UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

The work of UN Women in Moldova is guided by its new Country Strategic Note 2023-2027, aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Moldova 2023-2027 (UNSDCF), UN Women Global Strategic Plan, National Programs and Strategies and aims to contribute to the gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Strategic Note focuses on four main areas: 1) Ending Violence against Women; 2) Women’s Leadership and Governance; 3) Women’s Economic empowerment and 4) Humanitarian and Peace development nexus and UN Coordination on gender equality.

Reporting to the Project Management Specialist, the Communications Officer ensures the timely and quality formulation and implementation of the communications and advocacy plans to increase the standing and awareness of UN Women with partners, the media and the public. The Communication Officer will support advocacy efforts, maintenance of media relations, and organizational outreach efforts, in order to increase the standing and awareness of UN Women with partners, the media and the public. The Communications Officer collaborates closely with other Country Office colleagues, as well as the Regional Office counterparts, to ensure communications activities and organizational outreach efforts are aligned with corporate communications policies and initiatives and follow innovative approaches and good practices. The Communications Officer promotes a client-oriented approach in UN Women.

Duties and Responsibilities

Lead planning and design of communications and outreach/advocacy strategies and plans and ensure their efficient implementation:

• Coordinate preparation and implementation of communications needs assessments for the project, ensuring gender perspective is fully mainstreamed;
• Elaborate, implement and continuously monitor the project’s communication strategy and plan, including appropriate feedback mechanisms and monitoring tools;
• Contributes to identification of appropriate suppliers for the provision of goods and services for activities under the communication plan; Coordinate and evaluate project service providers related to communication & visibility products and service delivered to the project; Develops relevant Terms of References and technical specifications;
• Oversee the organization and realization of events, campaigns, workshops, coordinate the project team on all communication and visibility aspects;
• Coordinate monitoring and analysis of media and social media and draft reports; Provide inputs to the quarterly and annual Office work plan and progress/annual reports.

Coordinate and implement the development and dissemination of advocacy materials related to the project:

• Develop and produce communications materials, including brochures, publications, briefing materials, press releases, and articles on project activities, and manage their dissemination;
• Identify and propose information-sharing opportunities, activities, approaches and platforms and partners;
• Oversee the translation/adaption/rewriting of communications materials, coordinate printing and dissemination of publications and audio-visual materials.

Coordinate media relations for the Project:

• Develop a tailored strategy on working with media and manage relationships with the media; ensure maintenance and update of a media database; provide advice to project team on media relationships;
• Respond to media inquiries and information requests related to the project; prepare related correspondence;
• Respond to queries from the EU Delegation, Government, other UN Agencies, and other external parties with respect to communication and visibility aspects of the project;
• Organize roundtable discussions, press conferences, and briefing sessions for the media, as required;
• Design concepts of various media products such as TV and radio programmes, op-eds and other materials in cooperation with staff and partners;
• Coordinate and facilitate participation of project’s team members in different TV broadcast programmes, radio, written interviews etc;
• Ensures timely preparation of talking points, their relevance to the event and compliance with organization’s mandate and priorities.

Coordinate communication with Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) and ensures visibility:

• Informs SDC of the planning and implementation of specific visibility and communication activities before they are implemented and ensures adequate visibility of SDC financing;
• Measures effectiveness of communication activities on awareness about the project and its objectives as well as on SDC funding of the project;
• Reports on visibility and communication actions as well as the results of the overall Action to the relevant monitoring committees and the contracting authority;
• Coordinates actions related to communication and visibility with the SDC communication department, to ensure coherence of narrative and message, as well as horizontal strategic communication.
• Liaise with advocacy partners and undertake outreach to civil society organizations, government, and other groups to ensure that newsworthy information reaches the public and SDC;
• Provide inputs to SDC reports and information packages for SDC’s review;
• Be aware and guide colleagues on SDC`s specific visibility rules.

Ensure the web and online presence of the project:

• Draft articles on activities of the project for CO’s website;
• Ensures social media presence for the project activities on the social media channels of UN Women CO;
• Ensure visibility and presentation of results of the project activities; ensure increased hits on the website and reach of the social media accounts, as well as evidence of visual content;

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge Management and Learning:

• Take charge of self-development and take initiative;
• Actively works towards continuing personal learning, encourage learning and sharing of knowledge;
• Promotes a supportive environment to enhance partnerships, leverages resources and build support for UN Women initiatives.

Job knowledge/Technical expertise/In-depth knowledge of the subject-matter:

• Ability to communicate sensitively, effectively and creatively across different constituencies;
• Knowledge of web-based management systems;
• Knowledge of production, graphic design and photography standards;
• Knowledge of social media platforms and experience in social media outreach;
• Knowledge of local country media landscape. Ability to establish and maintain contacts with media at national and local levels, with senior-level officials of the host government required;
• Ability to be strategic and analytical;
• Knowledge of gender and human rights issues Outstanding oral and written communications and editing skills.

Development and Operational Effectiveness

• Proven ability to problem-solving and thinking creatively;
• Ability to facilitate and encourage open communication and communicate sensitively, effectively and creatively across different constituencies;
• Proven performance in organizing and coordinating major initiatives, events or challenging inter-organizational activities;
• Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

Leadership and self-management

• Ability to establish priorities for self and others, achieve results and meet strict deadlines in an effective manner, maintaining a high quality standard throughout;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
• Identifies opportunities and builds strong relationships with clients and partners;
• Interacts effectively with all levels of the organization, including senior management;
• Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behaviour towards others.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree in corporate communications, public relations, social sciences, international relations, journalism and/or other relevant is required; or
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree;
• Additional training and certification in communication and related areas is a strong advantage.

Experience

• A minimum of 7 years’ experience in communications at the national or international level, including experience in media relations is required;
• Experience in developing and implementing media/communications strategies and plans, including organizing awareness campaigns is an advantage;
• Experience in active/advanced use of social media, multi-media and digital platforms is required;
• Experience in writing reports, articles and/or blogs is required;
• Experience working in a large development agency is an advantage;
• Previous experience with gender issues, with UN Women and UN system is an advantage.

Languages

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

APPLICATION PROCESS AND SUBMISSION PACKAGE

Interested candidates are invited to submit applications with the following documents.

• Motivation letter;
• Duly filled UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc . Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment. Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment.

Only short-listed applicants will be contacted.

Note:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (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.