Programme Support Unit Intern (focus on communication)

UNOPS strategic focus places increased emphasis on national capacity development and sustainable approaches to project management, procurement and infrastructure services.  A key objective is to be recognized as an organization that delivers world-class infrastructure and project management, which is both economically and socially sustainable, even in the most challenging environments. To achieve this goal, UNOPS has established the Infrastructure and Project Management Group (IPMG).

Within UNOPS, IPMG’s objectives are to serve the organization’s personnel and partners by broadening their infrastructure and project management capabilities, while disseminating best-practices in both of these areas. Through this work, the group helps facilitate the successful delivery of programmes and projects around the world.

IPMG has established three interrelated and interdependent work teams, namely Strategic Initiatives, Standards and Engagement Assurance, to achieve the above mentioned objectives. IPMG is managed overall by the Director of IPMG and supported by a Programme Support Unit (PSU), which provides timely support in Human Resources (HR), general Administration, Communication, Finance and Procurement to all three technical teams and overall IPMG by working in close relationship with other HQ units, notably the Shared Services Center (SSC). The PSU also supports the communication aspects of the technical publications, quarterly global communications, and management of the Project of the Year Award (POTYA). In addition, the PSU includes a compliance function to support transparent and efficient management of IPMG business and coordinates all global exercises in budget, HR and procurement.

Under the overall guidance and supervision of PSU IPM Analyst, the successful candidate will be responsible for supporting a variety of tasks and work packages as a part of her/his internship period. We are seeking qualified applicants who have strong communication skills and capacity in desktop publishing software and/or website management. The successful candidate must be client/service-oriented as well as structured, organized and detail-oriented. In addition, the incumbent is expected to demonstrate willingness and ability to learn all online tools managed by IPMG, provide guidance and assistance as required to IPMG personnel and overall continually improve required technical skills under the guidance of the IPM Analyst. The incumbent’s support will be focused on, but not limited to, communication activities.

At the end of this internship, the successful candidate will have gained in:

-       Exposure to the Support Services area, which is a core function within UNOPS (ultimately leading to Head of Support Services career path);

-       Specific experience in communications at the corporate level, another core function within UNOPS (ultimately leading to Communication Advisor career path);

-       Exposure to an international work environment;

-       Exposure to headquarters.

Overall support to a variety of tasks and work packages in the area of support services, more specifically communications, in alignment with the IPMG annual work plan:

1. Communications support and content management:

• Support the compliance of IPMG to the corporate communication strategy and branding by editing specific documents to align them with UNOPS branding; Support the implementation of IPMG content and publications roll out strategy, specifically the communication and dissemination, for products developed by IPMG;
• Provide support to the translation of content, and other larger translation exercises, including review of translation as requested;
• Support knowledge sharing and the maintenance of the Content Management System in IPMG;
• Assist in maintaining and updating the IPMG workspace with the most recent information;
• Support the identification of areas for the improvement and development of IPMG workspace with new case studies, UNOPS best practices;
• Support the collection of information and drafting of articles, presentations, emails and other communication on infrastructure and PM practices and tools to share with the organization through available channels;
• Support the editing and publishing of IPMG content, including quarterly bulletin, factsheets and other materials for print and electronic publication;
• Support the setup of web conferencing and other online collaborative workspaces as requested

• Support the organization of the Project of the Year Award, including but not limited to support to the nomination and evaluation process, template design, communication material development, including video development and editing;
• Provide support to UNOPS Town Halls and other corporate initiatives involving IPMG products and initiatives;
• Assist the Hiring Managers in outreach activities to attract infrastructure and project management talent, notably by mass-sharing recruitment related information and/or VA and/or answering to frequently asked questions on online platforms, events and social networks.

Education:

Completion of secondary school or equivalent is required.
To be eligible for this particular internship with UNOPS, the candidate must be studying towards a university degree in communications, journalism or other relevant discipline, or have graduated with a relevant university degree in the past three years.

Experience:

While no prior work experience is required, some experience in support services, communications, desktop publication, web content management or journalism, ideally within the development sector, is highly desirable.

Additional requirements:

• Excellent communications skills, especially English writing skills and copy editing, is required;
• Strong technical skills and experience working with Microsoft Office, Google suite or similar software is required;
• Experience with desktop publishing software (e.g. Adobe Creative Suite) is an asset.
• Experience with online communications and social media is an asset;
• Experience working with content management systems (e.g. SharePoint), including metadata management, site architecture, developing workflows, and Google analytics is an asset;
• PRINCE2 Foundation certificate is an asset.

Contract type: Internship
Contract level: N/A
Contract duration: 6 months


This internship is not designed to lead to a staff position with UNOPS. Therefore, there should be no expectation of employment at the end of the internship.

Interns may be eligible for a monthly stipend of USD $1,100 from UNOPS provided that they do not receive funds from other institutions. Further, UNOPS may provide a one time travel lumpsum of USD $500. However, they must make their own arrangements for accommodation, travel and necessary visa arrangements.

For more details about UNOPS internships please follow this link:
https://www.unops.org/english/Opportunities/job-opportunities/what-we-offer/Pages/Internships-and-volunteering.aspx

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Work life harmonization - UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types
• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns.
Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.