Communication Associate - Public Relations & Outreach (Retainer)

Kenya Multi-Country Office (KEMCO) 

The Kenya Multi-country Office (KEMCO) subregion currently consists of an established Operation Centre in Nairobi/Kenya, which manages a portfolio of engagements in multiple countries in East and South Africa. These countries include Kenya, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania, Eritrea, and several island states. KEMC focuses on Infrastructure, Procurement, Project Management, HR and Transactional Services, and fund management services in those countries. 

Project Context

The number of projects implemented by the Tanzania office increased steadily in 2024 and continues to do so. The office is currently implementing three projects with funds from two separate donors: KOICA, which supports the rehabilitation of three Agro-processing centers, two on the mainland and the other in Zanzibar, and the Foreign Ministry of the Sultanate of Oman, which funds two projects, both in Zanzibar: the construction of a Healthcare Center and the rehabilitation of a Heritage building—Bargash House at Stone Center. The KOICA-funded project is at the final stages of completion, and one of Oman's projects has just started implementation. The other is about to be signed. Handling the two stakeholders needs to be treated differently, and their needs and requirements must differ

Tanzania Context
The KEMC Tanzania offices in Dar Es Salaam and Zanzibar, established in 2020 and 2021, are in the common UN buildings, which also house many other UN organizations. The suboffice in Zanzibar is also located in the Zanzibar Common UN building.

Tanzania, as a country, is stable and a family duty station. However, Dar Es Salaam, which hosts most of the highest government and International Institutions, remains exposed to isolated terror attacks, including Active Shooting incidents or other isolated terror incidents involving individuals operating as Lone Wolf actors. Although the United Nations in Tanzania is not a direct target for any known organization, it is not to exclude that high profile Symbol of the Organization taken as an opportunistic target by a given hostile actor. Likewise, the UN may be a victim of terror attacks as a collateral base due to its partnership with the Government of Tanzania or other International partners. In consideration of such threat dynamics, the new UN House located within the Sam Nujoma PSF complex hosting 13 UNSMS Organizations and 175 UN Staff is a legitimate and attractive target for a terror operation. The UN Building has high visibility due to its size and height. The UN house is located within a shared compound that hosts other Government, private, and commercial Institutions that do not have an appropriate Access control mechanism. The existing twin towers, which are separated from the UN building by only 10 meters of distance, may expose a high collateral risk to the UN building due to the proximity. Although access to the UN Building is subject to reliable Security measures and access control with an Armed Police group, the geographical proximity with the other tenants without security measures could expose the UN building to a significant vulnerability from the outside perimeter. 

The KEMC Tanzania's relationships with project donors and stakeholders are good.

1. Project Reporting, and Communication 

2. Monitoring and Progress Controls

3. Knowledge management and innovation

Project Reporting and Communication:

• Provide administrative support in developing monitoring, evaluation and reporting framework for projects;

• Assist and provide administrative oversight in the implementation of base line surveys;

• Assist the Project Managers, Project Coordinators and Project Engineers to implement the monitoring, evaluation and reporting framework in a standardized and coherent manner;

• Administrative Coordination and timely submission of donor reports as per agreement;

• Participate at project coordination meetings as and when required;

• Support the Project Managers in preparing press releases and articles on the Projects for both internal and external publications;

• Liaise with Reporting focal point of other offices on administrative and communication matters;

• Support the Project Managers in UNOPS involvement in the UNDAF/any other mechanism, by assisting in preparing or editing reports, meeting minutes, PowerPoint presentations and other documents as and when required;

• When required, support Project Managers in gathering and assembling information relevant to the development context in Tanzania;

• Support communication activities of all projects in Tanzania;

• Assist the Project Managers in managing the visibility requirements of the projects;

• Assist by developing administrative concepts and approaches and any other activities required for effective lesson learning and sharing within the organization;

Monitoring and Progress Controls:

• Assist in developing an effective monitoring, evaluations and reporting framework

• Timely reporting

• Draft  press articles for further review by the management of the office.

Knowledge management and Innovation:

• Ensure routine and effective capacity building activities are conducted in order to build the long-term and sustainable capacity staff.

• Participate in relevant Communities of Practice.

• High School education is required;
• Bachelors or equivalent in communications, journalism, media relations or any other relevant discipline is an asset.

• Certification in communications, monitoring and reporting is desirable.

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.