Communications, Partnerships and Events Specialist

Functional title: Communications, Partnerships and Events Specialist
Duty station of assignment: Kiev, Ukraine
Contract modality: Service Contract
Grade: SB4
Duration of assignment: Six months (with possibility of extension)
Closing date for applications: 29 January 2024

Background

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is the lead United Nations agency for cities and human settlements. The agency is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all and sustainable development.

UN-Habitat, being the focal point for all urbanization and human settlement matters within the UN system, has a role in delivering the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, adopted by Member States in 2015, specifically goal 11: make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.

UN-Habitat is initiating its activities in Ukraine including the establishment of a specialist position responsible for communications, partnerships, and events as part of the UN-Habitat programme in Ukraine. The UN-Habitat Programme team in Ukraine is currently launching the implementation of UN-Habitat’s mandate in response to the ongoing emergency situation, through the engagement of the Urban Lab and UNITAC (details below). The ultimate objective of UN-Habitat’s engagement is to support Ukrainian partners and stakeholders towards a sustainable, effective, and inclusive recovery of urban areas in Ukraine in ‘building back better’.

The United Nations Innovation Technology Accelerator for Cities (UNITAC) is an innovation lab in Hamburg, established in March 2021 by UN-Habitat in collaboration with the UN Office of Information and Communications Technology (UN-OICT) and HafenCity University. The Accelerator promotes open and participatory governance of data and digital platforms, innovations related to mapping, spatial analysis and data visualization and people-centred smart cities. UNITAC Hamburg is funded by the Government of Germany for four years.

UNITAC Hamburg works with a bespoke urban technology innovation acceleration methodology that can be used to analyse real urban challenges and urbanization trends. The methodology is based around three themes: (1) Open, transparent, and participatory governance of data and digital platforms (2) Mapping spatial analysis and visualization, and (3) People-centred smart cities. Within these fields, particular emphasis is placed on how to generate knowledge and use cases on smart city governance and the development of frontier technologies with a special emphasis on developing countries and cities with large informal populations.

The Urban Planning and Design Lab (Urban Lab) of UN-Habitat, located in the Urban Practices Branch (UPB) under the Global Solutions Division (GSD), is an initiative to promptly respond to the requests of national and local governments to support sustainable urban development. The Urban Lab is the integrative facility of the Agency where innovative processes and partnerships are translated into tangible and transformative solutions to complex urban challenges, including urban recovery in crisis and post-crisis contexts. The Urban Lab acts as a neutral broker, managing knowledge in complex stakeholder settings to resolve multi-sectoral, multi-scalar and multi-stakeholder challenges, by offering a multi-disciplinary team capturing the necessary thematic areas. In this context, the Urban Lab applies an integrated approach to systemic and strategic planning to deliver transformative change for sustainable urbanization and to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the New Urban Agenda.

UN-Habitat is now establishing an Urban Lab in Kyiv, Ukraine, to support participatory urban recovery planning through the creation of an enabling environment the promotes an effective, inclusive and resilient urban recovery. The Kyiv Urban Lab will function as a platform for engagement of local and international expertise, addressing solutions for immediate (short-term), medium and long-term (strategic) recovery efforts.

UN-Habitat is in the process of establishing a country office in Ukraine, initially focused on two projects. The first project, “Towards inclusive and resilient urban recovery in Ukraine”, aims to support the recovery of cities and towns in Ukraine through the provision of policy and technical advice on national and local levels, engage regional and local authorities in urban recovery planning, and finally, building capacities among relevant urban stakeholders, including academia and other organisations. The second project is implemented by UNITAC, “Just transitions in vulnerable places – Digital tools and capacity for inclusive, smart and resilient urban recovery in Ukraine” aims to develop digital urban data platforms together with national, sub-national and local government institutions and support their efforts to improve climate resilience and recovery planning.

The two projects are highly interlinked, and the establishment of an Urban Lab in Kyiv provides the physical space where the two projects bring together Ukrainian and international expertise to accelerate strategic and spatial planning towards urban recovery, including e.g., urban governance, housing, digitalisation and resilience planning.

Duties and main responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities of this assignment involve support the UN-Habitat country operations in Ukraine with developing an approach and strategy and subsequent delivery of communications services, events organizing and development of partnerships. Within UN-Habitat’s Country Office, the incumbent will work closely with the Urban Lab in Kyiv and in close coordination with project teams based in Nairobi and Hamburg, and will be responsible for the following duties:

• Develop a communications strategy for UN-Habitat in Ukraine to (i) identify and capitalize on opportunities to build and strengthen the visibility of the organization and its projects, (ii) advocate sustainable and inclusive urban recovery, planning and design, and (iii) position UN-Habitat as the lead expert in sustainable and inclusive urban planning and design.
• Produce and commission various communications materials including news articles, blog posts, social media content, presentations, brochures, posters and videos.
• Establish regular contacts with journalists and media outlets for press briefings and media outreach inside and outside of Ukraine.
• Assist in communication with municipalities, regional government administrations and national government departments, as well as other partners.
• Facilitate the establishment of partnerships with government entities, academia, companies and civil society organizations. Increase the visibility of UN-Habitat and its project activities and encourage knowledge sharing amongst stakeholders.
• Organize and facilitate (including logistics) events, meetings, conferences and workshops.
• Manage and improve UN-Habitat web and social media presence, including content creation, design and development of web presences for UN-Habitat projects and initiatives in Ukraine.
• Provide support in translating key communications materials from and/or into Ukrainian and/or English when necessary.
• Performs other related work as required.

Work implies frequent interaction with the following:

Regular interaction with a diverse group of stakeholders, including the Urban Lab team in Kyiv, project teams in Nairobi and Hamburg, local and international personnel, government entities, media representatives, and civil society organizations.

Results Expected:

Developing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating a robust communications strategy for UN-Habitat in Ukraine is a key focus of this role, aimed at bolstering the organization’s visibility and promoting sustainable urban recovery. Responsibilities include producing detailed written communications, establishing strong partnerships, and effectively engaging with media. Organizing and facilitating events, as well as enhancing the web and social media presence, are crucial tasks, aligning with the overall objectives of UN-Habitat’s urban recovery efforts in Ukraine.

Reporting requirements

The Communications, partnerships and events specialist will be under the overall supervision of the Head of the Country Office. Additionally they will work closely and report directly to both the Head of the Urban Lab in Kyiv and the UN-Habitat/UNITAC Kyiv-based Project Officer.

Outputs and Expected Deliverables

The incumbent is required to submit a monthly report that details the activities and progress in the domains of communications, partnerships, and event management.

Working location and travel

The assignment is expected to be conducted from the UN-Habitat office in Kyiv. Travel to field locations required for site visits, technical missions and engagement with stakeholders and partners will be covered by UN-Habitat.

Competencies

Professionalism: Knowledge of different aspects of public information and communication. Ability to address a range of issues in the context of urban recovery, public attitudes and local conditions. Ability to conceptualize, design and implement information materials. Ability to rapidly analyze and integrate diverse information from varied sources. Ability to diplomatically handle sensitive situations with target audiences and cultivate productive relationships. Ability to produce a variety of written communications products in a clear, concise style. Ability to deliver oral presentations to various audiences. Shows pride in work and in 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. Communication: Excellent and effective written and oral skills; ability to persuade people with varying points of view and to present information in a concise and accurate manner, ability to clearly communicate links between the organizations. Planning and Organizing: Proven ability to plan, coordinate and monitor own work and that of others. Ability to work under pressure and uses time efficiently. Identifies priority activities and assignments, adjust priorities as required. Teamwork: Ability to coordinate activities and teams. Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals. Solicits input by valuing others ideas and expertise and is willing to learn from others. Conflict management and consensus facilitation skills. Creativity: Strong conceptual thinking. Is not bound by current thinking or traditional approaches, takes calculated risks on new and unusual ideas; thinks “outside the box”, and offers new and different options to solve problems or meet client needs. Can easily develop clear plans in contexts with limited information and datasets. Finds ways to extract and combine data and information to create base maps.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Advanced university degree in communications, journalism, media, social sciences, political science, international development, innovation or related subjects.
• A first-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience

A minimum of five years in communications, journalism or media related fields, with experience in the following areas:

• Media outreach, including engaging with journalists and facilitating interviews: Media/journalist network in Ukraine desirable.
• Events organization, including high-level events;
• Working with digital platforms and websites, including social media;
• Developing communications strategies and policies;
• Strong skills in writing, including writing web copy, press releases, news articles and publications.
• Project management skills are desirable;
• Graphic design and video production skills are desirable
• Knowledge and understanding of urban development, planning and the built environment would be an advantage.

Language

• Fluency in written and spoken English and Ukrainian is required.

Special considerations

The candidate should be:

• Familiar with, and committed to the goals of UN-Habitat
• Willing to take responsibility, act professionally at all times, and make sure tasks are fully completed;
• Able to innovate and initiate activities from scratch
• Able to work under pressure in diverse environments with minimum supervision
• Sensitive to gender issues and issues of concern to vulnerable groups;
• Flexible and prepared to pursue goals through teamwork;
• Able to meet deadlines for reporting and all project work;
• Express enthusiasm and willingness to continue learning new skills and share experiences with other members of the team;
• Able to adapt to a multi-ethnic environment.