Communications Senior Officer

Job Posting Organization:
The UNOPS Africa Regional Office, established to oversee the delivery of over 250 projects across 40 countries, focuses on fragile and conflict-affected settings. With a workforce of more than 1,000 personnel across five multi-country offices in North, West, Central, Eastern, and Southern Africa, the office aims to advance national priorities through strategic initiatives in various sectors including Climate Action, Health, Infrastructure, Peace and security" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted #007bff !important;">Security, and support for Middle-Income Countries and Small Island Developing States. The office is committed to promoting excellence in project delivery, fostering knowledge sharing, and driving continuous improvement to contribute to sustainable infrastructure and better quality of life for communities across the continent.

Job Overview:
The Communications Senior Officer is responsible for leading strategic communication initiatives, crafting high-impact content, and building key stakeholder relationships to drive organizational success. This role requires a combination of strategic communications expertise and hands-on technical capability in content development and multimedia production. The incumbent will independently develop and deliver high-quality communications products across various formats, ensuring consistency with organizational branding and editorial standards. The role also involves serving as a technical communications resource for ESAMCO, providing guidance and quality assurance support to communications interns, project teams, and colleagues involved in content development. The position is critical in ensuring that all messaging is consistent and targeted to the right audience, contributing to the overall effectiveness of the organization's communication strategy.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Strategic Communication and Policy Support: Conduct research and draft analytical reports and background papers for high-level forums and events. Prepare key messages, statements, and presentations for strategic events. Provide substantive input to the implementation and monitoring of strategic plans. Engage with agencies and partners to document lessons and facilitate knowledge exchange. Follow up on key recommendations and reporting deliverables from major events.
• Communication Strategy and Planning: Contribute to developing comprehensive communication strategies and ensure alignment with corporate priorities. Implement the strategy on a day-to-day basis, ensuring timely, high-quality outputs. Monitor and analyze communication context and recommend adjustments. Contribute to communication budget tracking and ensure compliance with corporate standards. Collaborate with specialists on proposal development and methodological improvements.
• Content Development and Editorial Standards: Lead the development of high-quality editorial content, including press materials, digital media, videos, and knowledge products. Oversee processes of capturing, analyzing, and packaging content for strategic communication. Draft and refine messaging for targeted audiences and ensure brand coherence. Manage multiple content deliverables and ensure timeliness and quality.
• Stakeholder Engagement and Representation: Build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders and media partners. Support organization and representation at external events, ensuring professional alignment with UNOPS principles. Provide guidance to teams on stakeholder messaging and communication standards.
• Knowledge Building and Sharing: Support the organization, facilitation, and delivery of training and learning sessions on communications topics. Participate in knowledge-sharing initiatives and Communities of Practice (CoPs), contributing insights and lessons learned from communications project implementation. Conduct research on communication-related topics and contribute to the drafting of reports, summaries, and briefing notes.

Required Qualifications:

• Required: Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) with 4 years of relevant experience OR Master’s degree (or equivalent) in any discipline with 2 years of relevant experience.
• Desired: A globally or nationally recognized professional certificate in communications, journalism, or digital and social media communications is desired.
• Relevant experience in communications, public relations, media, journalism, or related fields is required. Experience in the use of collaboration and productivity tools (e.g., MS Office, G-Suite, etc.) and web-based management systems is also required.
• Desired: Experience of working in multicultural environments or UN system organizations in a developing country is desired. Experience in development or humanitarian contexts is desired. Experience in developing and monitoring content for grassroots-level audiences is desired.

Educational Background:
A Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) with 4 years of relevant experience is required, or a Master’s degree (or equivalent) in any discipline with 2 years of relevant experience. A globally or nationally recognized professional certificate in communications, journalism, or digital and social media communications is desired but not mandatory.

Experience:
The position requires relevant experience in communications, public relations, media, journalism, or related fields. Candidates should have experience in using collaboration and productivity tools, such as MS Office and G-Suite, as well as web-based management systems. Experience working in multicultural environments or within UN system organizations in a developing country is preferred, along with experience in development or humanitarian contexts and in developing content for grassroots-level audiences.

Languages:
Fluency in English is required for this position. Proficiency in additional languages may be considered an asset but is not mandatory.

Additional Notes:
The position is classified as mid-level with an ICS Level of 09 and is offered under an ICA - IICA - Regular contract type. The contract duration is open-ended, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds, and satisfactory performance. UNOPS emphasizes diversity and equal employment opportunities, encouraging applications from qualified women and candidates from underrepresented groups. The application deadline is set for midnight Copenhagen time (CET) on the closing date of the announcement, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for further assessments.