Communications Lead Consultant: Office of Innovation, Giga, Barcelona, Spain, 12 months

Job no: 563780

Position type: Consultant

Location: Spain Division/Equivalent: Programme

School/Unit: Office of Global Innovation

Department/Office: GIGA OOI O/P Switzerland

Categories: Innovation

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, innovation…

We are a fast-paced, multi-disciplinary team of software engineers, finance specialists, data scientists, policy experts, and more. Our team is a distributed workforce and plans to remain global into the foreseeable future. We have an administrative headquarters in Geneva and have recently established a technology center in Barcelona.

About Our Team

We are a fast-paced, multi-disciplinary team of software engineers, finance specialists, data scientists, policy experts, and more. Our team is a distributed workforce and plans to remain global into the foreseeable future. We have an administrative headquarters in Geneva and have recently established a technology center in Barcelona.

How can you make a difference?

Giga needs to communicate with a common voice about connectivity and access to information – a singular and pressing issue of our time. The Communications Lead will handle the multiple lines of activity from both UNICEF and ITU and combine them into a unified chorus to help mobilize more action for school connectivity.

Giga’s main audience is the set of technology-oriented decision-makers driving infrastructure finance and technology policy today. The Communications Lead will need to have a high level of familiarity with this world, with the nuances and particularities of C-Level communication and have experience bridging the public and private sector at the highest level.

The Communications Lead should have a strong functional understanding of internet and network technology and be an experienced science / technology communicator. A great deal of this work involves making technological or financial efforts clear and explainable to different audiences.

The Communications Lead will also support the Giga Communications Team – comprised of social media, content, and events experts working across both UNICEF and ITU. This role reports into the Giga Lead (UNICEF).

The main responsibilities will be…

Crafting Giga’s Narrative and Maintenance of Communications Portfolio

•  Make Giga’s narrative even clearer. Drive the creation of stories that show our work in action. Help get them exposed to the light.
•  Supporting the communications team as they build up a set of resource from across UNICEF’s Country Offices that magnify the effects of connectivity on children so everyone can see.
•  Situate Giga’s narrative across key public and private partners.
•  Refine it with audience testing and quantitative metrics.

Team building and Partner Coordination

•  This role will lead a global team, composed of the social media manager, events manager, and content manager, and other service providers to execute the existing communication strategy and work plan, as well as offering guidance on updating and advancing the strategy.
•  The communications team manages Giga’s communications (often in collaboration with the Design Team and Design Lead) including presentations, talking points for senior team members, promotional materials, public-facing reports, online content, social media updates, and media inquiries.
•  This role involves working with the UNICEF Office of Innovation and ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau to ensure coherence of communications strategies, channels, and messaging about Giga.
•  This role involves working with UNICEF Country Offices, ITU Regional Offices and other partners to identify and seize opportunities to collect content and tell stories that capture the essence of Giga’s work and mission.

Media and External Relations

•  In coordination with UNICEF’s Media team, ITU’s Executive Comms team and UNICEF’s National Committees, this role will help to build and maintain relationships with various international and national media outlets to promote Giga’s work
•  This role will identify opportunities to promote Giga and influence audiences at public events, providing briefing material for senior representatives and amplifying event-related content
•  This team will also be responsible for keeping a finger on the pulse of Giga-related news, and providing regular updates/briefings on relevant news stories, trends, and technology / government partners’ work.

Please access the full ToR and related information here Giga Comms Lead – Updated TOR 12072023.docx

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• •  A Master degree in a relevant field (Communication, Journalism, Public Relations or related areas)
  •  A minimum of 8 years of professional experience in communications, journalism, public relations or related fields, with a focus on science or technology communications.
  •  A strong track record of crafting clear, inspiring, and persuasive stories about complex concepts. Excellent verbal communication, and perfect (error-free) writing and editing skills are required.
  •  Significant experience working with international print and broadcast media, preferably with a tech/innovation perspective. Experience in crafting and/or implementing communications strategies in either public or private sector.
  •  Ability to thrive in a fast-paced and dynamic environment. Proven track record leading a global communications team.
  •  Outstanding communication, teamwork, and interpersonal skills; team-first mentality.
  •  Experience with ChatGPT or other language learning models (LLMs) is an asset.
  •  Graphic design and video editing skills are an asset.
  •  An appetite to work in connectivity, technology, innovation, and ICT.
  •  Experience working with technology, NFTs, data, telecommunications, and innovative solutions is an asset.
  •  A demonstrable history in taking initiatives especially in engaging partners and collaborators.
  •  Fluency in English. Competence in another UN language is an asset.
  •  Experience working in regions where Giga is active (Sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, Latin America & Caribbean) is considered an asset.

Payment details and further considerations

•  Payment of professional fees will be based on the submission of agreed deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.
•  Consultant is responsible for his/her own health and travel insurance.
•  Consultant is responsible to arrange his/her own travel, including visa.

How to apply:

•  Interested applicants are required to submit a financial proposal with all-inclusive fee. The applicants should propose an all-inclusive livable fee for the indicated duty station. The fee may include reimbursement for travel incidentals (economic ticket, visa, out-of-pocket fees etc.) that are anticipated for a transfer from home to the duty station.
•  Financial proposal must include travel costs (economy class) and daily subsistence allowance, if travel is required as per TOR and any other estimated costs: visa, travel/health insurance.

Applications without a financial proposal will not be considered.

Please find attached the financial proposal template Consultancy Financial Offer template.docx

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles 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.

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.

Advertised: Jul 07 2023 Romance Daylight Time

Application close: Jul 31 2023 Romance Daylight Time

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•  Closes Jul 31 2023Communications Lead Consultant: Office of Innovation, Giga, Barcelona, Spain, 12 months in Spain

  UNICEF is seeking a Communications Lead to join Giga, a UNICEF-ITU initiative to connect every school in the world to the Internet. The successful candidate will oversee Giga’s external communications to help attract new partners to the initiative, and keep existing donors and partners informed of its progress. They will oversee Giga’s digital channels, managing a social media manager, a content manager and an events manager. The primarily role of the Communications Lead is to actively seek out opportunities to promote Giga in the media and at public events, ensuring that the image, brand, and visibility of Gigas’ work is amplified to its target audience.

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