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UNICEF is a place where careers are built. We offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

Purpose of Assignment:

UNICEF’s Innovative Finance (IF) Hub, based in Helsinki, aims to catalyze global capital in support of children to fill the SDG gap and radically accelerate progress towards the SDGs. It sits at a unique vantage point where an organization working on global issues meets start-up thinking, new ideas, and partners to turn this energy into scalable solutions. We aim to understand and solve a pressing challenge: why is finance not working for children? On one hand, the funding gap to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) continues to grow (currently at over 4 trillion USD!), where children are particularly vulnerable to the educational, health, protection and climate challenges the SDGs try to address. On the other hand, children are seldom considered in the investment practices of investors, even the most responsible and socially conscious – while virtually all companies have material impacts on children's

lives, as consumers, through their employed parents and caregivers, as community members and as future leaders.

One of the IF Hub’s flagship initiatives is child-lens investing, a strategy to strengthen awareness, action and investment on children rights and outcomes in the financial sector. You can learn more of child-lens investing here: https://www.unicef.org/innovation/innovative-finance/child-lens-investing. External positioning, engagement and visibility of CLI are core pillars of the Innovative Finance Hub work, and instrumental pathways to advance the agenda across the financial ecosystem.

Within this context, the IF Hub is seeking a communication consultant to support the development and ensure effective implementation of the IF Hub Communication Plan. He/she will support the development and dissemination of communication materials in response to external-facing advocacy and communication needs, and support communication for internal visibility purposes as needed. The consultant will be responsible for providing visibility to activities and results in a timely and efficient manner, supporting both, the evolving IF Hub communication strategy, and its implementation.

This consultancy is for a period of 16 months, with monthly delivery of reports. Based on satisfactory performance, the consultancy may be extended as per UNICEF's policy.

Scope of Work:

Under the direct supervision of the Communication Specialist, and in coordination with other members of the Hub, the consultant’s responsibilities will be organized into three key areas:

Content development coordination
Timely outreach delivery when launching new products, reports, articles, feeds.
Coordination of content and support organization of events and participation of IF Hub to events.

Specific tasks will include, inter alia:

Work with technical colleagues to identify communications needs and information required for visibility and ensure those gaps are adequately filled.
Draft engaging content and assets, including web articles, human interest stories, newsletters, thought pieces, multimedia content (videos, photos), press releases, and other advocacy materials, in collaboration with internal and external partners for social media posts, newsletters and engage with external contractors as needed.
Actively support alignment of core messaging and content with Divisional and organizational positioning
Develop and maintain updated content for the IF Hub website, intranet pages etc, in collaboration with Divisional and organizational focal points
Draft compelling advocacy messages and other key communication for external and internal use, including reports, briefing notes, presentations as required.
Support the Hub in preparing pitch presentations and concepts for potential prospects.
In coordination with the Communication Specialist, engage and represent the Hub in technical exchanges within PFP, with DGCA and other Divisions, as well as with external partners’ communication specialists.
Assist in creating and coordinating a network of contributors (within PFP and across CLI practitioners) to generate, connect and to cross-reference IF Hub content on UNICEF websites and other channels
Document communication content, creatives and messages by creating and maintaining an accessible and organized local repository
Support the coordination and organization of events and conferences.
Track and analyze communication activities, assessing their effectiveness, and making recommendations for improvements, including the mapping of relevant media.
Share strategic insights and recommendations to improve message resonance, including based on external landscape monitoring and research
Provide general support to the IF Hub team, including assistance with tasks related to innovative finance, as needed.

If you would like to know more about this consultancy, please review the complete Terms of Reference here: Download File External ToR Innovative Finance Communication Consultant.pdf

Minimum requirements:(Qualification/Experience/ Knowledge/Expertise/Skills)

Education:
A Bachelor’s degree in communication, public relations, journalism, mass-media, advertisement, international development and sustainability studies, or related field of education required.
(A Master’s Degree in a relevant field may be accepted in lieu of the 2 years of relevant professional experience)

Work Experience:
2 years of relevant experience, or a Master Degree in lieu of the 2 years
Language Requirements:
English required. Ability to read Media and other communication in Finnish required
Knowledge/Expertise/Skills:
Previous experience in social media content
Desirables:
Experience in the UN system child rights familiarity

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

Qualified candidates are invited to submit the following documents via the online recruitment portal, TMS (Talent Management System):

An up-to-date TMS profile and curriculum vitae (CV)
Cover letter
A separate financial proposal: Financial proposal IF Comms Consultant TMS.xlsx

Remarks: If the TOR or financial proposal documents are not visible on certain recruitment platforms, please visit our official page Vacancies | UNICEF Careers.

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.

Innovative Finance Communication Consultant, Innovative Finance Hub, PFP, Helsinki, 16 Months (Office-based)