Communications Consultant

UNEP - United Nations Environment Programme

Nairobi, Kenya

Duties and Responsibilities

Organizational Setting:

The United Nations Environment Programme is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. UNEP is one of three original, founding implementing agencies of the Global Environment Facility (GEF). UNEP and the GEF partners to help developing countries and those with economies in transition to meet the agreed incremental costs of measures designed to achieve global environmental benefits in six focal areas: biological diversity, climate change (both mitigation and adaptation), international waters, chemicals and wastes management and land degradation. The GEF Coordination Office plays a central role in UNEP's GEF-related activities. Its core functions include formulating and reviewing UNEP’s policies and strategies for GEF operations, preparing the UNEP/GEF Business Plan, and providing guidance to project proposers on eligibility, quality, and cost-effectiveness. Additionally, it oversees GEF activity administration within UNEP, serves as UNEP’s GEF focal point. The consultant will work in the GEF Coordination Unit under the direct supervision of the Head of the GEF Coordination Unit. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), for over 30 years, has been a key player in the Global Environment Facility (GEF) partnership, actively seeking out environmental changes. The GEF Portfolio within UNEP has expanded significantly in both scale and complexity, encompassing a wide variety of projects globally. These projects are managed by a team distributed across 6 GEF Focal Areas, which promote environmental conservation and sustainability within UNEP and beyond. The GEF Coordination Office, under the administrative oversight of the Director of the Policy and Programme Division, coordinates these Focal Areas. Effective communication is crucial for UNEP to amplify the visibility and impacts of its GEF projects, ensuring stakeholders understand the value and benefits of its initiatives in addressing global environmental challenges. By showcasing success stories and demonstrating accountability, UNEP can attract co-finance resources and partnerships, vital for scaling its efforts and achieving sustainable development goals. Clear and transparent communication strengthens UNEP’s governance by fostering informed decision-making, trust, and collaboration among member states and stakeholders. Additionally, impactful donor engagement through compelling narratives and personalized updates reinforces long-term relationships, secures funding, and highlights the alignment of contributions with UNEP’s mission. To support the communications needs, the GEF Coordination Office is currently recruiting a consultant to assist the GEF Coordinator in managing strategic communication, content production, online presence, event coordination, and providing training and support to ensure effective dissemination of UNEP-GEF initiatives and policies.

The consultancy will be focused on delivering the following tasks:

Assist the GEF Coordinator and in collaboration with the UNEP Communication Division to coordinate and provide strategic input on UNEP-GEF communication at the corporate and portfolio level, including strategy, branding, and communication outputs.
In collaboration with focal area communications focal points, support the production and ensure maximum dissemination and impact of stories, press releases, and multimedia content on UNEP-GEF initiatives and priorities.
Assist in managing and improving the UNEP-GEF online presence, including the UNEP corporate website, intranet, and project and Programme sites.
Provide advice and guidance on communication best practices to UNEP-GEF portfolio and project staff, ensuring compliance with UNEP and GEF policies.
Provide substantive support in the coordination and organization of communication activities for key events, such as the UNEP/GEF brown bags, GEF Replenishment, the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), Multilateral Environmental Agreement Conferences of Parties (COPs), and other targeted regional and international events.
Review relevant documents and reports; identify problems and issues to be addressed and propose corrective actions; liaise with relevant parties; identify and track follow-up actions.
Support strategic communications development, including the review and analysis of issues and trends, preparation of briefs, or other informative documents.
Assist in survey initiatives; design data collection tools; review, analyze, and interpret responses; identify problems/issues and prepare conclusions.
Prepare various written outputs, e.g., draft background papers, analysis, sections of reports and studies, inputs to publications.
Provide substantive support to consultative and other meetings, conferences, including proposing agenda topics, identifying participants, and preparation of documents and presentations.
Undertake outreach activities; make presentations on assigned topics/activities.
If needed, participate in field missions.
Collect and analyze data to identify trends or patterns and provide insights through graphs, charts, tables, and reports using data visualization methods to enable data-driven planning, decision-making, presentation, and reporting.
Perform other duties as required. The consultant will report to the GEF Coordinator, Policy and Programme Division.

Qualifications/special skills

Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in journalism, communication or a related field is required. A first-level university degree in combination with two (2) additional 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 communication or journalism is required.
Working experience in strategic communication for environmental projects is required.
At least 5 years’ experience in communications or the media at an international level is required.
Experience in development and implementation of communications strategies is required.
Experience in producing and managing the production of written and multimedia content on environmental or development projects is required.
Experience working with the Global Environment Facility policy and/or other multilateral environmental or development funds is desirable.
Previous experience is producing/managing social media is desirable.
Two (2) years or more of experience in data analytics or related area is desirable.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this consulting position, fluency in oral and written English is required. Working knowledge of another UN language is desirable.

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