Back Communication Officer

Background Information - Job-specific

The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners' peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Mandated as a central resource of the United Nations, UNOPS provides sustainable project management, procurement and infrastructure services to a wide range of governments, donors and United Nations organizations.

Located in Dakar, the UNOPS office in Senegal has developed a strong working relation with the Governments of West Africa and international partners over the years. It provides technical support in strategic development areas including elections; procurement and related capacity building; environmental protection, as well as infrastructure rehabilitation and development.

Under the overall guidance and direct supervision of the Hub Director, the Communication Officer is responsible for supporting development and management of all manner of communications for the Hub.

Functional Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the West Africa Multy-Coutry Office (WAMCO) Hub Director, the Communication Senior Officer will perform the following duties and responsibilities:

1. Communication

• Support the development and the management of a communication plan for the office in Senegal

• Produce high quality communications and visibility materials in French and in English

• Prepare articles to increase visibility of UNOPS and its Partners on websites and Social Media

• Oversee preparation of short videos and photo stories of projects during their implementation

• Address ad-hoc communication requests

• Ensure the production of external communication materials and products (brochures, information documents, newsletters, etc.)

• Collect project achievements to support external communication of results and lessons learned from WAMC projects

• Represent WAMCO in communication and knowledge management initiatives

• Support the implementation and monitoring of existing and newly developed project communication plans

• Follow-up on outstanding WAMCO projects to ensure that the achievements of these projects are properly captured in the right communication formats for external outreach purpose and for partner satisfaction

• Liaise with communications focal points of partner organizations to ensure that communications strategies are aligned between UNOPS and partner organizations on existing projects

• Coordinate with partner organizations during project implementation to ensure that joint communications are organized as much as possible (for example, joint press trips to field sites, etc.)

• Develop content, presentations, correspondence, briefings, talking points and all other external communication material including content for social media

• Liaise with the Communications Group in Head Quarters as well as project communication focal points colleagues on communication matters when necessary

• Assist with developing outreach and other events in coordination with the HQ Communication Group.

• Facilitate and support the implementation of different projects visibility events planned within the framework of the projects and ensure their dissemination to the various stakeholders.

2. Partnership Engagement

• Develop communication plans for each project during and/or after the project development phase whenever requested by donors and/or Hub

• Develop factsheets and capacity statements that are used to communicate the value-add of UNOPS to external partners, including but not limited to Ministries/Governments and financing bodies such as World Bank, IsDB and EU

3. Reporting

• Coordinate and review project reporting to donors

• Ensure that reports are produced to a high quality, and are submitted as per the required schedule of reporting to different donors

• In conjunction with program and project managers, ensure the timely delivery of progress reports to donors and project partners in compliance with coordination requirements

• Maintain regular contacts with all project teams to ensure timely and accurate data relating to the progress of works

• In close consultation with the PMO and Support Services ensures adherence to internal reporting mechanisms

• Prepare briefing notes for internal and external audiences on program/support services performance and other issues, as and when required

• Establish and maintain project results files or similar to gather and document key results emerging from projects

• In close collaboration with the PMO and Support Services actively support projects operational and financial closing processes to ensure timely submission of Final Financial Report to donors

4. Knowledge Management

• Implement daily aspects of WAMCO’s Communication Strategy

• Analyze all aspects of good performance, identifying good practices, lessons learnt and opportunities for improvement

• Develop, maintain and update partners and clients contact list/database

Impact of Results

The hub has consistent messaging across multiple platforms regarding our projects and operations.

Education/Experience/Language requirements

Education

Expérience

Language requirements

Contract type: Individual Contractor Agreement (ICA)
Contract level: International Individual Contractor Agreement (I-ICA 1)/ICS9
Contract duration: Open-ended (subject to good performance, availability of funds, organizational requirements and project duration).

For more details about the ICA contractual modality, please follow this link:
https://www.unops.org/english/Opportunities/job-opportunities/what-we-offer/Pages/Individual-Contractor-Agreements.aspx Additional Information

Please note that UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes.

Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments.

UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. UNOPS seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce.

Qualified women and candidates from groups which are underrepresented in the UNOPS workforce are encouraged to apply. These include in particular candidates from racialized and/or indigenous groups, members of minority gender identities and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities.

We would like to ensure all candidates perform at their best during the assessment process. If you are shortlisted and require additional assistance to complete any assessment, including reasonable accommodation, please inform our human resources team when you receive an invitation.

Terms and Conditions

For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post.

For retainer contracts, you must complete a few mandatory courses ( they take around 4 hours to complete) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract. Please note that you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers. For more information on a retainer contract here.

All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda.

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.