Communication Specialist – P3  

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built. We offer our staff diverse opportunities for personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, a calling.

We are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not a job, it’s a calling.

The UNICEF Global Shared Services Centre (GSSC) was created with the purpose of being a center of excellence for the global delivery of efficient services within a culture of customer service, continuous business improvement, knowledge-sharing and innovation to support the effective achievement of UNICEF’s program results worldwide.

The UNICEF GSSC currently manages transactions for the organization in four main lines of service globally to all staff: HR Administration, Payroll, Finance and Customer Care.

In this context, the GSSC has the responsibility to develop a mechanism of monitoring the services provided to offices within the agreed performance standards, create a culture of continuous improvement though process simplification and adoption of new technologies, keeping up with trends in the shared service industry.

In partnership with other divisions, the GSSC implements joint projects as part of the continuous process improvement, which are either “end-user facing” to gain efficiency for clients and/or “back-end” solutions to improve internal processes for processors and business partners.

The Service Quality Management Team provides the link between the service delivery teams and clients through consistent client engagement, utilizing the feedback to drive changes within the organization to improve the client experience and overall organizational efficiency.

How can you make a difference?

Under the supervision and general guidance of the Chief Service Quality Management, Global Shared Services Centre (GSSC), the incumbent will be responsible for the preparation, planning, execution, and monitoring and evaluation of a comprehensive Internal Communication, Advocacy and Branding Strategy and will develop a Digital Strategy for the UNICEF Global Shared Services Centre. In this context, internal communication means the information flow within the GSSC and between the GSSC and Business Owner Divisions, client offices, NYHQ and other parts of UNICEF.

The development and implementation of a comprehensive Internal Communications, Advocacy and Branding Strategy will ensure that GSSC continues to be strengthened within UNICEF and will support the GSSCs vision to become a centre of excellence for the global delivery of efficient services within a culture of customer service, continuous business improvement, knowledge-sharing and innovation to support the effective achievement of UNICEF’s program results worldwide.

The communications team under the lead of the Communications Specialist will provide technical support to the Change Management, Training and Knowledge Management functions developing a communication plan to ensure GSSC projects are timely and adequately assisted contributing to the achievement of the project objectives.

This will involve:

1. Develop and Implement a Communication Strategy for the GSSC

• Develops, plans, leads, implements, and monitors and evaluates the GSSC internal Communication, Advocacy and Branding strategy in support of GSSCs vision, mission, objectives, and internal brand, with particular focus on facilitating the two-way flow of information between the GSSC and its clients/stakeholders.
• This includes communication assessment and analysis, development of internal communication plans, strategic use of resources and involvement in key organizational processes.
• Monitors and evaluates impact.

2. Develop and Implements a Digital Strategy

• Develop a comprehensive digital strategy and leads for the day-to-day conceptualization, budgeting, planning, coordination execution and digital content creation as well as the monitoring and evaluation of digital initiatives and integrated advocacy campaigns for key audiences.

3. Provides technical support to the Change Management initiatives and GSSC projects

• Design, maintain, implement and monitor communications plans for Change Management initiatives and GSSC projects.  
• Advise supervisor and the GSSC management team on the development of communication plans  

4. Produce Communication Tools/ Promotional Material for the GSSC

• Maintain and further develop existing communication tools, team sites, wiki’s etc.
• Producing communications content, including, but not limited to, briefing notes, global broadcast, guidance notes, fact sheets, brochures, memos, news stories, interviews, new releases, annual reports, and any other materials as required.

5. Contribute to the development and implementation of information architecture, Internal Communication structures and Knowledge Management tools

• Take a leading role in the development and implementation of the necessary information architecture and internal communication structures to enable the use of tools that facilitate a two-way flow of information and facilitate knowledge sharing among the different target groups (GSSC Staff, Local Focal Points – Finance, Master Data Management, Operations and Human Resources, Regional Offices, Country Offices and NYHQ).
• In close coordination with the Training Team, and IT colleagues, contribute to the development and continuous evolution of the GSSC Intranet and other elements of the GSSC Digital Workplace (such as team sites and community of practice platforms) with special focus on fully exploiting its potential for internal communication and knowledge sharing, collaboration, document and information management.
• Ensure that GSSC is up-to-date regarding digital tools and their use for the purpose of internal communication including through the utilization of existing ITSS infrastructure.

6. Continue to build the GSSC Internal Brand, strengthen Internal Communication within the GSSC itself, and ensure consistent branding and vision throughout all GSSC communication channels

• Monitor the implementation and maintain oversight of a GSSC Digital Workplace in collaboration with all GSSC sections (Finance, MDM, Payroll, Human Resources, Recruiting, Service Quality Management, Customer Care) so that it reflects a common identity and voice, avoids duplication of efforts and materials, and simplifies communication resource management and retrieval in support of improved business processes, and the successful operation of the GSSC.

7. Develop Networks and Partnerships to facilitate the work of the GSSC within UNICEF

• Develop strong partnerships with key stakeholders whose support is essential to the achievement of the internal communication objectives and strengthen their own capacity to communicate internally with the GSSC for knowledge sharing purposes.
• Ensure efficient exchange of information between the GSSC and the rest of the UNICEF, contributing to better understanding and awareness of the GSSC’s work, achievements and challenges within UNICEF as a whole. Facilitates a high level of knowledge and understanding of benefits of the GSSC within UNICEF.

Manage performance of supervisees, including any other human resources roles such as recruitment, leave management, capacity development, among others. 

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will need to have…

Education:

• Advanced university degree in information management, internal communication or a related discipline combined with solid experience of information management and internal communication work.
• A first level university degree in combination with two (2) years additional qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree.  

 Professional experience:

• A minimum of five years of experience in the communication area, including recent direct involvement in the implementation of internal communication strategies and the setting up of internal communication mechanisms.

Technical skills:

• Solid understanding of the concept of the Digital Workplace and hands-on experience in introducing and creatively promoting the use of related platforms and tools – preferably the Office 365 range of products and SharePoint online – would be a strong asset.
• Proven experience in change management, particularly around promoting and being a change agent for ‘new ways of working’ in an organizational setting with complex stakeholder dependencies and limitations regarding the choice of technology to be used is desirable.
• Previous experience of shared services/business support centre is desirable.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of a second UN language (i.e. Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Spanish, French) is considered an asset.

Conditions of International Professional Posts

International Professional (IP) staff are recruited internationally and serve in duty stations outside their country of nationality. They hold leadership, managerial or specialist functions.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others (8) Nurtures, leads and manages people

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children.

All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

 Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.

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