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. Placing women's rights at the centre of all its efforts, the UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.
 
The Communications/External Relations Officer position is located centrally in the Office of the Under-Secretary-General/Executive Director, UN Women.  The incumbent reports to the Executive Director and works in close collaboration with the Chief - Advocacy & Communication.  The Office of the Executive Director, UN Women is responsible for managing and ensuring the provision of substantive support to intergovernmental processes on gender equality and the empowerment of women on a global level. The Office of the Executive Director is responsible for providing vision, strategic planning and establishing priorities, leading the senior management team, leading advocacy as a global voice for women, ensuring coordination in the UN Common System, providing overall management and oversight and ensuring accountability to governance bodies.
 
The Communications/External Relations Officer also maintains a close working relationship with the Communications and Advocacy team to ensure consistent messaging and coherence in similar areas of work. Close coordination with the different bureau and divisions of UN Women is also envisaged.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of key functions:
 
The Communications/External Relations Officer to the Executive Director, UN Women, will ensure communications products and public relations that most effectively convey the desired information/message to the targeted audiences and promote public understanding of UN Women operations and activities. S/he will have a proven ability to work and act under pressure and with discretion in a sensitive and challenging environment. S/he has to have excellent communication in Spanish and organization skills to manage the substantive and normative agenda. S/he will also manage external relations communications for the Executive Director as they relate to Latin American and other Spanish speaking countries.

Within the relevant delegated authority and in close collaboration with the Communications and Advocacy team and the Speechwriter, the Communications/External Relations Officer  will be responsible for the following duties:
  • Support the Executive Director, UN Women, in the management of external relations overall and specifically as they relate to Latin American and other Spanish speaking countries. Support communication and dissemination of priority issues and/or major UN Women events, draft information strategies, coordinate efforts, monitor and report on progress, taking appropriate follow-up actions, and analyzing the outcome
  • Develop and maintain up-to-date analysis of the external context and stakeholders relevant to UN Women's mission and objections.  Initiate and sustain professional relationships with key constituencies
  • Undertake research as required and draft plans and strategies for the strategic positioning of the Executive Director's leadership reflecting the direction and vision of UN Women
  • Undertake daily review of HQ and regional events with implications for the strategic positioning of the UN Women, in consultation with the Executive Director
  • Undertake research as required and drafts strategic inputs for papers and analytical studies on selected policy issues pertaining to gender equality and women's empowerment to support the Executive Director's external engagement and role, and undertake other writing as required by the Executive Director
  • Participate in selecting the information transmitted to key constituencies
  • Prepare key messages, speeches, talking points and thematic briefings for presentation by the Executive Director in support of external events and the strategic positioning of her leadership and that of UN Women
  • Work closely with the Chief (Advocacy & Communication) in reviewing drafts and manuscripts for adherence to corporate policy, consistency with UN policy, and provide analysis and recommendations
  • Develop an up-to-date archive of briefing materials on the work of UN Women including key policy positions on gender equality and the empowerment of women
  • Undertake activities to promote media coverage (e.g. press conferences, interviews, press seminars and other special activities), of priority issues and/or major events, to include development of  media strategy and action plan, initiating pro-active media outreach efforts, proposing and arranging press conferences/media coverage, disseminating materials and consulting with press on approach/story angle and other information requests, undertaking appropriate follow-up action and analyzing and reporting on the impact of coverage
  • Act as focal point in the Executive Director's Office on specific issues relating to Latin American and other Spanish speaking countries, monitoring and reporting on developments, responding to inquiries, etc.
  • Perform other official duties and special assignments which may be requested by the Executive Director and the Chief (Advocacy & Communication)

Impact of Results:


The Key Results have an impact on the overall efficiency and success of the Office of the Executive Director UN Women.  In particular, the key results will ensure communications products and public relations that most effectively convey the desired information/message to the targeted audiences in Latin American and other Spanish speaking countries and promote public understanding of UN Women operations and activities.

Competencies

Core Values/Guiding Principles:
 
Integrity:
  • Demonstrates consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing Diversity:

  • Demonstrates an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. 
  • Demonstrates an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity. 
     
Core Competencies:
 
Ethics and Values:
  • Demonstrates/Safeguards Ethics and Integrity

Organizational Awareness:

  • Demonstrates corporate knowledge and sound judgment

Developing and Empowering People / Coaching and Mentoring:

  • Self-development, initiative-taking. 

Teamwork:

  • Acting as a team player and facilitating team work
 
Communicating Information and Ideas:
  • Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively.

Self-management and Emotional intelligence:

  • Creating synergies through self-control.

Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements:

  • Managing conflict
 
Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning:
  • Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others
 
Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:
  • Informed and transparent decision making

Functional Competencies:
  • Demonstrated excellent understanding of strategic communications (including branding), advocacy and outreach at the international level
  • Outstanding written and oral communications and editing skills
  • Proven ability to address issues effectively, both orally and in writing
  • Proven ability to conceptualize, plan and implement international communications and advocacy campaigns including key external partners
  • Excellent knowledge of media and media relations, including new online media
  • Excellent knowledge of and proven ability to work with various media to effectively enhance communications -- print, audio-visual, online
  • Excellent understanding of design, production and distribution processes
  • Proven ability to meet tight deadlines and work well under pressure
  • Communicates sensitively, effectively and creatively across different constituencies
  • Familiarity with UN WOMEN and the UN system
  • Familiarity with gender issues

Required Skills and Experience

Education:
  • Master's degree or equivalent in one or more of the following disciplines: public administration, communications, international relations, social sciences, journalism or other related fields

Experience:

  • A minimum of five years of progressively responsible experience in public information, journalism, international relations, public administration or related area
Language Requirements:
  • Fluency in oral and written Spanish and English is required 

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.  

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.