About the job

Organizational Setting

The FAO Representation in Somalia supports the national government in developing policies, strategies and programmes aimed at accelerating the implementation and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in areas tied to FAO's mandate and the FAO Strategic Framework. FAO works to address national needs and priorities in food security, reducing hunger and malnutrition, developing agricultural, fishery and forestry sectors, the sustainable use of natural resources, and responses to recurrent emergencies. The objective of this assignment is to increase effective visibility of FAO's humanitarian, resilience and development programming in Somalia in terms of both external and internal communication. The Communication Officer will provide strategic leadership and effective management of the Communication Unit to establish FAO Somalia as a leading UN Agency in efforts to combat hunger, reduce poverty and ensure food security. The Communication Officer will lead the development and implementation a national communication strategy and workplan designed to enhance the visibility and reputation of FAO in the country and wider region, ensuring a high standard of quality, fit-for-purpose content to engage key audiences, in alignment with FAO strategic objectives and FAO global communication standards and best practices. The incumbent will guide and manage the Communication team within the Strategy and Resource Mobilization Unit (SRMU) to ensure high-level communications, editorial standards and creativity in multimedia, editing and publication products.

The Communication Officer liaises with key stakeholders in the Organization, including headquarters' units, Regional and Country Offices to leverage and maximize the impact of communication and visibility activities to promote food security issues.

The post is located in the FAO Representation in Mogadishu, Somalia.

Reporting Lines

The Communication Officer reports to the Head of Strategy and Resource Mobilization Unit (SRMU), under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Somalia, and the Senior Programme Officer (Head of Programme), with a second reporting line to the Communication Officer based in the Regional Office for Africa (RAF), and receiving functional guidance from the Office of Communications (OCC) at FAO headquarters in Rome, in close coordination with the Office of Emergencies and Resilience (OER) in particular with its Resource Mobilization and Communication Team.

Technical Focus

Media relations, press releases, communication for development and feature stories.

Key Results

The planning and delivery of OCC programmes, products and services and the development of related policies and specialized tools and systems, through the use of comprehensive communication and publishing expertise.

Key Functions

• Leads projects and/or work teams, leads and/or participates on Office teams, provides services and/or professional expertise in internal committees and working groups and represents FAO at inter-agency meetings;
• Plans and delivers programmes, products and services including related policies, systems and tools to facilitate the effective media relations and internal as well as external corporate communication;
• Analyses information, data, statistics, relativities, trends, problems, and/or issues to support effective communication delivery, new initiatives, and the preparation of plans, strategies, reports, policies and/or other products;
• Provides specialist advice and expertise to internal and external partners on specific or complex cases, strategic communication, written communication, policy interpretation issues and/or best practices, etc.;
• Manages special projects and provides guidance to consultants for the development and implementation of new products, tools, and systems;
• Develops information, training materials and products to increase understanding of programmes, services and policies, promote capacity development;
• Develops relevant performance criteria and indicators to evaluate programmes, products and services.

Specific Functions

• Provides advice and expertise to senior management, line managers and other program staff by anticipating and resolving communications/public relations issues/problems;
• Leads the communication strategy, planning, content development, and coordinates communication and advocacy activities of FAO Somalia;
• Acts as spokesperson for FAO Somalia upon request of the FAO Representative;
• Leads planning and development of content and communication products in diverse media formats and with key messages targeted to specific audience, in close consultation with resource mobilization, information management, program, and technical teams;
• Manages the FAO Somalia content calendar ensuring regular and strategic delivery of content across national, regional and global platforms, including web, social, digital, and earned media, in close coordination with OCC, RAF, and OER;
• Researches, writes, develops, and produces multimedia communication materials for web, digital, social media, news media outreach, and other media and channel and ensures that content is available in English, Somali, or Arabic as required;
• Maintains a news media contact list and leads on media relations and outreach for FAO Somalia;
• Manages visibility plans for projects and donors, ensuring that all projects have a visibility and communications plan;
• Organizes missions to collect multimedia content and impact stories from field projects and locations and develops and maintains a visual and audio footage archive/assessment management system;
• Overseas contracts with and coordinates work done by communication product and services providers, ensuring adherence to agreed workplans and the quality of outputs;
• Engages with OCC and FAO headquarters to identify new areas for communications collaboration;
• Coordinates, produces, and disseminates communication, visibility and advocacy materials, in coordination with focal points in RAF and headquarters and following corporate and donor branding guidelines;'
• Participates in and represent FAO as a member of the Humanitarian Communication and the UN Information Groups in Somalia;
• Develops work plans for and supervises the C4D sub-unit, graphic design subunit, Communications Assistant, and for other staff as needed.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree in communication, social science, journalism, political science, or a related field;
• Seven years of relevant experience in communication, web publishing and/or social media networks; - Working knowledge (proficient -- level C) of English and limited knowledge (intermediate -- level B) of one of the other official FAO languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).

Competencies

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions is desirable;
• Experience with high level editing, meeting rapid and constant deadlines;
• Understanding of FAO policies and programmes is considered a strong asset;
• Extent and relevance of experience in the field of communication services for prominent organizations, particularly at the international level, including substantive experience in journalism;
• Extent and relevance of experience in drafting high-quality written materials for a wide variety of audiences.

How to Apply

APPLY HERE