Communication Assistant

OVERVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE POST

The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) is the statistical office of UNESCO and is the UN depository for global statistics in the fields of education, science, technology and innovation, culture and communication.
The UIS is the official source of internationally comparable data used to monitor progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal on education. The UIS is the official source of SDG 4 Global and Thematic Frameworks, SDG target 9.5 and SDG 11.4.1. and hosts and co-chairs the Technical Cooperation Group on the indicators for SDG 4. 

The UIS was established to improve UNESCO's statistical programme and to develop and deliver timely, accurate and policy-relevant statistics needed in today’s increasingly complex and rapidly changing social, political and economic environments. The UIS collects, collates and curates education, science and culture data and provides free access to data for UNESCO countries and regional groupings from 1970 to the most recent year available. Within the mandate of strengthening SDG reporting, the UIS has supported regions and countries in developing benchmarks for selected SDG 4 indicators and region-specific education indicators; and, under the leadership of the African Union, is responsible for reporting against the CESA framework.  The UIS has launched a Global Education Observatory (GEO), with the vision of providing Member States and the international community with a gateway to education-related data that fulfils the need of national, regional and global stakeholders for easy access to information for decision making, which responds flexibly to short, medium and long-term priorities. 

As part of its strategy for collaboration, brokerage and the generation of public goods the UIS has worked with UNICEF, World Bank, OECD and the GEMR on the Joint Survey of national education responses to COVID 19 and is developing resources to support the monitoring of commitments for Mission: Recovering Education 2021.  
 

Long Description

PURPOSE 
Under the overall authority of the UIS Director and the direct supervision of the Communication Officer,  the incumbent will support the implementation of the UIS communication strategy with a specific focus on print and electronic publications, support the production and maintenance of selected data dissemination tools and social media. 
 

Long Description

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS

• Coordinate all activities related to the publication process; establish publication plan with input from teams; establish production plans, budgets and timelines; manage contractors such as editors, translators, graphic artists, printers, etc.; draft technical specifications, support the negotiation of fees and guide work of contractors; coordinate across programme teams to ensure deadlines are met; update electronic archive of UIS publications; manage stocks of printed copies. 
• Actively promote the UIS on social media by: developing content aimed at target audiences, establishing partnerships with other organizations and main influencers, tracking daily trends to identify opportunities and improve impact, prepare social media packages for internal and external use. 
• Update distribution lists for UIS publications and communications and send out periodic eAlerts to promote new UIS publications and statistical products. 
• Maintain UIS branding and quality control of institutional products; update and apply publishing guidelines as needed. 
• Support the production of data dissemination tools in collaboration with the UIS Dissemination Unit and other programme teams.   This includes drafting, editing and updating text; creating interactive maps and charts; testing and bug reporting; coordinating translations and proposing ideas for new features.  
• Edit and proofread publications, fact sheets, web articles, blogs and institutional reports. Prepare flyers and news articles to promote UIS products. 
• Perform any additional activities that may be required in support of the UIS’s mandate and to ensure the success of the team’s work programme. 
   

COMPETENCIES (Core / Managerial)

-

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education 

• Completed secondary, technical and/or vocational education preferably with a degree in literature, social sciences, education, information technology, publishing or communications.

Work experience

• Minimum of 8 years of relevant work experience in publishing or publication coordination and/or communications is required. 
• Knowledge of web-communication technologies is a strong asset. 
• Experience in digital product development, including content and requirements analysis, and project definition documents, is desirable. 
• Knowledge of statistics will be an advantage.

Skills/competencies

• Established track record in publications, communications and outreach. 
• The incumbent must demonstrate a sufficient level of understanding regarding emerging communication and information technologies and their potential uses.
• Demonstrated high quality writing, editing and proofreading skills.
• Self-motivation and ability to take initiative while still working collaboratively as part of a team. 
• Ability to work under deadlines and multitask. 
• Knowledge of UNESCO and/or UN communications, outreach, knowledge dissemination and management practices are a plus.

Languages

• Excellent knowledge (oral and written) of English.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS

Education

• University degree in literature, social sciences, education, information technology, publishing or communications.

Languages

• Very good working knowledge of French and/or Spanish.
• Good knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese or Russian).

BENEFITS AND ENTITLEMENTS

SELECTION AND RECRUITMENT PROCESS

Footer