Regional Communications Specialist

Background

UN Women’s Regional Office for the Arab States (ROAS)’s Strategic Note (2022-25) includes our vision. We aim to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls and the full enjoyment of their human rights in the Arab States, propelling economic prosperity and sustainable development for all. Our goal is to accelerate achievements for the region's largest possible numbers of women and girls, including the most vulnerable, in the next 4 years. To accomplish this, we work with our partners and offices across 17 countries in the region to implement targeted programmes that support social norms change, women’s economic empowerment, women’s leadership and political participation, women, peace and security, and humanitarian issues, as well as ending violence against women.

Reporting to the Regional Director, Regional Communications Specialist will collaborate closely with UN-Women Headquarters, Regional, Cluster, and Country Offices’ (HQ/RO/CCO/COs) colleagues to ensure communications strategies, media relations, and organizational outreach efforts are aligned with corporate communications policies and initiatives. As Regional Communications Specialist, the incumbent drives evidence-based communications which is our new strategic approach to the positioning of the Regional Director’s communications and advocacy in the Arab States by using innovative advocacy tools.

The Regional Communications Specialist also collaborates with the HQ/RO/CCO/COs colleagues to support outreach campaigns, resource mobilization, and donor relations initiatives. The Regional Communications Specialist mobilizes support in conjunction with intergovernmental processes and supports the activities and special events organized for UN Women.

Duties and Responsibilities

Lead the development and implementation of communication strategies and plans, with a specific focus on media.

• Develop the RO’s clear communication strategy and associated budget and work plan to support the regional programme, project, and corporate objectives and get women’s empowerment issues into the public domain, strengthen political will in support of UN Women’s mission and objectives, and enhance the organization’s credibility and brand;
• Conduct communication needs assessments for RO, including projects, programmes, and corporate change initiatives;
• Design, develop, and implement communication and outreach strategies, including media strategies; ensure gender perspective;
• Integrate communication and outreach strategies into proposals for projects/programmes and other initiatives;
• Provide advice and guidance to and coordinate with COs/CCO in the region.

Provide advice and expertise to UN Women Senior Leadership in the Arab States region and other public information staff on a range of public affairs issues, methods, and approaches.

• Identify innovative ways to increase positive exposure and leverage that prominence for new opportunities for UN Women; 
• Respond timely and clearly to media inquiries and to a variety of inquiries and information requests; prepare related correspondence; identify topics, background information, news-related development, and coverage of interest;
• Advise Senior Leadership, Country Representatives and the programme team leads on all aspects of communication, advocacy, resource mobilization, and partnerships as required.

Lead the development and dissemination of communications materials in the region.

• Develop and produce communication and advocacy instruments and materials, including briefing materials, press releases, and articles and coordinate their dissemination through effective channels;
• Provide advice on communication and advocacy materials and coordinate the launching of flagship initiatives and publications in the region;
• Lead the engagement and supervision of video producers and other communication specialists to produce audio/ visual material on UN Women’s work;
• Develop brochures, factsheets, and stories from the field to inform media and the general public at the regional level;
• Follow guidelines from and report to HQ.

Build and maintain partnerships and maintain relations with donors.

• Identify and develop new communication partnerships and alliances to enhance visibility; manage and nurture existing partnerships;
• Liaise with advocacy partners and undertake outreach to civil society organizations, governments, and other groups to ensure that newsworthy information reaches the public and donors;
• Guide and collaborate closely with communication colleagues in other offices to ensure consistency with corporate policies, messaging, and initiatives;
• Submit packages for programme initiatives for donor review.

Manage regional communications team comprised of communications and professionals from multi-program pillars.

• Ensure that the human resources (the communication, advocacy, and partnerships team) and financial resources (budget planning, management, and monitoring) for the communication, advocacy, and partnerships section of corporate communications, the regional programmes, projects, and initiatives are both effectively managed and optimally used;
• Ensure that communication baselines are established against which the objectives of the communication, advocacy, resource mobilization, and partnership strategies are regularly evaluated; analysis is undertaken to continuously improve the effectiveness of communication strategy, approach, and activities; results and reports are prepared and shared on a timely basis.
• Manage the Region’s web/ online presence.
• Oversee and maintain (regional) websites, including developing design and content;
• Coordinate MCO and COs’ web presence in line with corporate web policy;
• Monitor and analyze print and social media and prepare reports;
• Oversee and manage (regional) social media accounts in line with corporate social media policy.
• Facilitate knowledge-building and sharing.
• Identify and synthesize best practices and lessons learned from Regional and COs directly linked to programme country goals and activities and ensure exchange of information;
• Provide training and workshops on corporate communications, media, and advocacy as appropriate.
• Support the development of country-level communications strategies upon (C) CO request.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Quality strategic advice at the regional level to position the Senior Leadership through the lens of opportunities and documented progress;
• Quality communications strategy and timely implementation which leads to greater exposure and understanding of UN Women’s work;
• Quality and relevant advocacy materials and content of the website and social media channels;
• Regular interactions with mass media, as shown by coverage;
• Regular exchange of information between country-level offices in the region as shown in the coherent and relevant regional public presence;
• Support COs to develop solid communications strategies as needed.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity;
• Integrity;
• Professionalism.

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and sensitivity regarding gender issues;
• Accountability;
• Creative problem solving;
• Effective communication;
• Inclusive collaboration;
• Stakeholder engagement;
• Leading by example.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competencies

• Ability to communicate sensitively, effectively, and creatively across different constituencies;
• Strong knowledge of managing web-based knowledge management systems;
• Strong understanding of Intellectual Properties, media production, graphic design, and photography standards;
• Strong knowledge of social media platforms and experience in social media outreach;
• Strong oral and written communication and editing skills;
• Strong communication, networking, and advocacy skills;
• Ability to provide advice and be strategic and analytical;
• Good knowledge of the media landscape;
• Knowledge of gender and human rights issues.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in communications, public relations, journalism, or a relevant field is required;
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least seven (7) years of progressive experience in public relations, and communications including in media relations;
• Experience in managing high-level senior management’s visibility and organization’s branding via the use of social media and traditional/non-traditional media is required;
• Experience in managing a multicultural team is required;
• Knowledge of international development and humanitarian issues with a focus on women’s rights is an asset;
• Experience in training facilitation is an asset;
• Experience working in a developing and emergency environment is an asset;
• Experience in media relations at the regional level is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required;
• Knowledge of Arabic is highly desired.

Application Information:

• All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment;
• Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment;
• UN Women will only be able to respond to those applications in which there is further interest.

Note:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality, and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW, and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check).