Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization Liaison Office with the United Nations in New York (FAOLON) was established on 16 March 1956. It replaced the Sub-Office of the North American Regional Office.
Located in the heart of the United Nations (UN), our office
•    Represents FAO at intergovernmental meetings, notably the UN General Assembly (UNGA), and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC);
•    Represents FAO in UN committees, functional commissions and subsidiary bodies, notably the United Nations Development Group (UNDG);
•    Maintains working relations with all UN organizations and entities in New York and Geneva, as well as their secretariats;
•    Maintains liaisons with intergovernmental, non-governmental and private institutions, including foundations;
•    Handles local public information requests;
•    Provides briefing services to visiting officers.

Our work covers key issues pertaining to international trade, humanitarian affairs and sustainable development.
Reporting Lines
The Communication specialist will work under the overall supervision of the Director, FAO Liaison Office to the United Nations in New York (FAOLON), and direct supervision of the Communications Officer, FAOLON.

Technical Focus 

The Communication Specialist will be required to generate content from technical programmes, policies and program/projects reports and news report to enhance the visibility of FAO’s work among Member States and the UN system. The incumbent will need to ensure coherence with FAO’s corporate communication policy and operational guidelines for all communication and information outputs. Furthermore, the incumbent will be required to provide technical advice in the design and implementation of communication and outreach products.

Tasks and responsibilities

•    Draft original content, news stories and event webpages when needed.
•    Update the FAOLON website and ensure it adequately reflects the priorities of FAOLON and FAO HQ, in line with the FAO MTP 2022-2025 and PWB 2024-2025.
•    Prepare monthly FAO in New York newsletter.
•    Draft and schedule original content, including posts and videos, for the @FAONewYork X account to ensure daily posts and provide monthly engagement reports with key performance indicators.
•    Support and/or implement web and social media communication activities for events and international observances LON organizes and/or supports, including drafting webstories and creating event webpages.
•    Design save the dates, programmes and other communication products, including videos, as needed
•    Draft and collate inputs for speeches and other similar products to be delivered by LON Director and/or in behalf of LON.
•    Support preparation of communication material and presentations supporting LON Liaison Office’s engagement with external and internal partners.
•    Support other communication, outreach and advocacy-related activities of the FAO Liaison Office in New York, as needed.
•    Support liaison with the Office of Communication (OCC), either directly or through an agreed focal point/coordinator, to ensure compliance with OCC standards, appropriate review and clearance processes.
•    Ensure that all communication materials will follow FAO clearance processes and comply with FAO standards:
•    Work in constant contact with the Publishing Group at FAO and ensure that all corporate publishing standards are adhered to in publications and documents.
•    Perform other duties as requested.

Liaison with the OCC will be maintained, either directly or through an agreed focal point/coordinator, to ensure compliance with OCC standards, appropriate review and clearance processes.

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).
Further guidance regarding FAO communications, policies and procedures can be found through the FAO intranet, OCC section.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•    Advanced university degree in communication, social science, journalism, political science or a field related to the work of the Organization.
•    Category C requires a minimum of 1 year or relevant experience, while category B necessitates a minimum of 5 years of experience in development and/or emergency/rehabilitation contexts; including work experience in FAO and/or the UN System, and in more than one location or area of work. Candidates will be assessed based on their eligibility for each category.
•    Working knowledge of English and at least limited knowledge of another official language of the Organization for COF.REG (Spanish, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian). For PSA.SBS, working knowledge of English will be sufficient.

FAO Core Competencies

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