Instructions to Applicants: Click on the "Apply now" button. Input your information in the appropriate Sections: personal information, language proficiency, education, resume and motivation. Upon completion of the first page, please hit "submit application" tab at the end of the page. Please ensure that CV or P11 and the Cover letter are combined in one file.

The following documents shall be required from the applicants:

Personal CV or P11, indicating all past positions held and their main underlying functions, their durations (month/year), the qualifications, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate, and at least three (3) the most recent professional references of previous supervisors. References may also include peers.

A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page) indicating why the candidate considers him-/herself to be suitable for the position.

Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns or other materials.

Office/Unit/Project Description 

The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) is the UN’s capital investment agency for the world’s least developed countries (LDCs). It creates new opportunities for poor people and their communities by increasing access to inclusive finance and investment capital. Established by the General Assembly in 1966 and with headquarters in New York, UNCDF is an autonomous UN organization affiliated with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Based at UNCDF, the Better Than Cash Alliance’s mission is to catalyze a global movement from cash to digital payments to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Specific benefits include efficiency, transparency, women’s economic participation and financial inclusion, helping build economies that are digital and inclusive.

The Alliance has nearly 80 members, including national governments from Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America, companies and international organizations which have committed to digitizing payments.

The Secretariat works with the Alliance members on their journey to digitize payments by:

• Providing advisory services based on member priorities.
• Sharing action-oriented research and fostering peer learning.
• Conducting advocacy at national, regional and global level.

Billions of dollars in cash payments and transfers are made daily in emerging and developing economies, including payment of salaries, social welfare and relief, payments to suppliers, remittances. The problems with these cash payments include a lack of transparency, accountability and security, as well as inefficiency. Individuals who receive cash payments are often part of the 1.7 billion excluded from the formal financial sector, the majority of whom are women. This means they are excluded from access to a range of appropriate and affordable financial services to help them save safely take advantage of economic opportunities and reduce their vulnerability to risk.

Shifting these payments from cash to digital has the potential to improve the lives of low-income people, particularly women, while giving governments, the development community and the private sector a more transparent, time and cost efficient, and often-safer means of disbursing payments.

The Better Than Cash Alliance Team’s Core Values are the following:

• Achieving together
• Striving for excellence
• Service oriented
• Results oriented

Institutional Arrangement

The Digital Communications Specialist will report to the Head of Global Communications, Better Than Cash Alliance (UNCDF), and also be guided by and accountable to the Latin American Regional Lead. The incumbent will collaborate with other key colleagues at the Secretariat team, including the Head of Private Sector Innovation. Working with colleagues in different locations will allow and require working flexible hours.

Scope of Work

The position in a nutshell 

The United Nations-based Better Than Cash Alliance is looking for an excellent English-Spanish bilingual team player that creatively co-leads our digital communications engagement efforts, at global, regional and national level. This includes, crucially, our member countries in Latin America, and global audiences. Under the supervision of the Head of Global Communications, the Digital Communications Specialist will work very closely with the Latin American Regional Team and other key Secretariat colleagues, including working collaboratively with other communications colleagues, including in Africa and Asia, the Website Manager, as well as engaging with communications teams from Alliance members and partners.

Our team needs a strong strategist and writer who understands the role that responsible digital payments play in igniting progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), crucially gender equality. A core function of the role is designing and implementing innovative and well-targeted digital communications strategies, on social media and beyond, seeking new opportunities for effective engagement and creating cogent content in both English and Spanish.

The incumbent is also expected to help design and implement broader communications and advocacy strategies, with a focus on advancing the Alliance’s strategic goals in Latin America.

Key functions and activities

The Digital Communication Specialist is expected to deliver the following:

Output 1. Co-lead the design of a bold annual Better Than Cash Alliance’s Digital Communications Strategy, with other communications colleagues and the Website Manager. The strategy should:

• Serve the Alliance’s strategic goals sitting across advocacy and advisory services. The latter includes tactics, tools and platforms to effectively disseminate content to support our learning agenda.
• The strategy should cover both owned channels (social media, newsletter, website) and relevant external platforms, including media.
• Identify and segment the Alliance’s key audiences, which include governments from Latin America and other stakeholders, global brands and international organizations, and other key stakeholders.
• Propose messages and approaches to prioritize women in our digital communications work.
• Set targets, with timelines and deadlines, alongside a strong monitoring and evaluation protocol, including data analytics to re-shape and optimize the strategy and specific campaigns to drive further engagement. Targets to be worked out in consultation with the Alliance team working on the indicators.

The Digital Communication Specialist is expected to keep the strategy updated by identifying new opportunities for digital engagement, keeping abreast of new trends in the digital communications space.

Output 2. Co-lead the implementation of the annual Better Than Cash Alliance’s Digital Communications Strategy, with other communications colleagues and the Website Manager, by:

• Working closely with key colleagues and members on content creation. Draft and edit a wide range of communications materials, including social media posts and assets, comment pieces, newsletters and innovative learning products.
• Conducting daily news monitoring and managing the Alliance’s social media channels on a daily basis. As per goals set in the annual Digital Communications Strategy, this includes boosting followers and engagement on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and other relevant channels that the specialist might advise to use. In this regard, the incumbent is expected to undertake research to identify and engage with new tools and platforms to help advance the Alliance’s mandate. These could include blogging platforms or channels such as WhatsApp.
• Ensuring our approach to prioritizing women in digital communications is well implemented.
• Updating target social media lists for effective engagement, with a focus on Latin America and global audiences.
• Working closely with key colleagues to identity key learning resources from external sources to share with our members and our global audiences.
• Collaborating with members and partners around key moments by developing strong social media packages with key messages and visuals. This includes acting as a primary point-of-contact for communications teams from other United Nations teams and agencies governments and companies.
• Conceptualizing, drafting and coordinating the development of innovative visual assets such as infographics and animations with colleagues, vendors and partners.
• In close partnership with the Website Manager, ensure the website, as a key public face of the Alliance, is up to date on issues and Alliance material; user-friendly in content and design, and continuously evolving to meet Alliance goals and member needs.
• Acting as an internal champion and coach for colleagues on use of social media channels.
• Monitoring and analyzing reputational risks in the Alliance’s mentions on media and social media, and collaborating with the Head of Global Communications on risk mitigation strategy.
• Submitting quarterly evaluation reports on the impact of the Alliance’s communications activities on social media and other digital platforms, analyzing data to continue innovating and improving to drive engagement.

Output 3. Help design and implement other communications and advocacy plans and strategies, with a focus on Latin America 

• Work with colleagues, particularly from the Latin America Regional Team, to help design and implement communications and advocacy strategies at national and regional level. This includes advising on messages and providing support around events and webinars, for both government and corporate initiatives, as well as those related to humanitarian sector actors.
• Coordinate with vendors on the production of materials, such as reports.
• Work with colleagues to help identify other communications and advocacy opportunities, such as speaking engagements, and capturing them in our event tracker.
• Perform other communications duties, covering for other communications colleagues, if needed.