Responsibilities

Lead and coordinate communication efforts in the Africa region:

• Produce briefing notes and speeches for UNEP principals on UNEP activities in the region;
• Produce and place stories (feature, OpEd, news, web story, infographic, multimedia, newsletter), working under the guidance of UNEP’s News Desk;
• Produce daily content for UNEP’s social media platforms;
• Adapt for regional use, pitch, and place global stories developed by headquarters;
• Convene internal resources and execute media field exposure visits;
• Proactively grow and maintain news and social media editorial and reporting networks;
• Produce content to promote awareness within UNEP of the organization’s activities in the region;
• Liaise with major groups and stakeholders.
• Represent the regional office, when requested.

Develop, design and implement a regional advocacy strategy focused on mobilizing key opinion leaders, including UNEP Goodwill Ambassadors, Champions of the Earth and other prominent affiliates or influencers in support of regional corporate and programme priorities:

• Design, plan and deliver regional components of World Environment Day, corporate, and programme communication campaigns;
• Develop new partnerships to deliver or fund the implementation of global and/or regional communication priorities;
• Plan, execute, and monitor communication events or the communication elements of flagship events such as the UN Environment Assembly, Conference of Parties, regional ministerial fora, and key product launches;
• Lead in the management of the regional Goodwill Ambassador strategy.

Promote and protect UNEPs brand in the region and help strengthen its positioning, reputation and leverage:

• Develop and monitor UNEP’s brand identity, provide guidance and act on abuse on close coordination with headquarters.
• Collects and analyzes data to identify trends or patterns and provide insights through graphs, charts, tables and reports using data visualization methods to enable data-driven planning, decision-making, presentation and reporting.

Perform other related duties, as required.

Competencies

• Professionalism: Knowledge of techniques for development and dissemination of information. Ability to use current methods for dissemination to a broad and varied audience. Ability to demonstrate conceptual, analytical and evaluative skills and conduct independent research and analysis, identifying and assessing issues, formulating options and making conclusions and recommendations. Ability to analyze and interpret data in support of decision-making and convey resulting information to management. Shows pride in work and in achievements. Demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter. Is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results. Is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns. Shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations. Takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work.
• Communication: Speaks and writes clearly and effectively. Listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately. Asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication. Tailors language, tone, style and format to match the audience. Demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.
• Client Orientation: Considers all those to whom services are provided to be “clients” and seeks to see things from clients’ point of view. Establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect. Identifies clients’ needs and matches them to appropriate solutions. Monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients’ environment to keep informed and anticipate problems. Keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects. Meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client.
• Managing Performance: Delegates the appropriate responsibility, accountability and decision-making authority; Makes sure that roles, responsibilities and reporting lines are clear to each staff member; Accurately judges the amount of time and resources needed to accomplish a task and matches task to skills; Monitors progress against milestones and deadlines; Regularly discusses performance and provides feedback and coaching to staff; Encourages risk-taking and supports creativity and initiative; Actively supports the development and career aspirations of staff; Appraises performance fairly.

Education

• An advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in communications, public and/media relations or journalism or a related field is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two (2) additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• Successful completion of both degree and non-degree programs in data analytics, business analytics or data science programs is desirable.

Work Experience

• A minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience in media or communication field is required.
• At least two (2) years of experience working in a science or environmental organization is required.
• At least two (2) years of experience working for an international organization running large communication programs is required.
• Experience leading media relations and running social media for a large organization is desirable.
• Two (2) years or more of experience in data analytics or related area is desirable.

Languages

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the position advertised, fluency in English and in French is required. Knowledge of Spanish is desirable. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is desirable.