Communications Specialist (Communications and Knowledge Management)

UNOPS supports partners to build a better future by providing services that increase the efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability of peacebuilding, humanitarian, and development projects.  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.

New York Service Cluster (NYSC) supports the United Nations Secretariat, as well as other New York-based United Nations organizations, bilateral and multilateral partners in the delivery of UNOPS mandate in project management, infrastructure management, and procurement management.

Sustainable Development Cluster (SDC) supports diverse partners with peacebuilding, humanitarian, and development operations. It was formed by combining the following portfolios: Grants Management Services (GMS), UN Technology Support Services (UNTSS), Development and Special Initiatives Portfolio (DSIP). It provides Services to partners' programmes that are designed, structured, and managed with a global perspective and primarily serving partners headquartered in New York.  The SDC has a footprint of approximately 125 countries.

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP) is implemented by UNDP’s Local Action Cluster of the Nature, Climate and Energy (NCE) unit of BPPS on behalf of the GEF Partnership. It is executed by UNOPS. The Global ICCA (indigenous peoples and local communities) Support Initiative (GSI) is funded by the German Federal Ministry of the Environment (BMU) International Climate Initiative. The SGP and ICCA GSI are signature programmes and a central part of the UNDP Local Action Cluster of NCE.

SGP grant making promotes community-based innovation in addressing global environmental issues and improved, more sustainable livelihoods through initiatives led by civil society and community organizations, with special consideration for indigenous peoples, women, youth and persons with disabilities. SGP has supported over 25,000 community-based projects in over 125 countries in biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation and adaptation, sustainable land management, protection of international waters, and sound chemicals and waste management. Over the years, SGP has developed extensive partnerships at global, national and local levels. See http://sgp.undp.org for further background information.

The Communications Specialist (Communications and Knowledge Management) will form part of the SGP Central Programme Management Team (CPMT) and contribute to Local Action strategic objectives as follows: 1) develop, facilitate, implement and update a coherent and strategic knowledge management strategy to capture, share, and promote results, lessons learned and best practices from local initiatives, particularly those of the SGP; 2) develop, facilitate, implement and update comprehensive and streamlined communications at global, country, and project levels, and increase global coherence and consistency on SGP branding and messaging across Country Programmes as informed by the donors and partners; and 3) in collaboration with communication specialists of other signature programmes under the NCE Local Action’ teams (e.g. UNDP Equator Initiative, ISGAP and others to be determined) contribute to the development and implementation of a UNDP Local Action communications and knowledge management strategy to capture, share, and promote UNDP’s work and results of IPLC and CSO local actions.

The incumbent of this position will be personnel of UNOPS under its full responsibility.

Under the direct supervision of the Global Manager of the GEF Small Grants Programme– on behalf of the Local Action Cluster, and UNDP/NCE Communication Advisor, and in collaboration with other Local Action and CPMT staff, the incumbent will actively support the implementation of the overall programme of work of the SGP as part of the Local Action Cluster, and will perform the following specific duties:

• Guide the development and implementation of SGP’s Knowledge Management (KM) strategy, in collaboration with the various Country Programmes, CPMT, UNDP, GEF, and other partners, in alignment with the UNDP Local Action Strategic Framework, the GEF KM Strategy, and other strategic documents.
• Coordinate production of knowledge tools, methods and products to effectively share lessons learned and best practices at the global, country, and project levels, and ensure adequate dissemination of the same at the global level, in collaboration with other CPMT and Local Action Technical Specialists (i.e. publications, fact sheets, case studies, video, social media and others).
• Contribute to the implementation of the UNDP KM Strategy and NCE KM priorities with a focus on Local Action.
• Contribute to the design and production of UNDP Local Action KM products together with other KM experts in the cluster.
• Coordinate the development and facilitate implementation of guidance to National Coordinators, Regional Focal Points and Regional Technical Specialists and others on how to capture and disseminate knowledge and conduct knowledge exchanges at the country, regional and global levels.
• Coordinate the development, implementation and maintenance of effective knowledge platforms (i.e. website, intranet, social media and others) to disseminate lessons and best practices as well as promote peer-to-peer learning within and across communities, civil society organizations, and others. Support codifing info, data and knowledge in line with NCE and corporate taxonomy to facilitate internal/external access.
• Coordinate and ensure that the cutting-edge KM strategy and approaches are incorporated into the overall SGP Project Document and other relevant strategic documents for each operational phase, as well as in UNDP, GEF, and other partners’ relevant strategic documents.   
• Coordinate the establishment of partnerships with relevant platforms, groups and organizations at the global level to ensure that the knowledge and lessons from SGP projects are widely used and reflected in relevant programmes, projects, policies, reports, publications etc.
• Ensure knowledge products are demand-driven or intended to fill a knowledge gap and have an explicit audience and a purpose considered.
• Facilitate up-scaling, replication and policy impact of SGP projects by sharing best practices with UNDP, GEF, donors and external partners.
• Develop toolkits and organize capacity development initiatives that facilitate the KM work of the Country Programme teams.
• Provide technical inputs to the development and maintenance of the SGP database and intranet to enable effective knowledge management, generation, and sharing.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of monitoring and evaluation system and activities to ensure key results and lessons can be effectively captured and featured in KM products, including reports and publications.
• Coordinate sharing of best practices and lessons at global conferences and events.

• Master’s degree or higher preferably in communications, public relations, branding/marketing or related field.

Contract type: Fixed-Term Staff Appointment
Contract level: P-3
Contract duration: One year initially, renewable subject to satisfactory performance and funding availability.

• 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.
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• 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
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few Mandatory Courses (around 4 hours) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS.
• 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.

UNOPS is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development.

UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources.

Working with us

UNOPS offers short- and long-term work opportunities in diverse and challenging environments across the globe. We are looking for creative, results-focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines.

Diversity

With over 4,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of UNOPS partners spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a wide range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced, diverse workforce — a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs, and continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates.

Work life harmonization

UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands.