Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

Under the supervision of the Regional Director, and in close collaboration with relevant Units in the Regional Office, Headquarters (HQ) and UN Women’s field offices across the Americas and the Caribbean (AC) region, the Communications Specialist is responsible for developing communications and media strategies and work plans and managing media/press relations and oversees the production of a range of communications and outreach materials for UN Women, including for the UN Women Regional Office website and social media. S/he is responsible for timely, accurate and high-quality informational materials, such as press releases & media advisories, news briefs, fact sheets, stories from the field etc. for media outreach, the UN Women website, and inclusion in informational kits for further public outreach.

The Communications Specialist will collaborate closely with the Headquarters, Regional, Multi-Country Office, Country Offices and Programme Presence Offices (RO/MCO/CO/PPO) colleagues to develop and propose communications strategies, cultivate and handle media relations and undertake organizational outreach efforts aligned with corporate communication policies and initiatives. S/he also collaborates with RO/MCO and CO/PPO colleagues to support outreach campaigns, resource mobilization and donor relations initiatives; s/he ensures visibility for UN Women in key intergovernmental processes and observance dates and supports the planning and implementation of activities and special events organized by UN Women.

Impact of Results

The results have a substantial impact on the effectiveness of UN Women’s regional communications and outreach efforts, enhancing the visibility, raising awareness and understanding of UN Women and its mission with the media and among the general public, building and maintaining supportive constituencies and leading to enhanced political and financial support for UN Women and its strategic areas and positioning UN Women as the leading reference in gender equality within the UN system, thus helping ensure UN Women achieves its strategic goals.

• Timely and quality development and implementation of regional communication, information and advocacy strategies;
• Timely development and implementation of a Media strategy, including on social media;
• Regular interaction with media, including dissemination of information, based on number of articles in media;
• Timely preparation of quality knowledge and communication products, including fact sheets, reports and information on the website;
• Regular coordination with HQ and communication in region based on inputs to HQ initiatives and number of regional initiatives and products.

Duties and Responsibilities

Develop and implement UN Women’s Regional Communications Strategy and Work Plan for the Americas and Caribbean Region:

• Lead the development and implementation of regional communication, information and advocacy strategies to ensure harmonization with UN Women global initiatives, standards and messages;
• Conduct analysis on communication and advocacy needs and strategy including consultation with relevant units and offices on how the communication strategy will support the socialization, promotion and mainstreaming of gender equality;
• Formulate action plans for specific initiatives that will generate stakeholders’ participation, aiming at building relevant platforms and channels for their voices to be heard and for policy influencing;

Manage UN Women media/press relations:

• Develop, plan and implement media strategies with a clear regional focus and scope in line with corporate guidelines to enhance the positioning of UN Women with the media, with a special focus on regional priority areas of concern;
• Identify opportunities for and organize press conferences; facilitate interviews with senior managers;
• Draft press releases and media kits;
• Respond to media inquiries; issue statement and corporate positions to media and other external audiences;
• Draft brochures, fact sheets, stories from the field to inform media and general public;
• Produce information and outreach materials for different purposes and audiences, ensuring quality and timeliness of materials produced;

Oversee and maintain regional online outreach by regularly updating website and social media channels with relevant and timely content, including from field offices:

• Directly oversee and update regional web site, ensuring technical and editorial quality; coordinate web presence of multi-country and COs in the region in line with the corporate web policy;
• Oversee and manage regional social media accounts in line with corporate social media policy; provide inputs to corporate social media accounts;
• Contribute stories from the field and other inputs from the region for HQ website.
• Hire and supervise video producers to produce relevant video material on UN Women’s work;

Develop and implement communications strategies and plans for UN Women special events, campaigns and observance dates:

• Develop and implement Communications components of UN Women and/or UN campaigns, e.g. UNite Campaign and HeForShe, in coordination with relevant Units in the Regional Office and HQ;
• Conceptualize and organize Special events (co-)organized by UN Women with a view to reaching wider audiences; Develop concept and messaging and develop and compile relevant materials.
• Identify and supervise effective channels for dissemination of all information products, publications and advocacy materials to relevant target audiences identified and distribution.

Liaise closely with UN Women Communications Team at HQ to feed regional/national initiatives into corporate communications initiatives and vice versa. Coordinate communication activities with UN communication colleagues at regional /national level:

• Consult regularly with HQ Communications Section to ensure consistency with corporate policies, messaging and initiative;
• Provide feedback to HQ communications team on the coordination of  communications initiatives; inform HQ communication team about regional /national activities, provide comments on and inputs for corporate initiatives, seek advice and support;
• Contribute regularly to and provide advice on UN Women corporate materials, e.g. corporate web site, illustrated Annual Report,  video productions etc. to highlight regional / national initiatives and ensure visibility at the corporate / international level;
• Liaise Regularly  with Communications Officers from other UN entities at the regional / country level to provide UN Women inputs to joint UN initiatives; to that end, represented UN Women on the UN Communications Group;
• Guide and collaborate closely with MCO/CO communications officers to advance regional and national communications partnerships.
• Provide substantive and technical support to field offices in their communications plans and activities.

Build communications partnerships and media alliances:

• Identify and develops new communications partnerships and media alliances with a regional scope to enhance the visibility and cement UN Women as a thought-leader; manages and nurtures existing partnerships;
• Maintain and build contacts with regional and national media; identify topics, background information, news-related developments and coverage of interest to each.

Competencies

Core Values/Guiding Principles:

Integrity:

• Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism:

• Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity:

• Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff;
• Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

• Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Development and Innovation:

• Take charge of self-development and take initiative.

Work in teams:

• Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Communicating and Information Sharing:

• Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.

Self-management and Emotional Intelligence:

• Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others.

Conflict Management:

• Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.

Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

•  Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge.

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

• Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent communication and writing skills. Communicates sensitively, effectively and creatively across different constituencies;
• Demonstrates very good understanding of and experience in communications and outreach;
• Proven networking skills, and ability to generate interest in UN Women’s mandate;
• Strong initiative-taker and creativity;
• Very effective at multi-tasking and problem solving;
• Demonstrate team spirit, ability coordinate, collaborate and support the work of the team;
• Focuses on impact and results for the client;
• Knowledge of UN Women’s areas of work;
• Interacts effectively with all levels of the organization, including senior management;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Identifies opportunities and builds strong relationships with clients and partners;
• Demonstrates exceptional ability to remain calm, in control and good humored even under pressure and tight deadlines;
• Good IT skills, including databases and office software packages.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced degree in communications, journalism, public relations, social sciences, international relations, or a related field.

Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years proven experience (post-Masters) in successful development and implementation of communications strategies and plans at the international level, including experience in media relations;
• Proven experience in on-line outreach and multimedia an asset;
• Proven international experience, preferably within the Americas and Caribbean region, in the area of communications, public relations and/or journalism;
• Knowledge of the Americas and Caribbean region is a prerequisite for this post;
• Experience working in development agency an asset;
• Familiarity with gender and/or development issues, UN Women and UN system is an asset;
• Outstanding oral and written communications and editing skills, with proven ability to meet tight deadlines.

Language:

• Fluency in Spanish and English (written and oral);
• Knowledge of Portuguese and/or French an asset.

Note:

All applications can include only one attachment that consists of a complete and signed http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment Form together with an updated English CV.  Applications without the complete P11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment. Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.

Only short-listed qualified candidates will be contacted.

Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.