Chief of Communication and Advocacy, P5, Fixed Term, Kabul Afghanistan, 90192

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, Advocacy!

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3nqcgVcglg]

How can you make a difference?

Amidst a humanitarian crises, an increasingly constrained donor landscape and a complex operating environment, the Chief of Communication and Advocacy will manage a team to position UNICEF as the leading organisation for children in Afghanistan; amplify results for children and women; strengthen UNICEF’s reputation and brand; help audiences understand what UNICEF does; and build greater respect for children’s and women’s rights. The Chief will also increase support for UNICEF’s mission, priorities and programmes in the country office, regional office and headquarters. The Chief is accountable for developing, managing, co-ordinating, implementing and monitoring an external communication, media and advocacy strategy with public audiences and donors, and an internal communication strategy to nurture a strong, trusting team.

KEY END-RESULTS

1. Crisis communications strategy: In a country prone to humanitarian crises and sudden onset emergencies, the Chief of Communication, who works well under pressure, has sound judgement, monitors local media and is adept at pre-empting potential media crises, is able to respond quickly and effectively, including in the first 72 hrs of a crisis, brief senior managers on UNICEF’s position, prepare quicklines, develop social media assets, keep media informed where appropriate, and conduct interviews if required.
2. Communication and advocacy strategy: The Country Office has a clear communication and advocacy strategy and associated work plan to get children’s issues into the public domain, strengthen political will in support of UNICEF’s mission and objectives, enhance fundraising efforts, and reinforce the organization’s credibility and brand.
3. Internal communication strategy: In support of building a more cohesive and mutually-supportive staff team, as well as strengthening the relationship between senior management and all staff, the Chief will develop an internal communication strategy to keep the office team abreast of developments and share positive news.  
4. Media relations: The Country Office has a well-managed communication team that maintains and updates key messages, contact list of journalists and media outlets covering all media – print, TV, radio, web etc. – and a successful process of communicating and maintaining regular contact and close collaboration with the media to communicate the story of UNICEF’s impact on children and women to a wider audience. Senior managers are well-trained and confident to speak to media, in line with the Spokesperson’s policy. In an increasingly challenging operating environment and shrinking space for media, the Chief uses flexible and innovative approaches to increase positive exposure of UNICEF’s narrative.
5. Networking and partnerships: The country communication team maintains and develops a contact list of individuals, groups, organizations and fora, whose support is essential to achieving the advocacy and communication objectives of the communication strategy, as well as office-wide fundraising goals. Network is developed, strengthened and maintained with the UN Communication Team, National Committees, and counterparts in key organizations.
6. Celebrities and special events: [In the current context, this is scaled back] The country communication team has a well-managed national celebrity relations programme with a well-maintained and updated contact list of vetted, nationally-known personalities who have been identified, engaged and support UNICEF’s efforts and who actively participate in special events and activities that support country programme goals.
7. Global priorities and campaigns: The Country Office has an effective process in place for integrating and taking action on UNICEF’s global communications and advocacy priorities, campaigns and partnerships, adapting these for local audiences where relevant to existing programmes.
8. Resource mobilization support: Timely and engaging visibility assets are produced to support country level fund-raising activities.
9. Management: Manage section budget, especially vis a vis donor commitments. Advise senior managers in the Senior Leadership Team on media related issues that could impact UNICEF’s reputation with the general public and donors, and the de facto authorities, and amplify visits of strategic partners.
10. Monitoring and evaluation: Communication baselines are established against which the objectives of the communication strategy are evaluated; analysis is undertaken to continuously improve the effectiveness of communication strategy, approach and activities; results and reports are prepared and shared on a timely basis.
11. Capacity building and support: The Chief identifies areas of development for senior managers, communication team, extenders, UNVs and youth (such as U-Reporters) to build their communication capacity to make them better storytellers, writers, users of social media, spokespeople, multimedia specialists etc.
12. Duty of care to staff: In what is an insecure working environment, with high levels of stress, the Chief will pro-actively employ strategies to monitor staff wellbeing, including meeting staff regularly, resetting work priorities and ensuring that all team members undertake field missions to energise them.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES and DUTIES & TASKS 

Within the delegated authority and the given organizational set-up, the incumbent may be accountable for all or assigned areas of the following major duties and end results.

Crisis communications strategy

• Monitor media daily, and keep a quickline message document of potential difficult topics up to date
• Train communication team, emergency field colleagues and chiefs of field offices on what to do in the first 72 hrs of an emergency, including having multimedia consultants ready to deploy nationwide in the face of a crisis
• Keep network of media specialists up to date, and ensure that senior managers are trained to speak to media

Communication and advocacy strategy

• Develop and update the country advocacy and communication strategy and associated work plan. Strategy and work plan include: clear objectives; target audiences, evidence generation, messages and media mix; budget and resources; activities and products; monitoring and evaluation of impact etc.
• Ensure optimum leverage and impact of communication activities to amplify key results in programme and advocacy activities. UNICEF’s rights and results-based programming approach should be reflected in the communication strategy, social media plan, work plan and products.
• Ensure adequate and ongoing assessment of trends, social and political change and public interest, and amend communication strategy and key messages as needed.
• Maintain close coordination with Regional Communication Adviser and HQ Communication Officers for overall collaboration in communication strategy.

Internal communications strategy 

• Work with senior management to create an internal communication strategy that ensures regular and transparent flow of information to build trust in the office
• Draft communications from the Representative about his missions and meetings to help staff better understand what he does and how it relates to the overall mission
• Amplify the work of all staff, especially female national staff and operations staff, and share ICON/web ACO stories to engender feelings of pride in ACO’s work.

Media relations

• Develop a proactive and comprehensive media relations work plan to promote a better understanding of children’s and women’s rights, and counter mis-information, by carrying out media activities in support of UNICEF programmes and humanitarian efforts in the country.
• Develop, maintain and update a contact list/database of key media/journalists. Develop, maintain and grow partnerships with key media outlets/organizations for local and global use. Seek new ways to increase positive exposure and leverage that prominence for new opportunities for UNICEF.
• Ensure rapid and accurate information dissemination to the media, National Committees, NGOs, the field and other appropriate audiences, especially in the face of crises.
• Identify, develop, distribute and evaluate variety of media materials in multiple formats and local languages. Ensure the quality and consistency of country-specific communication materials, activities, processes and messages transmitted to the press, partners, public and other audiences.
• Collaborate with mass media through activities such as project site visits, facilitating photo coverage and TV footage for website, social media and traditional media.
• Monitor and evaluate the use and effectiveness of media materials and share results and findings with regional and HQ communication colleagues.
• Maintain close collaboration with Regional Communication Advisers and HQ Communication Officers for effective overall coordination.

Networking and partnerships

• Develop, maintain and update partners’ contact list/database, and grow partnerships with organizations in support of the child rights agenda nationally.
• Establish, document, review and refine the process of working with partners, including joint projects, evidence-generation, information sharing etc.
• Ensure the quality and consistency of country-specific communication materials, activities, processes and messages shared with partners.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen the capacity of partners through advocacy and communication training, access to information, supplies and equipment and knowledge sharing.
• Monitor and evaluate results and effectiveness of working with partners.

Celebrities and special events

• Develop, maintain, and update a contact list/database of ambassadors and influencers.
• In close co-ordination with GCA’s celebrity relations staff, identify, develop, maintain and grow relationships with personalities with reach beyond national boundaries for local and global use.
• Establish, document, review and refine process of working with celebrities, including special events, media opportunities, field trips etc.
• Participate in global advocacy activities by planning visits of Goodwill Ambassadors, National Committee representatives, Executive Board members etc. including preparing press releases, programme summaries, country fact sheets, media kits etc.
• Monitor and evaluate results re working with celebrities and share results with regional and HQ communication colleagues.

Global priorities and campaigns

• Where relevant, support UNICEF’s global communications objectives and strategies through development of country specific materials and activities.
• Gather content and coverage of relevant country efforts. Use the opportunity to identify and highlight programme activities and results.
• Ensure regular communication and co-ordination with relevant communication focal points in regional offices and headquarters divisions.

Resource mobilization support

• Develop and deploy communication team to support and gather compelling story-telling content and coverage of compelling results and challenges to support national and global resource mobilization efforts.
• Ensure regular communication and co-ordination with communication focal points in regional offices and headquarters divisions.
• Ensure UNICEF values, programme priorities and advocacy positioning are appropriately reflected in its partnerships and engagement with the private sector.

Management

• Plan and monitor the use of communication budget. Approve and monitor the overall allocation and disbursement of funds, make sure that funds are properly coordinated, monitored and liquidated. Take appropriate actions to optimize use of funds.
• Identify, recruit and supervise communication staff, technical resources and consultants.
• Participate in the Country Office’s broader planning and budgeting exercises.
• Effectively mitigate and manage risks related to information sharing and internal or external communication, as well as reputational risks and crisis communication management, which may have a negative impact on relations with de facto authorities, donors and private sector partnerships.

Monitoring and evaluation

• Provide technical support to ensure that a set of communication performance indicators is identified and adjusted as necessary. These may have multiple uses in the Annual Management Plan, Annual Work Plan etc.
• Conduct timely and accurate monitoring and evaluation activities to ensure the communications objectives are met and the strategy is effective.
• Undertake lessons learned review of successful and unsuccessful communication experiences and share observations/findings with country, regional and HQ colleagues so best practices and insights can benefit from UNICEF’s country office communication work.

Capacity building and support

• Advise UNICEF management, colleagues and staff on media strategy and key messages
• Support communication activities through knowledge management, evidence generation, information exchange and building the capacity of the country communications team. Enable media, advocacy and communication training, access to information, supplies and equipment, and develop training and orientation material.
• Build communication capacity to independently produce, transmit and distribute content in multiple media formats – print, photos, audio, video, web etc. – for local and global use, adhering to the quality standards and production guidelines set by GCA.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen the capacity of partners through advocacy and communication training, access to information, supplies and equipment and knowledge sharing.

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   JOB GRADE FACTORS [1]

     P5

• Reports to UNICEF Representative at the D-2 Level. The level 5 post is established only in large offices of ____ million throughputs with several zone offices within the country, where information and communication is a major strategy and activities within the country programme. Manage and deliver goals and objectives of communication programme in the context of a large-sized country office with a broad range of programmes, projects and activities.
• Manage a large budget and operation. Or, manage communication function by leading the Communication Section comprising of several P3/P4 level professional staff, general service staff and consultants who form the country communication team. 
• Accountable for communication strategy development, programme formulation, design, planning, implementation and results-based management focussed on achieving UNICEF’s communication priorities as established by the country office, the regional office, as well as global priorities set by DOC, and supportive of the UN Country Team.
• Make strategic decisions to establish appropriate and effective country communication policy and strategy taking into consideration the situation in the locality. Ensure timely and effective decision making on situation analysis, communication strategy, planning, implementation and evaluation.
• Promote the organization goals of UNICEF through active external relations communication, advocacy, participation and policy dialogue that contribute effectively to the awareness, advocacy and promotion of the rights of children and women, to achieve stated objectives.
• As ‘voice of the organization,’ make major contribution to development of information and advocacy materials for local, regional and global use. Participate in and advise on the planning and designing of local, regional and global activities and events which impact on the image of the organization. Provide senior management with media and external relations guidance based on demonstrated technical and managerial expertise; take on role of UNICEF spokesperson as required.
• Responsible for public relations with mass media, senior government counterparts and other partners in the area of information and advocacy activities.
• Supervise and manage communication implementation, evaluate alternative approaches and new communication initiatives, highlight management issues, and ensure optimal utilization of resources.
• Plan, approve and administer the overall communication budget allocation and disbursement ensuring resources are properly used. Identify and pursue additional opportunities for funding of communication activities.
• Identify opportunities, partners, celebrities etc. that benefit regional and global communication activities and manage their use outside national borders in close collaboration with DOC and regional office colleagues.
• As the manager, establish communication work plan, monitor compliance and provide training, support and team leadership to communication team and human resources management in the area of communication.

Receive minimal functional supervision and guidance from Regional Communication Adviser, and generally is expected to take decisions in technical functional areas.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• Advanced university degree in Communication, Journalism, Public Relations or other related fields of disciplines.

  (*A first University Degree combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree in the field of journalism, communications, external relations, public affairs, public relations or corporate communications.)

• Ten years of progressively responsible and relevant professional work experience.

•  International and national work experience in both developed and developing countries. Professional experience in communication, print, broadcast, and new media. Background/familiarity with Emergency situations.

• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, or Spanish) is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness(3)Drive to achieve results for impact(4)Innovates and embraces change(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity(6)Thinks and acts strategically(7)Works collaboratively with others. (8)Nurtures, leads, and manages people.

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.
We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.
UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

This position has been assessed as an elevated risk role for Child Safeguarding purposes as it is:a role with direct contact with children, works directly with children, is a safeguarding response role.Additional vetting and assessment for elevated risk roles in child safeguarding (potentially including additional criminal background checks) applies.

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable females are encouraged to apply.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service. 

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Eligible UNICEF International Professional (IP) Staff Members on fixed-term, continuing or permanent contracts applying to a Temporary Appointment, which is dedicated to L3 (or L2) Response, may be able to retain a lien and their fixed-term entitlements. The conditions of the temporary assignment will vary depending on the status of their post and their current tour of duty, and relocation entitlements may be limited as per the relevant policies.