UN Women: Communications Governance Specialist

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

The Strategic Partnerships Division (SPD) works to strengthen UN Women’s position as a partner of choice for gender equality and the empowerment of women (GEWE) among governments and private sector actors around the world. The Division does this by positioning GEWE in the intergovernmental and multilateral fora, and engaging with governments and private sector corporations, foundations and individuals as policy, programme and resource partners.

The Communications and Advocacy Section at UN Women Headquarters in New York supports the positioning of women’s empowerment and gender equality as key issues on the international agenda and establishes UN Women’s role as the global authority in this context. The Communications and Advocacy team’s key focus is to position UN Women as a visible thought and action leader in both development and humanitarian settings, to secure global and national political and financial support for its issues and to build the UN Women brand.

The purpose of this function is to strengthen the overall planning, implementation, monitoring, reporting and evaluation of global communication and advocacy interventions, reinforce the section’s capacity to deliver on the UN Women Strategic Plan mandate, and build organizational capacity in the expanding and increasingly complex area of communication and advocacy PME, including elements of partnerships and fundraising.

Under the overall guidance and direct supervision of the Chief, Communications & Advocacy, the Communications Governance Specialist’s roles and responsibilities include field support and strengthening UN Women’s communication network, knowledge management, aligning country-level communications planning, monitoring, and evaluation (PME) as well as follow up on audit recommendations, quality assurance of country reporting data as well as regional office liaison. The post also includes higher-level synthesis of implementation data and drawing of global insights from multiple countries and contexts.

In accordance with the UN Staff Regulation 4.5 (b) A temporary appointment does not carry any expectancy, legal or otherwise, of renewal. A temporary appointment shall not be converted to any other type of appointment. This temporary appointment is budgeted through 31 December 2025.   Whereas an external candidate will be offered a temporary appointment, subject to release agreements, staff members in UN Women may be administered as a temporary assignment and staff members in the UN Common system may be administered under a loan arrangement.

Duties and Responsibilities

Contribute to the establishment, update, and implementation of a Strategic Communications and Advocacy Governance Framework:

• Collaborate with the Chief and Deputy Chief to design, establish and update an organization-wide communications governance framework that enforces a coherent, integrated and coordinated approach to communications; consolidates fragmented resources; and streamlines accountability for communications across the organization.
• Develop capacity building and learning materials on communication and advocacy measurement, including developing or updating guidelines, conducting trainings and webinars, and assisting with special events (brown bag sessions, measurement advisory board meetings, etc.).
• Collaborate with SPRED (Strategy, Planning, Resources and Effectiveness Division) colleagues to develop systems, tools, and platforms for structured learning in communication and advocacy planning, reporting, M&E, and support the adoption and implementation of lessons learnt and best practices in the Division and on a global scale.
• Support the section in the coordination of independent evaluations focusing on communication and advocacy, and/or specific programmes, regions, or country offices in liaison with the Evaluation Office, external evaluators, and other evaluation stakeholders.

Provide support to the Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Reporting at HQ:

• Support HQ Communications’ development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Strategic Plan (SP), MTR, Strategic Partnership’s Strategic Note, Biannual Work Plan (BWP) and ensuing M&E frameworks, by working with focal points to manage baselines, milestones, targets and data collection mechanisms and by applying rights and results-based management (RBM) standards and approaches.
• Work closely with the Chief and Deputy Chief to organize and participate in regular planning, review, and reporting meetings of the section and compile reports highlighting process, proceedings, resolutions, strategies, bottlenecks, lessons learnt, and recommendations.
• Coordinate regular data collection processes, and update planning, monitoring, and reporting tools/systems (e.g. Results Monitoring System (RMS), TeamMate Audit Tracking) modules in line with corporate guidance, and in alignment with the updated Global Communication Strategy (GCS).
• Provide technical support to section and specific teams in preparation for the annual results reporting for the Headquarters Annual Report (HQAR), the Executive Director’s Annual Report (EDAR) and Strategic Plan (SP) indicator compendium.

Conduct Research, Data Management, and Performance Analytics:

• Produce high quality inter-sectional reports to assess the outcome of key communications and advocacy campaigns and initiatives, including IWD; 16 Days of Activism, UN General Assembly etc.
• Design surveys and other tools for research and data collection; review, analyze, and interpret responses; summarize key findings, draw insights for continuous improvement, and design recommendations.
• Perform quality assurance, validation, and analysis on data generated using corporate ERP systems and produce customized reports on key findings pertaining to communication and advocacy in the organization.
• Support with the maintenance of global monitoring tools and the production of ad-hoc reports and analyses as needed. Work closely with contracted media monitoring and social listening companies (vendors) to monitor priority campaigns, interventions, and projects.

Strengthen UNW’s communication network, including at CO/RO/HQ and Natcom level:

• Collaborate with all Regional Communications Chiefs/ advisors to ensure that the global communications and advocacy network is strengthened, including on joint work around global campaigns.
• Facilitate PME Capacity Building to ensure the planning, monitoring, and evaluation (PME) capacity of Communications and the global communications and advocacy network are enhanced with the contribution of UN Women knowledge exchange.
• Support Chief on Coordination and Networking, working closely with the decentralized Communications colleagues in a way that both contributes to and benefits from organizational learning on effective PME of communication and advocacy.
• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with a wide range of stakeholders and partners to deliver on UN Women’s communication and advocacy initiatives. These may include key internal stakeholders, other UN entities, influencers, youth ambassadors, goodwill ambassadors, academics, business leaders and other public and private sector partners.
• Provide advice and support for partnerships through proactive collaboration with internal and external partners and the active sharing of information and knowledge.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

 

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:
Demonstrated in-depth understanding of strategic planning, monitoring, evaluation, and research

• Ability to analyze complex research and survey data.
• Ability to manage communication projects.
• Ability to supervise other professional, consultant and support staff.
• Ability to plan, organize, and implement training.
• Ability to express clearly and concisely ideas and concepts in written and oral form.
• Proven ability to network and manage relationships with partners.
• Knowledge of current theories and practices in communication and advocacy, planning, monitoring, and measurement.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:      

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in communications, planning, international relations, or a related field is required.

• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

• Professional training and/or certification in project management, preferably with a focus on communication and advocacy or media production, is desirable.

Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in communications at the international level, with a focus on strategic planning.

• Specific experience with planning and project management for communication and advocacy initiatives is highly desirable.

• Experience in developing and implementing clear strategies, with specific, measurable and time bound objectives and performance indicators is desirable.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.

• Knowledge of another official UN language (French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish) is highly desirable.

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: . Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

Note:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (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.)