Organizational Setting: 

For more than four decades, FAO has been working with the Government of the Philippines, civil society, community-based organizations and the private sector to address challenges in the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sector. Joint efforts have included increasing sustainability in agricultural production, promoting value-adding practices, improving post-harvest management, enhancing productivity and increasing the resilience of agriculture-based livelihoods to natural disasters, climatic hazards and armed conflict.

Reporting Lines:

The National Communications Specialist directly reports to the the FAO Representative.

Technical Focus:

Content generation and packaging (layout and design) for various project and programme information and communication materials and collaterals, including for social media; communications support to conduct of project-, and programme- related events and activities, including online/virtual (i.e., webinars), while ensuring coherence with FAO’s corporate communication policy and operational guidelines for all communication and information outputs.

Tasks and responsibilities

The National Communications Specialist, in close collaboration with OCC branches and focal points, will

•    Improve awareness and understanding of FAO, its mission and emergency and development programmes in the Philippines;
•    Contribute to the resource mobilization efforts of the Country Office and to the preparation and implementation of a fundraising strategy for both long term projects and eventual emergency response needs;
•    Working under the supervision of the FAO Representative, implement and update the country communication strategy and other plans as needed;
•    Develop and produce communication products to showcase FAO’s work and advocate for needs in the sector, including peacebuilding efforts, resilience building and natural resource management.
•    Support the projects to develop key messages, briefs, brochures, talking points, success stories and presentations;
•    Liaise closely with the Programme Unit to ensure coherence and accuracy of information used in communication products;
•    Develop and maintain a network of media contacts in the country; organize press conferences/briefings; draft press releases, media-style briefs, talking points and Q&A;
•    Liaison with the Office of Communication (OCC) will be maintained, either directly or through an agreed focal point/coordinator, to ensure compliance with OCC standards, appropriate review and clearance processes.
•    Facilitate proper dissemination at country, regional and global levels of communication products, including publication on FAO or partner websites, liaising closely with OCC and the Regional Communications Officer;
•    Advise on strategic documents in English, in close collaboration with relevant programme staff;
•    Provide communication support for events organized by FAO and in which FAO is participating;
•    Ensure that FAO Philippines is adequately represented in the UN Country Communications Group (UNCCG) and the Humanitarian Communications Group (HCG) and other relevant fora/meetings to ensure sectoral priorities, the needs of affected populations and the mandate of FAO are well represented;
•    Ensure the collection and production of stories, interviews, photos and videos;
•    Assist in the identification, communication and promotion of lessons learned and improved practices;
•    Regularly update the FAO Philippines website;
•    Manage the FAO Philippines social media presence by regularly developing and posting content in the locally-managed Twitter account and regularly contributing content for HQ-managed accounts such as Flickr, Facebook and others.
•    All communication materials will follow FAO clearance processes and comply with FAO standards, including:

FAOSTYLE (English: https://www.fao.org/3/cb8081en/cb8081en.pdf; French: https://www.fao.org/3/AC339FR/ac339fr.pdf; Spanish: https://www.fao.org/3/ac339s/ac339s.pdf; Arabic: https://www.fao.org/3/ac339a/ac339a.pdf; Chinese: https://www.fao.org/3/ac339c/ac339c.pdf);
FAO terminology http://www.fao.org/faoterm;
FAO Names Of Countries https://www.fao.org/nocs/en;
Story guidelines http://intranet.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/occ/Quick_Guides/UPDATED-Digital-Storytelling-Guide-EN-FINAL.pdf;
Story template http://intranet.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/occ/Quick_Guides/FAO-Stories-Template-UPDATED.pdf;
UN map standards (available to staff);
FAO Brand and policy book (available to staff).
•    Carry out other relevant duties within his/her technical competence as requested by the FAO Representative in the Philippines

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•    Advanced University degree in development communication, communication arts, or related fields.
•    At least 7 years of relevant experience in communication-for-development work and in content generation (copywriting and copyediting) within the context of agriculture and/or development.
•    A national of the Philippines
•    Working Knowledge (level C) of English and Pilipino (Tagalog).

FAO Core Competencies

•    Results Focus
•    Teamwork
•    Communication
•    Building Effective Relationships
•    Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills 

•    Proficiency in content generation (copywriting and copyediting), including for media releases and social media.
•    Familiarity with graphics editing and desktop publishing platforms such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, CorelDraw, or similar software.
•    Knowledgeable in photography and videography, including video production/editing.
•    General knowledge and skills in the use of standard office software, such as MS Office (Word, Excel, Power Point).

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION