The Position: 
 
The Communication Specialist position is located in the Media & Communications Branch of the Division of Communications and Strategic Partnerships and reports to the Media Specialist.
 
How you can make a difference:
 
UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.  UNFPA’s new strategic plan (2018-2021), focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. 
 
In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.
 
UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.
 
Job Purpose:
 
UNFPA is the UN’s sexual and reproductive rights agency and it’s mandate is to achieve “three zeroes”: zero preventable maternal deaths, zero unmet need for family planning and zero harmful practices against women and girls. UNFPA has at its disposal a combination of strong data, technical analysis, results and stories from the field about the people we serve, as well as authoritative, credible and accessible leadership. Despite the critical work we do and the tools at our disposal, UNFPA is not yet as well known as it should be.
 
The Media and Communications team’s key focus is to position UNFPA as a bold, vocal and visible thought and action leader in both development and humanitarian settings, to secure global and national political and financial support for its issues and to build the UNFPA brand.
The purpose of this post is to contribute to that goal by:
● strategically engaging media and other partners to amplify the voice, results, leadership and messages of UNFPA among target audiences;
● improving the capacity of UNFPA to scale up communications at national, regional and global levels, ensuring consistency between the levels;
● systematically communicating compelling stories and data to media and other audiences;
● managing communication partnerships and ensuring that messages on key issues are aligned and duplication of communication efforts is minimized.

Requirements:

Qualifications and Experience
Education: 
 
Advanced university degree in relevant field, preferably journalism, strategic communications, public relations or advertising/marketing is required.
 
Knowledge and Experience: 
 
● 5 years of relevant progressively responsible experience in journalism, strategic communication, media, public relations or advertising /marketing
● Demonstrated experience in working with journalists from top tier international media across sectors, channels and geographies and achieving impressive news and feature coverage 
● Demonstrated experience conceiving and managing communications and media projects, including brand campaigns
● Superior writing and editing skills, especially under time pressure
● Initiative and sound judgment. Must be highly organized and have demonstrated ability to work well under tight deadlines 
 
Desirable
 
● PR agency experience  and/ or experience working within the UN system
● Experience in international development, UN, gender equality, human rights, sexual and reproductive health and rights fields
● Active personal network of media contacts
● Embraces modern methods of PR and media management
● Experience communication from or about humanitarian crisis situations
 
Languages
 
Fluency in English is required: Working knowledge of additional UN languages is an asset.