobilisation and delivery of joint projects with donor partners 

Set up mechanisms to establish and track relationships with donors 

  • Set up and operationalise a system to track donor relationships and opportunities
  • Provide regular updates on donor profile, databases (e.g. contacts management) and donor intelligence 
  • Undertake ongoing mapping of opportunities for the project through donor pipelines
  • Identify opportunities to secure additional non-core resources and, where appropriate, liaises with relevant officers for action, including recommendation on positioning with donor; timely follow-up and support
  • Support the drafting and review of partner-specific Framework Arrangements and Cost Sharing Agreements. 

Enhance profile of Gov4Res through communications and events and facilitate knowledge building

  • Assist the project in strengthening communications and visibility, including development of project communication materials
  • Support the timely production and management of communications, advocacy and knowledge management products
  • Identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learned directly linked to resource mobilisation and partnership-building activities
  • Create content, and coordinate content generation for the project communications platforms
  • Monitor and analyse current events and trends, and liaise with media representatives to generate timely and positive news coverage
  • Undertakes activities to promote media coverage on priority issues and major events
  • Support the project with dissemination of information to external and internal stakeholders.

Develop system to harmonise donor reporting process with broader Gov4Res monitoring and reporting, and develop initial donor reports

  • Provide support to Gov4Res Management for the preparation of high quality and timely donor reports. This includes the monitoring, consolidation, editing and revision of all required reports on contributions to ensure the quality and relevance of all products aimed for external audiences, in close cooperation with relevant stakeholders
  • Coordinate with the Monitoring, Reporting and Learning Officer for the collection of information and preparation of results-based reports as required by donor
  • Propose solutions for the harmonisation and standardisation of reporting and monitoring mechanisms in order to limit parallel reporting and enhance the quality of data collection
  • Maintain a calendar of donor reporting timelines
  • Support quality assurance of other internal reports including quarterly and annual reports for the project.
Competencies

Core competencies: 
  • Achieve Results: LEVEL 2: Scale up solutions and simplifies processes, balances  speed and accuracy in doing work
  • Think Innovatively: LEVEL 2: Offer new ideas/open to new approaches, demonstrate  systemic/integrated thinking
  • Learn Continuously: LEVEL 2: Go outside comfort zone, learn from others and  support their learning
  • Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage  multiple competing demands 
  • Act with Determination: LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action  to achieve greater results Engage and Partner:
  • Engage and Partner: LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion  inter-agency collaboration
  • Enable Diversity and  Inclusion: LEVEL 2: Facilitate conversations to bridge differences, considers  in decision making 

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies:

Partnership management 

  • Relationship management: Ability to engage with a wide range of public and private  partners, build, sustain and/or strengthen working relations,  trust and mutual understanding 
  • Strategic engagement: Ability to capture and sustain attention, interest and agreement of high-level, influential policy and decision  makers and secure their buy-in of high-level vision and objectives 

General

  • Public relations: Ability to build and maintain an overall positive public image  for the organisation, its mandate and its brand, while ensuring that individual campaigns and other communications and advocacy initiatives are supported in reaching the public 

Communications

  • Writing and editing: Ability to create and/or edit written content in different UN languages. 
     
Required Skills and Experience
 
Education:
  • Minimum Masters level of education in the area of international relations, communications, social sciences or related field
Experience:
  • A minimum of 5 years of work experience in partnership liaison or related field
  • Ability to work effectively and harmoniously with other colleagues from various cultures and professional backgrounds • Solid experience in the usage of computers and office software packages relevant for development of communications products (MS Office incl. Word, PowerPoint, relevant design software) as well as experience in handling of web-based management systems
  • Experience in an international setting with the UN or with international organisations an asset
  • Knowledge of project management cycle is desirable.
  • Excellent communication, networking and advocacy skills
  • Proven ability to conceptualise, develop, plan and manage communications interventions as well as transfer knowledge and skills
  • Demonstrated experience in organisation and delivering training and other needed capacity/ institutional building support to a wide range of stakeholders and impact evaluation of communications intervention
  • Ability to coach, mentor, motivate and develop staff and encourage good performance
  • Promotes sharing of knowledge and experience, and actively works towards continued learning and development
  • Good interpersonal skills with experience of networking with partners at all levels
  • Good understanding of national and international human rights mechanisms, and excellent inter-personal skills
  • Ability to establish priorities and to plan, coordinate and monitor work of others, ability to make timely decisions
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, and age sensitivity and adaptability and capacity to work effectively in a multicultural environment.

Required Languages:

  • Fluency of English (written and oral) and Korean (written and oral) languages are required
  • Knowledge of Pacific Island languages and culture would be an asset.
Disclaimer

 

 
Under US immigration law, acceptance of a staff position with UNDP, an international organization, may have significant implications for US Permanent Residents. UNDP advises applicants for all professional level posts that they must relinquish their US Permanent Resident status and accept a G-4 visa, or have submitted a valid application for US citizenship prior to commencement of employment. 

 
UNDP is not in a position to provide advice or assistance on applying for US citizenship and therefore applicants are advised to seek the advice of competent immigration lawyers regarding any applications.

 
Applicant information about UNDP rosters

 
Note: UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement.  We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

 
Non-discrimination

 
UNDP has a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual exploitation and misconduct, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.  

 
UNDP is an equal opportunity and inclusive employer that does not discriminate based on race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status. 

 
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