Communications Analyst

Saudi Arabia has achieved remarkable progress in human development over the past three decades including, for example, literacy at above 95%, increased life expectancy, and access to energy, even in remote rural communities. The Kingdom is a high-income country and is one of the most industrialized Gulf Countries with a highly educated population. Its economy is mainly based on oil as the world’s biggest exporter holding 16% of global proven petroleum reserves. It is also the largest country in the Arabian Peninsula with a population of approximately 35 million, 1/3 of whom are expat migrant workers. According to the UNDP Human Development Report, Saudi Arabia’s Human Development Index (HDI) value for 2020 was 0.854— which put the country in the very high human development category—positioning it at 40 out of 189 countries and territories. Between 1990 and 2019, Saudi Arabia’s HDI value increased from 0.697 to 0.854, an increase of 22.5 %. 

Those achievements aside, Saudi Arabia faces significant development challenges.  Before 2016, the Government’s drive for economic diversification delivered modest results. The share of the private sector in the country’s economy only increased by 10 % from 2000 to 2015 mostly coming from the non-oil sector.  The oil price crash in 2016 exposed the volatility of its oil-based economy prompting the Government to put in place austerity measures as well as the introduction of a 5 % value-added tax in January 2018 later increased to 15% in July 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2022–2026 (UNSDCF) agreed between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) serves as an integrated SDG-based strategy for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s (KSA) Vision 2030. 

UNDP is well-positioned to demonstrate its comparative advantage in Saudi Arabia since UNDP has been present and active in the Kingdom since 1976. UNDP is a respected and trusted advisor to dozens of partners and is seen as a window to the multilateral landscape and benchmarking to which the Kingdom aspires. Through a more coherent and engaged UNCT and expanded partnerships with UN agencies (e.g., UNICEF on disability and inclusion, and gender, UN-Habitat on development housing and urbanization, FAO on food security and food waste, and UNFPA on statistics and the national census), UNDP will advance its integrator role and broaden UN engagement in Saudi Arabia beyond its current engagement which is mostly with Government. 

The UNDP Country Programme 2023-2027 (CP) is fully aligned with the four Strategic Priority Areas and corresponding Outcomes of the UNSDCF (CF), namely People, Planet, Prosperity, and Peace, Partnerships, and Other Cross-Cutting Issues, all of which emanate from the Vision 2030. With activities under each of the four CF Outcomes, UNDP represents the significant majority of UN system programming in the country. This critical mass and diversity of engagements across numerous entities afford UNDP the opportunity to build synergies that are transformational and that address the siloed approaches that can be pervasive in the large bureaucratic ecosystem. The CP seeks to support opportunities for economic, environmental, social, and institutional change.

The role of the Country Office Communications Unit is to adopt UNDP’s global communication strategy to a local context and the Country Office development priorities. Through the production of high-quality communication materials and innovative use of relevantly targeted communication channels (internal and external), the communications team works collaboratively to position UNDP as a leader in the development arena, promote visibility of UNDP program outcomes/development results, mobilize support for Sustainable Development Goals in the country, and practice delivery as one UN.

Position Purpose

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the RR or Communications Specialist, the Communications Analyst in a large Country Office participates in the implementation of the corporate communications strategy, as well as in the design, management and implementation of the Country Office communications and publication strategies, which are geared to influence the development agenda, promote public and media outreach, and mobilize political and financial support for UNDP. 

The Communications Analyst maintains a working relationship with the Regional Communications Adviser and may supervise Communications staff. The Communications Analyst works in close collaboration with the CO Programme, Operations and project teams, staff of other UN Agencies, UNDP Communications Region and HQ staff, government officials, national and international media, donors, and civil society to ensure successful implementation of UNDP’s communication strategy.

UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across units, functions, teams, and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration. 

1.)  Provide support to the planning and design of internal and external communication strategies and outreach.

                •              Prepare and conduct communications needs assessments for the country office (e.g., for projects, the country programme, and corporate change initiatives).

•              Provide input to the country office communications and outreach strategy based on country office strategic priorities and the UNDP External Communication Action Plan. 

•              Provide communication input during the project and programme formulation stage to integrate communication needs and strategies in all aspects of UNDP development program.

•              Provide input to and draft stories for local media to increase coverage and understanding of the UNDP’s work in the country or practice areas as guided by the UNDP External Communications Action Plan.

•              Develop Terms of Reference for different communications needs (i.e., photographers, videographers).

2.)   Ensure the implementation of the country office publications strategy and plan.

                •              Manage country office publication activities, such as drafting articles and content management in line with corporate guidelines.

•              Maintain regular contact with printers and other suppliers to ensure production and publications dissemination. 

3.)  Provide technical support to UNDP digital communications in country office that includes social media, web site, intranet, and CO web-based knowledge management system.

                •              Upload stories, articles, publications, and press releases to web sites and manage content for social media.

•              Design digital content and collect content from country office programmes and projects, and make ready for website and social media,

4.) Contribute to UNDP’s campaign initiatives to engage different stakeholders (i.e. government, donors, media and public) and increase awareness of UNDP’s mandate and goals.

                •              Promote and disseminate corporate advocacy materials for launching flagship initiatives and publications such as the Human Development Report. 

•              Promote and maintain public information campaigns on issues, including UNDP activities, Sustainable Development Goals and UN Reform, under the supervision of Communications Specialist. 

•              Prepare and disseminate newsletters as well as draft and produce regular updates to donors, donor reports, civic education, and community awareness, where appropriate, to support projects. 

•              Develop and produce other communication and advocacy materials for marketing and awareness-raising campaigns, including briefing and media materials in coordination with the supervisor. 

5.)  Assist country office’s knowledge management and dissemination. 

                •              Provide support to Identify and synthesize best practices and lessons learned directly linked to programme country goals and activities. 

•              Contribute to knowledge networks and communities of practice including corporate communications repositories. 

•              Assist in providing training for UNDP staff on internal and external knowledge management. 

•              Assist in keeping the country office’s Intranet up-to-date and free from unnecessary data. 

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization

Core: 

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 2: Adapt processes/approaches to new situations, involve others in change process

Act with Determination                

• LEVEL 2: Able to persevere and deal with multiple sources of pressure simultaneously

Engage and Partner

• LEVEL 2:  Is facilitator/integrator, bring people together, build/maintain coalitions/partnerships

Enable Diversity and Inclusion

• LEVEL 2:  Facilitate conversations to bridge differences, considers in decision making

People Management 

Business Management  

Customer Satisfaction/Client Management         

•              Ability to respond timely and appropriately with a sense of urgency, provide consistent solutions, and deliver timely and quality results and/or solutions to fulfil and understand the real customers' needs. 

•              Provide inputs to the development of customer service strategy. 

•              Look for ways to add value beyond clients' immediate requests. 

•              Ability to anticipate client's upcoming needs and concerns.

Business Management  

Communication               

•              Ability to communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience

•              Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels.

Business Management  

Digital Awareness and Literacy  

•              Ability and inclination to rapidly adopt new technologies, either through skillfully grasping their usage or through understanding their impact and empowering others to use them as needed.

Communications              

Digital asset management           

•              Ability to use digital asset management (DAM) systems to effectively store, share and organize digital assets such as images, videos and other media 

Communications              

Multimedia writing/editing        

•              Ability to create and/or edit written content for multimedia 

Communications              

Social Media management          

•              Ability to represent and promote the UNDP brand in virtual communities and networks 

Communications              

Writing and editing        

•              Ability to create and/or edit written content in different UN languages. 
 

Education

• Advanced university degree (master's degree or equivalent) in communication, journalism, international relations, public administration, or related field is required, or 
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree. 

Experience, Knowledge, and Skills

• Up to 2 years (with master’s degree) or 2 years (with bachelor’s degree) of relevant experience at the national or international level in public relations, advocacy, or communications. 
• Experience in the use of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and advanced knowledge of web-based management systems such as ERP. 

Language requirements

• Fluency in English, both written and spoken.
• Fluency in Arabic, both written and spoken.