The position is located in the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS). The United Nations Security Council adopted resolution 2524 (2020) authorizing the mandate of UNITAMS which is to support the political transition, progress towards democratic governance, in the protection and promotion of human rights, and sustainable peace; to support peace processes and implementation of future peace agreements; to assist peacebuilding, civilian protection and rule of law, in particular in Darfur and the Two Areas; and to support the mobilisation of economic and development assistance and coordination of humanitarian assistance.
The position is based in Khartoum and is located in the Strategic Communications and Public Information Section. The incumbent will report to the Chief of Staff.
Within the limits of delegated authority, the Chief of Strategic Communications and Public Information/Spokesperson will be responsible for performing the following duties:
•Conceptualizes, designs and executes the mission’s communications strategy -including media relations and utilizing digital and multimedia platforms as part of the strategy, including its evaluation and regular updating, covering the mission’s internal and external strategic communications activities.
•Advises mission leadership, senior staff and other mission personnel on strategic communications and public information matters. Provides pertinent communications advice and input for mission leadership interactions with all key stakeholders, including the media, non-governmental and civil society organizations.
•Ensures regular, timely and professional communications on both traditional and digital media platforms; Ensures public information outputs meet high-quality standards, in accordance with UN policy objectives and rules and regulations, and are evaluated for their effectiveness.
•As the Spokesperson of the mission, gives on-record and background press briefings and interviews to national and international media; conceptualizes, develops, updates and executes a media strategy and work plan.
•Develops and implements a system of daily media monitoring and bulletins to meet the needs of the Head of Mission and senior leadership; drafts and issues press statements and press releases as necessary; establishes and maintains a cooperative relationship with local and international journalists; arranges interviews and/or background briefings with senior mission officials and facilitates the daily work of journalists covering the mission; facilitates media visits to the mission area; responding in a timely fashion to disinformation that could impact negatively on the public perception of the Mission and/or the mission’s leadership; conceptualizes and implements timely communication strategies in reaction to crisis situations.
•Coordinates activities and shares guidance with relevant departments and units at UNHQ and regional offices.
•Maintains close contact by sharing information and coordinating messaging with the leadership and all components of the Mission, Agencies, Funds and Programmes, the UN Country Team and the UN Country Group, to keep abreast of all substantive and strategic issues.
•Produces and shares key messaging, press activities and guidance with other sections of the Strategic Communications and Public Information Unit as part of daily functions as well as to fulfil strategic objectives and implement the Mission’s overall communications plan.
•Gathers accurate and up-to-date information on mission activities and priorities and prepares press materials and official statements on behalf of the mission.
•Ensures that, in addition to traditional media sources, messages are distributed utilizing digital and social media to disseminate information and engage in digital communications, including such platforms as websites, Facebook, Twitter and emerging interactive platforms.
•Directs, internal communications and external campaigns, including review and clearing of internal communications platforms such as iSeek stories for the Mission.
•Represents the mission in public forums, conferences and events and fulfil speaking requirements.
•Liaises with counterparts in the Government and diplomatic community, local authorities, civil society, media associations and other key constituencies to ensure key messages are conveyed and support communications campaigns.
•Management: including participating in recruitment, supervision and evaluation of staff as appropriate. Designs, submits and allocates budget as appropriate; identifies extra-budgetary funding and resources in support of communications activities and forges external partnerships. Manages a team of media relations staff to the specific conditions of each mission, including coordinating functions such as media accreditation, news monitoring and analysis of media trends, responds to media and public inquiries.
•Develops and implements a capacity-building plan for media relations staff, especially national staff, where appropriate. Advises and supports mission leadership in media skills development, as appropriate.
•Performs other duties, as assigned.
Professionalism: Knowledge of different aspects of public information and communication. Ability to address a range of issues in the context of political developments, public attitudes and local conditions. Ability to advise on high profile and sensitive communication challenges. Ability to assess world-wide communication environments, develop communication strategies and manage implementation of public information campaigns with various promotional and publicity techniques. Ability to produce a variety of written communications products in a clear, concise style. Ability to present and defend difficult positions to senior officials. Shows pride in work and achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations. Takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work.
Planning and Organizing: Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; Identifies priority activities and assignments and adjusts priorities as required; Allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work; Foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning; Monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary; Uses time efficiently.
Creativity: Actively seeks to improve programmes or services; Offers new and different options to solve problems or meet client needs; Promotes and persuades others to consider new ideas; Takes calculated risks on new and unusual ideas; thinks “outside the box”; Takes an interest in new ideas and new ways of doing things; Is not bound by current thinking or traditional approaches.
Leadership: Serves as a role model that other people want to follow: empowers others to translate vision into results; Is proactive in developing strategies to accomplish objectives; Establishes and maintains relationships with a broad range of people to understand needs and gain support; Anticipates and resolves conflicts by pursuing mutually agreeable solutions; Drives for change and improvements; Does not accept the status quo; Shows the courage to take unpopular stands; Provides leadership and takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work; Demonstrates knowledge of strategies and commitment to the goal of gender balance in staffing.
Judgement/ Decision-making: Identifies the key issues in a complex situation, and comes to the heart of the problem quickly; Gathers relevant information before making a decision; Considers positive and negative impacts of decisions prior to making them; Takes decisions with an eye to the impact on others and on the Organization; Proposes a course of action or makes a recommendation based on all available information; Checks assumptions against facts; Determines that the actions proposed will satisfy the expressed and underlying needs for the decision; Makes tough decisions when necessary.
Advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) in communications, international relations, broadcasting, social sciences or other related fields is required. A first level university degree combined with additional two years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
A minimum of ten (10) years of progressively responsible experience in strategic communications, public information, media, management or related area is required.
A minimum of three (3) years of field experience working in strategic communications, public information, or media in a field operation of the United Nations Common System, a comparable international organization or media organization is required.
Experience working as a Spokesperson is required.
Experience developing communication strategies and campaigns is required.
Experience in outreach to civil society, women’s organizations and other grassroots organizations is required.
Experience managing a multicultural team is desirable.
English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the position advertised, fluency in English is required. Fluency in Arabic is required. Knowledge of another UN official language is desirable.
L’évaluation des candidats qualifiés pourrait inclure un exercice d’évaluation, pouvant être suivi d’un entretien d’appréciation des compétences.
Please note that this is a temporary job opening, open to internal and external candidates. The temporary position is advertised for a duration of 6 months. The selected candidate is expected to start as soon as possible.
Please note that due to the ongoing situation with COVID-19 and the travel restrictions imposed by national authorities, selected candidates may be required to start the assignment/appointment remotely, in agreement with the hiring manager, and until further notice.
A current staff member who holds a fixed-term, permanent or continuing appointment may apply for temporary positions no more than one level above his or her current grade. However, a current staff member who holds an appointment at the G-6 or G-7 level may also apply to temporary positions in the Professional category up to and including the P-3 level, subject to meeting all eligibility and other requirements for the position. A staff member holding a temporary appointment shall be regarded as an external candidate when applying for other positions, and may apply for other temporary positions at any level, subject to section 5.7 below and staff rule 4.16 (b) (ii). Therefore, a staff member holding a temporary appointment in the General Service or related categories may only apply to positions within those categories. For full information on eligibility requirements, please refer to section 5 of ST/AI/2010/4/Rev.1 on Temporary Appointments. In its resolution 66/234, the General Assembly further “stressed that the Secretary-General should not recur to the practice of temporarily filling posts in the Professional and higher categories with General Service staff members who have not passed the General Service to Professional category examination other than on an exceptional basis, and requests the Secretary-General to ensure that temporary occupation of such posts by the General Service staff shall not exceed a period of one year, effective 1 January 2013…” Consequently, eligible candidates in the General Service or related categories for temporary job openings in the Professional category that have not passed the competitive examination may be selected only on an exceptional basis endorsed by the Office of Human Resources where no other suitable candidate could be identified.
Upon separation from service, including, but not limited to, expiration or termination of, or resignation from, a fixed-term, continuing or permanent appointment, a former staff member will be ineligible for re-employment on the basis of a temporary appointment for a period of 31 days following the separation. In the case of separation from service on retirement, a former staff member will be ineligible for re-employment for a period of three months following the separation. This equally applies, mutatis mutandis, with respect to a former or current staff member who has held or holds an appointment in another entity applying the United Nations Staff Regulations and Rules and who applies for a temporary position with the Secretariat.
Retirees above the mandatory age of separation who wish to be considered for the current temporary job opening must indicate the reason for their last separation as “retirement.” Such retirees shall not be employed by the Organization, unless (a) the operational requirements of the Organization cannot be met by staff members who are qualified and available to perform the required functions; and (b) the proposed employment would not adversely affect the career development or redeployment opportunities of other staff members and represents both a cost-effective and operationally sound solution to meet the needs of the service.
While this temporary assignment may provide the successful applicant with an opportunity to gain new work experience, the selection for this position is for a limited period and has no bearing on the future incumbency of the post. An external candidate selected for this position is bound by the prevailing condition of the staff selection system under ST/AI/2010/3, as amended, and ST/AI/2010/4/Rev.1. A staff member holding a temporary appointment who is recruited in the Professional and above categories on a temporary appointment, and placed on a position authorized for one year or longer may not apply for or be reappointed to his/her current position within six months of the end of his/her current service. This provision does not apply to staff members holding temporary appointments and placed on positions authorized for one year or more in duty stations authorized for peacekeeping operations or special political missions.
The expression “Internal candidates”, shall mean staff members who have been recruited after a competitive examination under staff rule 4.16 or after the advice of a central review body under staff rule 4.15.
Please note that candidates will be required to meet the requirements of Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter as well as the requirements of the position. The United Nations is committed to the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity for all its human resources, including but not limited to respect for international human rights and humanitarian law. Candidates may be subject to screening against these standards, including but not limited to whether they have committed, or are alleged to have committed criminal offences and/or violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law.
For information on special post allowance, please refer to ST/AI/1999/17. For more details on the administration of temporary appointments please refer to ST/AI/2010/4/Rev.1.
The Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and administrative issuances governing staff appointments can be viewed at: http://www.un.org/hr_handbook/English
Staff members of the United Nations common system organizations who will reach the mandatory age of separation or retirement within the duration of the current temporary need period are not eligible to apply.
Staff members are not eligible to apply for the current temporary job opening if they are unable to serve the specified duration of temporary need before reaching the mandatory age of separation. Submitting an application or selection for the current temporary job opening does not delay or increase the mandatory age of separation.
The United Nations Secretariat is committed to achieving 50/50 gender balance in its staff. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for this position.
Aux termes du paragraphe 3 de l’Article 101 de la Charte des Nations Unies, la considération dominante dans le recrutement du personnel doit être la nécessité d’assurer à l’Organisation les services de personnes possédant les plus hautes qualités de travail, de compétence et d’intégrité. Ne seront pas retenues les candidatures des personnes qui ont commis des violations du droit international des droits de l’homme, des violations du droit international humanitaire, des actes d’exploitation, d’atteintes ou de harcèlement sexuels, ou au sujet desquelles il existe des raisons plausibles de croire qu’elles ont été impliquées dans la commission de tels actes. L’expression « exploitation sexuelle » désigne le fait d’abuser ou de tenter d’abuser d’un état de vulnérabilité, d’un rapport de force inégal ou de rapports de confiance à des fins sexuelles, y compris mais non exclusivement en vue d’en tirer un avantage pécuniaire, social ou politique. On entend par « atteinte sexuelle » toute atteinte physique de nature sexuelle commise par la force, sous la contrainte ou à la faveur d’un rapport inégal, ou la menace d’une telle atteinte. Le harcèlement sexuel s’entend de tout comportement déplacé à connotation sexuelle raisonnablement propre ou de nature à choquer ou humilier, lorsqu’il entrave la bonne marche du service, est présenté comme une condition d’emploi ou crée au lieu de travail un climat d’intimidation, d’hostilité ou de vexation, et lorsque ce comportement est assez grave pour justifier le licenciement de son auteur. La candidature de personnes qui ont commis des infractions autres que des infractions mineures au code de la route ne sera pas retenue.
Sera dûment prise en considération l’importance d’un recrutement effectué sur une base géographique aussi large que possible. Aucune restriction ne sera imposée par l’Organisation à l’accès des hommes et des femmes, dans des conditions égales, à toutes les fonctions, dans ses organes principaux et subsidiaires. Le Secrétariat de l’Organisation des Nations Unies est un espace non-fumeurs.
Les candidats sont invités à respecter scrupuleusement toutes les instructions disponibles sur la plateforme de recrutement en ligne Inspira. Pour des informations plus détaillées, ils ou elles peuvent consulter le manuel d’instructions pour le candidat, en cliquant sur le lien hypertexte « Manuels » sur le côté supérieur droit de la page d’accueil de leur compte Inspira.
Les candidatures feront l’objet d’une évaluation et d’un examen préalables sur la base des informations soumises conformément aux critères d’évaluation de l’avis de vacance de poste et aux dispositions législatives internes applicables de l’Organisation des Nations Unies, notamment la Charte des Nations Unies, les résolutions de l’Assemblée générale, le Statut et le Règlement du personnel, les textes administratives et les directives. Les candidats doivent fournir des informations exhaustives et précises conformément aux instructions fournies sur la plateforme Inspira. Une fois la candidature envoyée, aucune modification, suppression ou révision, ni aucun ajout ou changement ne pourra être fait. Il sera procédé à une vérification des références des candidats faisant l’objet d’une attention particulière pour s’assurer de l’exactitude des renseignements qu’ils ont fournis dans leur candidature.
Les avis de vacance de postes publiés sur le Portail des carrières sont retirés à 11:59 p.m. (heure de New York), le jour de la date limite de dépôt des candidatures.
L’ONU NE PERÇOIT DE FRAIS À AUCUN STADE DU RECRUTEMENT (DÉPÔT OU TRAITEMENT DE LA CANDIDATURE, ENTRETIEN, FORMATION, ETC.), ET ELLE NE DEMANDE AUCUNE INFORMATION BANCAIRE.