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 center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

The Office of the Executive Director of UN Women is looking for a dynamic individual to support the activity of the Speechwriter and Communications Advisor in responding to the demand for speeches and presentations by the Under-Secretary-General as well as articles, op-eds, statements and social media. S/he will have excellent writing and communication skills, including social media and internal communications.

Under the direct supervision of the Speechwriter and Communications Advisor, the Junior Writer/Editor will write and tailor clear, well-argued, well researched draft speeches and statements, opinion editorials and tweets, as required, for the Executive Director. The Junior Writer/Editor will be required to translate politically sensitive and complex economic material into clear, understandable language that is accessible to a broad audience and accurately reflects the Executive Director’s ideas and the position of UN Women.

The Junior/Writer/Editor will liaise with departments and individuals within UN Women, the UN system and outside of the UN to prepare materials for the ED that are timely and relevant.

Under the guidance of the Speechwriter and Communications Advisor:

Writing, editing and tweeting:

• Prepare draft speeches, statements and video-messages for the Executive Director;
• Prepare articles, prefaces and introductions as requested;
• Prepare tweets for the Executive Director;
• Prepare ED messages to staff, as requested;
• Make a first quality assessment of input received from Directorates and revise the substance, length and syntax as necessary;
• Carry out research on the full spectrum of United Nations and UN Women publications to provide relevant facts and figures, especially on but not limited to gender equality to exemplify statements in the Executive Director’s speeches;
• Identify the latest news, and reports and studies by other International organizations on topics that the Executive Director will be addressing in coming speeches and retrieve relevant ideas, facts and figures to enrich those speeches;
• Monitor keynote speeches by prominent stakeholders in the international arena.

Support the Strategic Agenda of the Executive Director:

• Draft mission reports to convey the main developments and outcomes of those missions;
• Draft and review the content of messages to the staff to convey important developments, brief on the outcomes of missions of the Executive Director and inform on executive/management decisions.

• Excellent writing and communications skills including social media, paired with very good interpersonal skills and a high standard of professional competence.
• Strong analytical skills; capacity to draft and edit speeches and strategic documents quickly, concisely and clearly;
• Strong social media skills, capacity to draft tweets and respond to tweets of others in a rapid strategic manner;
• Excellent Internet research ability;
• Ability to work effectively within a multicultural team and across organizational boundaries; and
• Capacity to take initiatives and work independently;
• Very good time management and organizational skills;
• Flexibility, good judgment and discretion, and ability to work under pressure.

Education:

• Advanced university degree or equivalent in journalism, communications, political science economics, international development, international relations, public administration or any other relevant discipline.

Experience:

• At least two years of experience in high-level writing projects, especially in drafting speeches but also editorials, op-eds, and other internal and external publications. Experience in social media, including Twitter. Prior experience of working in research, policy analysis, multilateral cooperation and promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment is strongly desired; experience of working in a multilateral organization is an advantage;
• Knowledge of UN Women’s work and publications, and understanding of UN Women’s strategic priorities and changing role in the global governance architecture;
• Knowledge and understanding of the UN system and the UN system’s work in the area of gender equality and the empowerment of women;
• Experience in managing projects within strict deadlines.

Languages:

• An excellent command of English, including excellent drafting and communications skills is required;
• Working knowledge of another official UN language is an asset.