Head Field Communications Unit, Grade 18

Org. Setting and Reporting

UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and is mandated to provide assistance and protection to a population of some 5.8 million registered Palestine refugees. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and the Gaza Strip to achieve their full potential in human development, pending a just solution to their plight. UNRWA’s services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance, and emergency assistance.

UNRWA is the largest UN operation in the Middle East with more than 30,000 staff.

UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions. If you are looking for a rewarding opportunity to make a tangible difference for one of the most vulnerable communities in the world, UNRWA would like to hear from you.

• Supervisor:
The incumbent reports to the Field Office Director and receives technical guidance and advice on the Agency’s global communications strategy from and Director of Communications at HQ.

• Supervisees:
The incumbent supervises a number of professional and general services staff / personnel. Responsibilities

• Develops and leads in implementation of a field Communications Strategy and associated work plan for UNRWA. This includes conducting an environmental and stakeholder assessment; setting objectives; identifying target audiences; crafting messages, determining the media mix; allocating resources; and outlining specific actions, activities and products. responsible for monitoring and evaluating the impact of the efforts; identifying success and opportunities for improvement; and ongoing refinement of the strategy, focusing on highlighting UNRWA’s work in the field, and enhancing visibility and understanding of the Agency’s human-development work with and for Palestine Refugees.

• Supports the Director of UNRWA Affairs in implementing and monitoring a communications strategy to get Palestine Refugees issues into the public domain, strengthening political will in support of the mission of UNRWA, and enhancing the organization’s credibility and brand through utilizing creative tool, managing media relations, producing visibility materials, and fostering partnerships with other UN agencies and organisations.

• Reviews internal and external communication flows to ensure consistency, clarity, and alignment with the organization’s mission and values.

• Coordinates the compilation of Field information and the drafting of texts in English and Arabic for use in Agency-wide information materials including for the Agency’s English and Arabic website and UNRWA official social media accounts.

• Reports on and analyzes current events, public opinion and press, identifies issues and trends including with regards to crisis communications and reputational risk management, and advises and supports management on appropriate action/response.

• Participates and plays an active role in the inter-agency Communications Working Group of the UN agencies in the country and provides regular exchange of information related to UNRWA’s work with and for Palestine Refugees.

• Develops initiatives to promote positive media coverage of UNRWA, such as press briefings ,interviews, and ongoing networking with the press, on priority issues and/or major events. Sets up a media strategy and action plan, initiating pro-active media outreach efforts to increase and expand the media network in the country, including ongoing dissemination of UNRWA material, pitching stories to the press, and providing immediate response to press requests for information. The strategy would include follow-up action and analyzing and reporting on the impact of coverage.

• Participates in UNRWA activities and programmes, working closely with programme teams (especially in Education & Health) to develop and produce multipurpose content and stories suitable for use on UNRWA global digital and social media platforms.

• Produces and oversees the production of state-of-the-art communications products, including, press kits, news releases, feature articles and stories, speeches, backgrounders, and audio-visual materials. This involves preparing production plans, writing drafts, obtaining clearances, finalizing texts, editing copy, and coordinating design approval, printing procedures and distribution.

• Supports fundraising efforts by conducting relevant communications and advocacy activities. Contributes to all aspects of fundraising works, including enhancing brand visibility.

• Manages human and financial resources of the Field Communications unit.

• Performs other duties as may be assigned by the supervisor.

Competencies
UN Core Values of Integrity, Professionalism and Respect for Diversity, and Core Competencies of Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results apply by default.
• Applying Technical Expertise
• Relating and Networking
• Persuading and Influencing
• Delivering Results
• Creating and Maintaining Impact and Partnership
For guidance on how to prepare for competency-based interviews: https://hr.un. org/page/prepare-competency-based-interview

Education
• An advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) from an accredited institution in journalism, communications, public relations or other related discipline.

Job Specific Qualifications

Work Experience
• You are required to have at least eight years of progressively responsible relevant experience in the field of communications, public information, humanitarian or development work in an international or large national organization. Proven experience of work and networking with media.

• For senior experience, you are required to mention the number of staff members you supervised under each senior position.

• You are required to have an advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) from an accredited institution in journalism, communications, public relations or other related discipline

• You are required to have excellent command of written and spoken English & Arabic.

• Are you currently residing in Duty Station. It is required that you specify your current location.
Languages

• Excellent command of written and spoken English & Arabic.
Please list all languages that you know including your mother tongue and indicate your proficiency level from the drop-down list provided in the system considering the below:

If you possess a very good to excellent level of proficiency in English language, kindly indicate this as “Fluent” in your application.

If you possess a good level of proficiency in English language, kindly indicate this as “Confident” in your application.

If you possess a basic level of proficiency in English language, kindly indicate this as “Basic” in your application.

Assessment
During the assessment, the applications will be given preference based on the following desirable qualifications:
• Provided very good understanding of the context of Palestine refugees and UNRWA operations.

The shortlisted candidates will be afterward evaluated based on:
• Technical Test
• Competency-based Interview

Special Notice
Type of Contract:
Fixed Term Appointment for 3 years; including 1 year probation period, with the possibility of further extension, subject to the availability of funds, satisfactory performance, and continuing need.

Grade and Salary:
Grade 18, Monthly Salary JD 1246.600 fils. Special Occupational Allowance (69.90%) of basic salary. (SOA may change from time to time)

Other benefits:
Other benefits include monthly Provident Fund contribution (15.4% of basic salary paid by the Agency), compulsory medical insurance, 30 days of annual leave, and dependency allowance (if applicable).

Additional benefits:
– 2 days of sick leave for each completed month of service.
– 14 weeks of Maternity Leave.
– 2 weeks paternity leave.

Department/Office: UNRWA – UNRWA Affairs Office – Communications – Jordan

Duty Station: Jordan Field Office – Amman.

Other Information:
• The incumbent may be required to travel in the Agency’s area of operations
• The job is performed frequently beyond regular working hours.

Equivalency:
Equivalency may apply for this post.
• Candidates with a combination of additional relevant academic qualifications and/or additional years of progressive work experience may also be considered on equivalency.

NB: Work experience alone or formal qualifications with no relevant work experience are not considered an acceptable combination.

General Information:
•This vacancy notice is open to internal and external candidates. Only candidates residing in Jordan, and within commuting distance of the duty station with authorization to work in the duty station at the time of application are eligible to apply.

•The Agency will not assume responsibility or accountability to support or facilitate the issuance of work permit in Jordan, and without a valid work permit, the appointment may be rescinded.

•Since the Vacancy is an Area Staff post, the Agency will not provide coverage for relocation costs.

•Preference will be given to registered Palestine refugees and candidates assisting the Agency to meet its commitment to gender parity. UNRWA welcomes applications from qualified candidates with disabilities.
•To ensure efficiency and timeliness of the recruitment process, if a large number of applicants pass the test, the Agency may decide to invite to the interview only the candidates with the top scores to ensure a manageable number of candidates to proceed to the personal interview stage.

•UNRWA encourages applications from qualified and experienced women.

•A roster may be created from the selection exercise, and successful candidates may become eligible for appointment to the same post or a similar post. In the case of multiple or recurring posts, that a roster will be created from which the candidates will be selected for appointment;

• Only applications that have been fully completed in UNRWA’s online e-recruitment system inspira will be considered and no late applications will be accepted. The PHP should be completed with full relevant work experience under the experience tabs as per the requirements in the Job Opening. All acquired university degrees must also be stated, if applicable. Please make sure that your application is filled in properly, correctly, and completely; any missing or incomplete information may lead to the rejection of the application by the system. Applicants applying to positions for Grades 12 to 20 or LDC Bands E to H must submit a cover letter/motivational statement in order to be considered. Additionally, providing incorrect or misleading information on an application will result in the immediate disqualification of a candidate.

•Applicants will be disqualified when it becomes apparent that he or she provided incorrect, incomplete or misleading information on his or her personal history profile or during the recruitment process. If the applicant is also a staff member, the provision of incorrect, incomplete or misleading information in the personal history profile may also amount to misconduct. The Agency may indefinitely refuse to accept applications from an applicant who has previously provided incorrect, incomplete or misleading information on his or her personal history profile or during a recruitment process or committed plagiarism.

•For UNRWA internal staff, they are required to specify and include their current UNRWA grade level. To do so applicants should select under “Category” RLG, scroll down to see all categories, then select their local grade.

•Please find below the link to a video that guides applicants on how to apply to Job Openings: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MH-IYA6Y8kxA1fgao5qyTV8VwNajgx4u/view? usp=sharing

•Advertisements published only in English will only accept applications in English, and Arabic submissions will not be considered.

•The Agency may disqualify applicants whose name appears on the UN Sanctions List or a UN database of staff separated for reason of misconduct or of staff who separated whilst misconduct processes were pending.

•UNRWA shares investigation and misconduct information with other UN Agencies, and past and prospective employers, about staff members who have been separated for misconduct, or who have separated whilst an investigation and/or disciplinary process for misconduct is underway; and such persons may be prohibited from employment with the United Nations.

•The Agency will immediately disqualify applicants who are ineligible for any reason in accordance with the Agency regulatory framework.

•UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from UN member states, regional bodies, business foundations and individual contributions. The mission of UNRWA is to help Palestine refugees achieve their full potential in human development under the difficult circumstances in which they live.
For more details on UNRWA, please visit: https://www.unrwa.org

•Applications from UNRWA staff member who had been demoted with deferred eligibility for promotion will not be considered.

•Applications from Staff members who were recipients under the Early Voluntary Retirement or Exceptional Voluntary Separation Schemes will not be considered.

•Applications from Internal candidates serving for less than one year in their current post will not be considered.

•The Agency reserves the right not to make an appointment, to make an appointment at a lower grade, or to make an appointment with a modified job description or to change the contract Modality.

•A candidate is not eligible for consideration if he or she was short-listed and found not suitable for the same post within the previous 12 months unless the post description has since been altered by 30% or more, as determined by ODCS.

•UNRWA reserves the right to proceed only with internal candidates or proceed with the candidates of an under-represented gender for any vacancy announcement when it determines that the short-list for a single post at any grade level is excessively long.

United Nations Considerations
Staff members are subject to the authority of the Commissioner-General of UNRWA and to assignment by him or her.

UNRWA is committed to achieving gender parity at all levels of staffing under the current UN-wide gender agenda and strongly encourages applications from qualified applicants from under-represented groups.
At UNRWA, the paramount consideration in the recruitment and employment of staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity, with due regard to geographic diversity. All employment decisions are made on the basis of qualifications and organizational needs. UNRWA is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. Reasonable accommodation for applicants with disabilities may be provided to support participation in the recruitment process when requested and indicated in the application.

UNRWA Considerations
UNRWA staff are expected to uphold the highest standards of efficiency, competence, neutrality, impartiality and integrity. This includes respect for and commitment to human rights, diversity and non-violent means of dealing with all kinds of conflict. Only persons who fully and unconditionally commit to these values should consider applying for UNRWA jobs.

Candidates will not be considered for employment with UNRWA if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts. Candidates who have committed crimes other than minor traffic offences may not be considered for employment. The Agency may disqualify applicants who have separated for reason of misconduct, who left a UN Agency while misconduct processes were pending, or who appear on the UN Sanctions List.

UNRWA is a non-smoking work environment.

Applicants are urged to follow carefully all instructions available in the online recruitment platform, inspira. For more detailed guidance, applicants may refer to the Manual for the Applicant, which can be accessed by clicking on “Manuals” hyper-link on the upper right side of the inspira account-holder homepage.

The evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted in the application according to the evaluation criteria of the job opening and the applicable internal legislations of the United Nations including the Charter of the United Nations, resolutions of the General Assembly, the Staff Regulations and Rules, administrative issuances and guidelines. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications according to the instructions provided in inspira to be considered for the current job opening. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates
under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application.
Job openings advertised on the Careers Portal will be removed at 11:59 p.m. (New York time) on the deadline date.

No Fee
THE UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES IN THE NEAR EAST (UNRWA) DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE OR REQUEST MONEY FROM CANDIDATES AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT AND ONBOARDING PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING,
PROCESSING, OR TRAINING, ONBOARDING). UNRWA DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.