Communications Specialist

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 Tunis, the UNOPS office in Tunisia has developed a strong working relation with the Governments of North 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 and Reporting Specialist is responsible for supporting development and management of all manner of communications for the Hub.

Under the direct supervision of North Africa Director, the Communication Specialist will perform the following duties and responsibilities: 

1. Communication

• In close communication with the Regional Office, responsible of creating North Africa communication strategy.• Managing the development of a communication plans UNOPS North Africa

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

• Prepare articles to increase  visibility of UNOPS on websites and social media 

• Meeting with relevant stakeholders and partners to better understand and excute their visibility plan 

• Responsible of preparing of short videos and photo stories of projects during their implementation 

• Address ad-hoc communication requests  

• Develops high-levelexternal communication materials and products (brochures, information documents, newsletters, etc.)

• Collect and analyze project achievements to support external communication of results and lessons learned from projects and by sharing substantive inputs and recommendations as needed

• Represent UNOPS North Africa in communication and knowledge management initiatives 

•  Contribute actively to the  implementation and monitoring of existing and newly developed project communication plans

• Monitor and oversee outstanding North Africa 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

• Act as the main communications focal point of partner organizations to ensure that communications strategies are aligned between UNOPS and partner organizations on existing projects

• Responsible of 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 high-level 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

• In coordination with the HQ Communication team, develop and coordinate outreach and other events• Facilitate and the implementation of different projects visibility events planned within the framework of the projects and ensure their dissemination to the various stakeholders

• Develop monitoring and communications materials using multimedia such as drones, videos and still photography.

2. Partnership Engagement

•  Responsible of developing communication plans in collaboration with donors for each project during and/or after the project development phase 

• Research information about partners to better understand their vision and needs which will help the communication strategy

•  Responsible of supporting the partnership team in developing documentation for partners

•  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

• Responsible of coordinate and review project reporting to donors 

• Responsible of coordinating with the Regional office and HQ in reporting North Africa reports and achievement

• Responsible of producing 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 

• 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

• 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

• A Master degree in business administration, development studies, political science, international relations, journalism, social media, social science, or related field is required. 

• A bachelor's degree in the above-mentioned areas or related field combined with 2 additional years of relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of the master's.

• A minimum of 5 years of experience in communications/partnership and report writing is required 

• 3 years of experience in drafting documentation for donors and capacity of doing research on partners needs desired

• Capacity of engaging in public speaking, capacity adapting style of communication depending on the audience desired

• Knowledge of the UN system and familiarity with UNOPS procedures is an advantage 

• Experience of working in conflict or post-conflict environments highly desirable

Contract type: Individual Contractor Agreement (ICA) 
Contract level: ICS 10/ IICA 2
Contract duration: Ongoing ICA – ‘Open-ended, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance.

• 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.

Tunisia

UNOPS office in Tunisia provides a range of project support services to partners in North Africa. It provides project management services including design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. It also offers fund management, loan and grant administration, procurement, local capacity building, and training and technical assistance.