Consultancy - Media Relations

Job: Media Relations Consultant, Media and Communications Branch, Division of Communications and Strategic Partnerships, UNFPA

Location: Preference for New York, London, Brussels

Duration: 11 months

Expected start date: 1 Nov 2022

The Position:

The Media Relations Consultant will temporarily replace the team’s Media and Communications Specialist whilst she is on maternity leave. The position is located in the Media & Communications Branch of the Division of Communications and Strategic Partnerships and reports to the Media Specialist.

Job Purpose:

UNFPA is the UN’s sexual and reproductive rights agency and its mandate is to achieve “three zeroes”: zero preventable maternal deaths, zero unmet need for family planning and zero harmful practices against women and girls. UNFPA has at its disposal a combination of strong data, technical analysis, results and stories from the field about the people we serve, as well as authoritative, credible and accessible leadership. Despite the critical work we do and the tools at our disposal, UNFPA is not yet as well known as it should be. The Media and Communications team’s key focus is to position UNFPA as a bold, vocal and visible thought and action leader in both development and humanitarian settings, to secure global and national political and financial support for its issues and to build the UNFPA brand.

The purpose of this consultancy is to contribute to that goal by:

• strategically engaging media and other partners to amplify the voice, results, leadership and messages of UNFPA among target audiences;
• improving the capacity of UNFPA to scale up communications at national, regional and global levels, ensuring consistency between the levels;
• systematically communicating compelling stories and data to media and other audiences; and
• managing communication partnerships and ensuring that messages on key issues are aligned and duplication of communication efforts is minimized.

Requirements:

Education:

Advanced university degree in relevant field, preferably journalism, strategic communications, public relations or advertising/marketing is required.

Knowledge & Experience:

• 5 years of relevant progressively responsible experience in journalism, strategic communications, media or public relations. 
• Keen understanding of the global media landscape, including an active network of contacts from global media, and demonstrated experience in working with journalists from top tier international media across sectors, channels and geographies and achieving impressive news and feature coverage.
• Demonstrated experience conceiving and managing communications and media projects, and working with external vendors including PR agencies.
• Superior writing and editing skills, especially under time pressure, with experience in crafting media relations materials (press releases, talking points, statements, briefing notes, media analysis).
• Initiative and sound judgment. Must be highly organized and have demonstrated ability to work well under tight deadlines

Other desirable skills:

• PR agency experience and/ or experience working within the UN system.
• Experience in international development, UN, gender equality, human rights, sexual and reproductive health and rights fields.
• Embraces modern methods of PR and media management.
• Experience communicating from or about humanitarian crisis situations

Languages: Fluency in English is required: Working knowledge of additional UN languages is an asset.

How to Apply:

Interested candidates should submit their CV and a brief cover letter outlining their relevant experience to: Eddie Wright ewright@unfpa.org. Please include "Media Relations Consultant" in the subject line. The selection process will consist of a written test for shortlisted candidates followed by a remote video interview for the strongest performers of the written test.

Disclaimer:

UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Fraudulent notices, letters or offers may be submitted to the UNFPA fraud hotline http://www.unfpa.org/help/hotline.cfm UNFPA provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, teamwork, Embracing diversity in all its forms, integrity and a healthy balance of work and life. We are committed to maintaining our balanced gender distribution and therefore encourage women to apply. UNFPA promotes equal opportunities for all including persons with disabilities.