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 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 and is technically leading Spotlight Initiative in Zimbabwe.

The Spotlight Initiative is a global partnership to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls. It was launched in September 2017 by the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General and the European Union (EU) High Representative and Vice President (HRVP). It is a visible political and financial investment from the EU in the multilateral relationship with the UN and in gender equality. The Spotlight Initiative in Africa will be implemented in 8 countries (Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe).  The focus for the African initiative is GBV, SRHR and Harmful Practices (HP). Six UN agencies namely, ILO, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF and UN Women are participating in the Spotlight Initiative.

A Media and Communications Officer is therefore needed to support the Spotlight Initiative of the UN Women, Zimbabwe Country’s office communications and media outreach strategy activities, within the context of UN Women Global and Regional Communication Strategy. As part of the communications unit, the Media and Communications Officer will under the direct supervision of the UN Women Country Representative, cover primary tasks as outlined below including backstopping on other communications and advocacy tasks within the office. S/he provides high quality support to planning, communications production, and partnership building in service of UN Women’s mandate.

Duties and Responsibilities

Reporting to the UN Women Country Representative, the Media and Communications Officer works in close collaboration with the programme and operations team, UN Women HQ and Regional staff, Spotlight RUNOs, Government officials, multi and bi-lateral donors and civil society ensuring successful UN Women programme implementation.

Summary of key functions:

• Supports the communication needs of the country office;
• Undertakes digital distribution, promotion, monitoring, social media and website analytics;
• Undertakes and oversees the editorial and technical maintenance of the UN Women Knowledge Hub;
• Undertakes and oversees the development, production and design of interactive, visual communications, and digital products for the Country Office.

Scope of Work:

• As part of the Zimbabwe Spotlight Country Programme, communicate the progress and success of the Initiative to the Spotlight districts, NGOs, and the international community;
• Develop a communications and media outreach strategy for the Zimbabwe Country Programme, including the planning and implementation of activities, monitoring and evaluation of activities, and capacity building;
• Document the Zimbabwe Country Programme’s work and produce multimedia including digital materials for both local and global channels.

Communications and media outreach:

• Provide support to the office’s social media communications, including editorial support and general guidance to the specialists managing the various thematic areas;

• Provide innovative strategic direction for the EVAW Unit implementing the Spotlight Initiative relating to communications, outreach and external messaging through use of radio and other tools;
• Assess the country communications, programmes provide feedback and suggestions improvements;
• Work with Programme Specialists and teams to develop story ideas and outreach activities.
• Liaise with colleagues in drawing up impact statements and key messages for higher level reporting/communications, internal key message briefs and corporate communications products;
• Act as focal point for stories and media outreach within the office, providing colleagues with advice, editorial inputs, and liaison.

Support implementation of UN Women regional communication strategy:

• Ensure proper planning and implementation of programmatic communication activities, in close collaboration with the Programme Specialist for EVAW;
• Ensure that UN Women visibility and branding guidelines are well implemented;
• Support communications and advocacy related matters, such as the Knowledge Hub, newsletters, press releases, publications and audiovisual materials;
• Assist in developing human stories based on the success stories from the different Spotlight Initiative districts as well as other projects;
• Participate in the UN Communication Group Meetings, and assist in coordinating with other UN agencies on communication and digital media plans;
• Support UN Women Zimbabwe advocacy events and ensure proper online visibility;
• Support the development of multimedia material for the programme presence offices and country offices in the region.

Management of Country Office online platforms:

• Ensure UN Women’s proper visibility across different platforms (Facebook, Twitter, etc.);
• Maintain UN Women Zimbabwe social media platforms  with regular posting and respond to messages and comments in a timely manner;
• Provide and sent content to UN Women Africa website in coordination with UN Women ICT Associate in Regional Office and HQ;
• In collaboration with relevant Programme units, continuously develop and update content for the UN Women Africa website;
• Develop creative and engaging content for social media platforms promoting the work implemented on the ground and the results achieved;
• Research and implement new avenues for digital content distribution and promotion;
• Regularly monitor and report on website analytics to inform digital strategies online (e.g. user experience, information architecture, SEO, etc).

Planning, monitoring and reporting on digital space and online platforms: 

• Develop a plan for enhancing UN Women country presence on digital space following the communication strategy for the office;
• Monitor media impact to UN Women content on the different online platforms;
• Provide guidance to thematic teams on interactive and digital communications standards, tools, and trends;
• Research latest digital trends in communications space and conceptualize creative opportunities for digital innovation;
• Asses arrange for and implement project’s scope, timing, work effort and budget throughout a given project lifecycle for long-term digital products (such as interactive web applications), in coordination with HQ Web and IT teams;
• Manage relationships with external vendors and supervise the production schedules and work of designers (interactive, web, UX) and developers (web, mobile) in the development and production of interactive, visual communications and digital products.
• Perform other duties as and when required and designated by the supervisor.

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/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637

Functional Competencies:

• Motivated and able to work in team and independently to deliver outputs;
• Respect for diversity;
• Strong interpersonal and communications skills;
• Academic Qualifications;
• Advanced university degree in the field of international relations, journalism, communications, external relations, public affairs, public relations or corporate communications.

 Knowledge and Expertise in Communications and Digital Media:   

• Knowledge of best practices in digital outreach and digital advocacy;
• Experience in effective management of online platforms and content development;
• Excellent knowledge of social media marketing;
• Updated knowledge of interactive digital outreach tools;
• Creativity in planning digital outreach initiatives to serve UN Women’s mandate;
• Strong skills in writing, editing and communications in both English and local languages;
• Knowledge of women’s rights issues.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Bachelor's Degree in Communications, Journalism or Public relations.

Experience:

• At least five years of progressively responsible work experience in communication and digital media, print, broadcast, and/or new media. Knowledge of the environment.
• Experience in social media and web management;
• Experience in content development for online platforms;
• Experience in graphic design, photography and photo editing and/or web design;
• Experience in filming / video editing is desirable;
• Previous experience working in the United Nations System is desirable;
• Previous experience working in Zimbabwe is required
• Prior experience in communicating complex multi-dimensional issues to a non-specialized audience.

Language Requirements:

• Language: English with Knowledge of local languages (Shona and Ndebele)

Please note that applications without a completed and signed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

UN Women Personal History form (P-11) can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment.

UNWOMEN is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.