Communications Analyst Vacancy at UNDP

Finance August 14, 2023

0 8 minutes read

The Communications Analyst will report to the Programme Specialist (SURGE Delivery Lab) and support Country Office with delivery acceleration and operations bottlenecks.

Communications Analyst Vacancy at UNDP

UNDP is the knowledge frontier organization for sustainable development in the UN Development System and serves as the integrator for collective action to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNDP’s policy work carried out at HQ, Regional and Country Office levels, forms a contiguous spectrum of deep local knowledge to cutting-edge global perspectives and advocacy. In this context, UNDP invests in the Global Policy Network (GPN), a network of field-based and global technical expertise across a wide range of knowledge domains and in support of the signature solutions and organizational capabilities envisioned in the Strategic Plan. Working in support of the Regional Bureaus, the GPN also aims to provide rapid and integrated support to UNDP country offices, combining policy advice, technical expertise, financial resources, agile tools and procedures, and partnerships. Within the GPN, the Crisis Bureau guides UNDP’s corporate crisis and fragility-related strategies and vision for crisis prevention, response and recovery and lead corporate support in response to crisis.

Support to country operations is coordinated by the Country Support Management Team (CSMT), working closely within the GPN, with the GPN Crisis and Fragility Policy and Engagement Team, the GPN SDG Integrator Team and GPN technical teams. The overall goal of the CSMT is to ensure strong, coherent and coordinated support to country offices (COs), as it relates to crisis and fragility, within the full spectrum of the GPN’s service offer. The CSMT steers the effective interaction of GPN Teams, Regional Bureau/Regional Hub and CO counterparts for integrated country support. It ensures that UNDP corporate support is provided before, during and after crises (in line with UNDP Standard Operating Procedures during the response phase). The CSMT aims to provide regular analytical updates in consultation with Regional Bureaus to support early warning and early action. It also supports and coordinates the GPN crisis response capacity and takes the lead in a UNDP-wide approach to strengthen UNDP capacity in preventing, preparing for, responding to and recovering from crisis.

Within the CSMT, the deployment of technical and operations experts through the SURGE (UNDP Staff), GPN/ExpRes (Consultants), and Standby Partnerships mechanisms are a key component of UNDP’s response to the immediate crisis and technical support to Country Offices.

One of the major challenges of the Crisis Bureau’s deployment mechanism is to ensure that both internal and external rosters have the required capacity and availability of this capacity to support UNDP Country Offices in times of need. The Crisis Bureau is systematically developing outreach plans and efforts to reach out to potential experts through both online and off-line initiatives. Linked to this work, the Crisis Bureau is undertaking the Consolidation of all technical Rosters within UNDP under the umbrella of the GPN, which is now called the GPN/ExpRes Deployment Mechanism and the launch of a new intelligent rostering platform.

Furthermore, in order to consciously and consistently attract, develop, support and recognize the most suitable internal crisis personnel, the Crisis Bureau is developing a SURGE Academy, as a dedicated set-up with a structure, personnel and resources, within the existing SURGE system.

Within the larger CSMT, the communications and outreach consultant will develop material to inform regional bureaus and the rest of the organization of support that is provided through the deployment mechanism to country offices for crisis response and recovery and progress on the consolidation of rosters. The consultant will also seek innovative ways to leverage social media and online platforms to create both internal and external talent communities where experts can interact, exchange ideas and be linked to upcoming opportunities within UNDP.

Under the overall supervision of the Programme Specialist (SURGE Delivery Lab), the Communications Analyst will promote the work of the GPN/ExpRes, the SURGE mechanisms including the SURGE Delivery Lab and develop communication and outreach strategies for the initiatives mentioned above. The Analyst will also work closely with the SURGE Academy Project Manager and the Programme Specialist (tools and systems).

Duties and Responsibilities

The Programme Analyst will be responsible for the following key functions:

Develop and implement a communication strategy for the Consolidation of technical rosters initiative
Leverage social media and online platforms to build talent communities and networks and promote the SURGE Academy, SURGE Delivery Lab and the ExpRes Roster;
Develop and enhance the presence of UNDP’s deployment mechanism and SURGE Delivery Lab;
Identify and facilitate the addition of new candidates for the GPN/ExpRes roster;ongoing

Develop and implement a communication and outreach strategy for the Consolidation of technical rosters initiative;

Develop a communication and outreach strategy and a workplan identifying timelines, activities and deliverables for the consolidation of technical rosters initiative and the COVID-19 Capacity Mapping component;
Design a coherent branding package (visual identity) consisting of illustrations and graphic design layouts for the GPN/ExpRes roster (such as but not limited to logo, banners, flyers, newsletters, infographics, infomercials, etc.). The end product must be of high quality and in publishable form.
Design and launch a campaign for the new platform;
Design 2 pagers for internal and external audience, on the consolidation of rosters and the capacity mapping;
Design quarterly Newsletters to showcase the work of the GPN/ExpRes consultants and SURGE advisors
Facilitate the development of an annual deployments report highlighting the interventions of the team to support country offices and the larger GPN. Facilitate the development of the relevant infographics.

Leverage social media and online platforms to build talent communities and networks and promote the SURGE Academy, SURGE Delivery Lab and the ExpRes Roster

Enhance the presence of the GPN ExpRes mechanism online through social media and other relevant platforms
Enhance the Twitter presence of the GPN ExpRes Mechanism to incorporate both internal and external talent of the organization
Assist in the development of networks for both crisis and non-crisis experts across the GPN, using online portals and social media outlets.
Establish operational linkages between the GPN talent management (GPN/ExpRes ONE Roster) portal and social media networks
Organize events such as online interviews, webinars, chats, trainings etc. to share the GPN/ExpRes stories, engage with the community and identify new expertise and to gain valuable knowledge of other external deployment mechanism;
Manage all communications related to the SURGE Academy
Develop and coordinate the communications and outreach sections of the SURGE Academy

Develop and enhance the presence of UNDP’s deployment mechanism and SURGE Delivery Lab

Develop a work plan and a social media/online strategy to elevate the online presence of the deployment mechanism; identifying timelines, activities, and Deliverables
Establish the GPN ExpRes deployment mechanism as a brand both internally within the organization and externally among development and humanitarian networks.
Manage and update the deployments component of the internet page
Develop highly visual and impactful social media materials to elevate the reach on the existing social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, MS Teams, UNDP intranet, UNDP corporate website and others; in order to create better visibility for the Crisis Bureau deployment mechanism
Update the CB deployments section on www.undp.org; use UNDP’s website to attract new talent for the consultant’s roster and facilitate the review and addition of new experts
Manage the SURGE portal on the UNDP intranet and keep SURGE Advisors updated on development and opportunities
Update the Deployment Capacity intranet pages to offer the Country Offices a user-friendly experience in accessing the deployment capacities;

Identify and facilitate the addition of new candidates for the GPN/ExpRes roster;

Leverage the existing pools in other UN Agencies, regional organizations, networks, and thinks tanks, and facilitate the identification of experts from these organizations for the roster
Support the implementation of the enhancement plan for Crisis Bureau rosters including expansion, trainings, vetting processes and quality control
Liaise with GPN colleagues to facilitate addition of new staff members and new consultants in collaboration with Country Offices and Regional Hubs to the SURGE and GPN/ExpRes rosters
Leverage social media platform and online recruitment sites for calls for applications and recruitment campaigns;
Identify and contract a social media and talent search company to enhance the composition of CB rosters
Put in place initiatives to have greater language diversity on UNDP rosters, focusing on experts speaking French, Arabic, and Spanish
Proactively seek regional expertise to ensure that the rosters have geographical diversity
Ensure that both the composition and usage of UNDP rosters approaches gender parity

Institutional Arrangement

The Communications Analyst will report to the Programme Specialist (SURGE Delivery Lab) and support Country Office with delivery acceleration and operations bottlenecks.

Competencies

Core Competencies

Achieve Results: LEVEL 2: Scale up solutions and simplifies processes, balances speed and accuracy in doing work
Think Innovatively: LEVEL 2: Offer new ideas/open to new approaches, demonstrate systemic/integrated thinking
Learn Continuously: LEVEL 2: Go outside comfort zone, learn from others and support their learning
Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 2: Adapt processes/approaches to new situations, involve others in change process
Act with Determination: LEVEL 2: Able to persevere and deal with multiple sources of pressure simultaneously
Engage and Partner: LEVEL 2: Is facilitator/integrator, bring people together, build/maintain coalitions/partnerships
Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 2: Facilitate conversations to bridge differences, considers in decision making

People Management

UNDP People Management Competencies can be found in the dedicated site.

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies

Communications – Advocacy strategy and implementation:
- Ability to create and implement advocacy strategies which lead to impactful change
Communications – Campaign management:
- Ability to produce and implement communications and advocacy campaigns which lead to impactful change
Communications – Creative direction and copyrighting:
- Ability to creatively communicate concepts in an engaging and simple way
Digital Awareness and Literacy:
- Ability and inclination to rapidly adopt new technologies, either through skilfully grasping their usage or through understanding their impact and empowering others to use them as needed
Working with Evidence and Data:
- Ability to inspect, cleanse, transform and model data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions and supporting decision-making

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

At least bachelor’s degree in communications, journalism, media, public policy, business or other relevant field. Master’s degree in communications, journalism or other relevant field an advantage

Experience:

Master’s Degree with at least 2 years, Bachelor’s Degree with 4 years of professional experience working on different aspects of communications such as media relations, content production, and social media management is required.

Required Skills:

Experience in digital communications
Expertise in leveraging social media to enhance and build brands
Understanding of crisis response, the humanitarian system and development
Demonstrated experience in using the MS Office 365 Suite and the Adobe Creative and Design products or any other similar applications;
Demonstrated experience in developing, producing, and editing videos, infographics, informercials, interviews, and other similar communications products;
Demonstrated experience in social media management platforms;
Networking and partnership development skills; (desirable)

Language:

Fluency in oral and written communications and presentations skills in English

Professional Certificates:

If required for specific services. For example: ACCA, CIPS, CISCO, etc.

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.

Annexes to the TOR

Links to any relevant (non-confidential) materials that may help candidates gain a better understanding of the office/unit/project context.
Organigram of the office/unit/project indicating the position of the function (for internal use only).

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