Senior Communications Specialist

Organizational Setting 

The key mission of the FAO Representation in Somalia, which is led by FAO Representative (FAOR), is to assist and support the national government to develop policies, strategies and programme aimed at accelerating the Implementation and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in FAO’s global mandate and Strategic Objectives. More specifically, FAO’s response aims to address national needs and priorities in achieving food security, reducing hunger and malnutrition, developing agricultural, fishery and forestry sectors, and ensuring the sustainable use of environmental and natural resources and respond to recurrent emergencies. The current portfolio of activities of the FAO Representation in Somalia includes a wide scope of technical support interventions ranging from policy support through livestock and crop production, to natural resource management, Nutrition, value chain, food security analysis and water and land information management. FAO is also implementing several emergency, resilience-building, and development interventions, with the support of its five field offices and close to 400 staff in partnership with the Federal and State line ministries.

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 Senior Communications Specialist 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 Senior Communications Specialist 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 Senior Communications Specialist 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.

Reporting Lines 

Under the overall responsibility of the FAO Representative for Somalia and the direct supervision of the Head of Strategy and Resource Mobilization Unit, and in close collaboration with OCC branches and focal points.

Technical Focus 

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.

Tasks and responsibilities 

In close collaboration with Office of Communications (OCC) branches and appropriate Communication focal points, the incumbent will:

•    Analyse 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.
•    Provide 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.
•    Manage special projects and provides guidance to consultants for the development and implementation of new products, tools, and systems.
•    Provide advice and expertise to senior management, line managers and other program staff by anticipating and resolving communications/public relations issues/problems.
•    Lead the communication strategy, planning, content development, and coordinate communication and advocacy activities of FAO Somalia.
•    Lead 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.
•    Manage 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.
•    Research, write, develop, and produce multimedia communication materials for web, digital, social media, news media outreach, and other media and channel and ensure that content is available in English, Somali, or Arabic as required.
•    Maintain a news media contact list and lead on media relations and outreach for FAO Somalia.
•    Manage visibility plans for projects and donors, ensuring that all projects have a visibility and communications plan.
•    Ensure effective collaboration and cooperation with project teams to ensure timely implementation of communication and visibility plans as well as project milestone and event coverage.
•    Organize missions to collect multimedia content and impact stories from field projects and locations and develop and maintain a visual and audio footage archive/assessment management system.
•    Oversee contracts with and coordinate work done by communication product and services providers, ensuring adherence to agreed workplans and the quality of outputs.
•    Engage with OCC and FAO headquarters to identify new areas for communications collaboration.
•    Coordinate, produce, and disseminate communication, visibility and advocacy materials, in coordination with focal points in RAF and headquarters and following corporate and donor branding guidelines
•    Participate in and represent FAO as a member of the Humanitarian Communication and the UN Information Groups in Somalia.
•    Develop briefs and other material to showcase FAO’s work and results in Somalia, working closely with IM, programme staff, and technical teams. Reviewing, updating and translating documents from English into Arabic as required.
•    Coordinate, produce and disseminate communication and advocacy materials, human interest stories, infographics and other visibility items (e.g. caps, tee-shirts), in coordination with focal points in RAF and HQ and following corporate branding guidelines.
•    Develop materials for media events, such as seasonal FSNAU Technical Releases, World Food Day, project launches and dissemination of key findings of key studies, research, assessments and evaluations.
•    Draft press releases, talking points and statements for FAO Somalia in coordination with FAQ Communication offices (at HQ, regional and subregional levels as appropriate), support press conferences, and prepare responses to media queries
•    Support in presentations and infographics for reports and presentations upon request.
•    Supervise national communication team (Communications Officer, Communications Assistant, Graphic Designer and National C4D Officer) and other related staff as needed.
•    Perform any other duties as assigned by the supervisor.

FAO Standards and guidelines:

•    Liaison with OCC will be maintained, either directly or through an agreed focal point/coordinator, to ensure compliance with OCC standards, aligned messaging, and appropriate review and clearance processes.
•    All communication materials will follow FAO clearance processes and comply with FAO standards, including:
FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31: https://www.fao.org/strategic-framework/en 
FAO social media policy and guidelines: https://www.fao.org/2/socialmedia 
Social Media Branding Guidelines: https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cb5044en
FAOSTYLE https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cb8081en
FAO terminology http://www.fao.org/faoterm
FAO Names of Countries https://www.fao.org/nocs/en
Story guidelines, Story template, UN map standards, FAO logo policy and related branding guidelines (available to staff).
•    Further guidance regarding FAO communications, policies and procedures can be found through the FAO intranet, OCC section.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING 

Minimum Requirements  

•    University Degree in communication, social science, journalism, political science, or a related field
•    10 years of relevant experience in communication, web publishing and/or social media networks
•    Working knowledge (level C) of English

FAO Core Competencies 

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

Technical/Functional Skills  

•    Advanced university degree is an asset.
•    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.
•    Knowledge of a second FAO language is an asset.