Communications Analyst (IPSA-8) UNCDF New York, USA
Qualifications of Communications Analyst (IPSA-8) UNCDF New York, USA:
- Location: New York
- Vacancy No: 27383
- Salary: N/A
- Organization: UNDP – United Nations Development Programme
- Deadline: 2025-07-07
Brief details about Communications Analyst (IPSA-8) UNCDF New York, USA:
About
Information about the organization that has offered the job:
General Assembly Resolution 2186 (XXI) decided to “bring into operations the United Nations Capital Development Fund as an organ of the General Assembly which shall function as an autonomous organization of the United Nations. The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) assists developing countries, especially least developing countries, in the development of their economies by supplementing existing sources of capital assistance by means of grants, loans, and guarantees. UNCDFs vision is to help mobilize and catalyze an increase of capital flows for SDG impactful investments to Member States to address the most pressing development challenges facing vulnerable communities in these countries and thereby contribute to sustainable economic growth and equitable prosperity.
UNCDF utilizes its unique capability in the UN system to deploy grants, loans and guarantees to crowd-in finance for the scaling of development impact. UNCDF focuses on where the needs are greatest, a deliberate focus and capability rooted in UNCDF’s unique investment mandate to support the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the realization of the Doha Programme of Action for the least developed countries, 2022–2031.
As per its Strategic Framework, UNCDF works to deploy its functions as a hybrid development organization and development finance institution. UNCDF responds to Member States requests for assistance by providing targeted technical and financial advisory services on investments for development outcomes, designing bespoke financial structuring solutions, undertaking
financial derisking of investments, and enhancing investment readiness of SDG aligned projects in partnership with private sector, UNOs, International and Local Finance Institutions, Development Finance Institutions as well as Foundations and Philanthropy, among others. UNCDF works to develop local financial systems, new markets and mobilize and crowd in capital from public and private sources. UNCDF is driven by a partnership mindset which enables it to deploy its different capital capabilities in highly tailored and responsive ways in order to mobilize investments flows from other sources, in particular from the private sector. By structuring transactions which are highly impactful, but also recognize the need for multiplying the impact of its own capital, UNCDF seeks to position itself as a preferred partner for different stakeholders. UNCDF’s work is focused on six priority areas, including:
- Sub-national and local infrastructure financing
- Women owned enterprise financing
- Nature and climate financing
- Energy and decarbonization finance
- Sustainable food systems financing
- Inclusive digital finance
Following a recent restructuring, UNCDF’s organizational set up includes an Investment and Implementation Division (IID), Investment and Finance Oversight Division (IFOD), Operations and Oversight Division (OD) and a Directorate of the Executive Office, where the Strategic Communications Team sits. UNCDF staff and personnel are located in regional hubs based in Dakar (Senegal), Nairobi (Kenya) and Bangkok (Thailand) with sub-regional presence in a number of locations in the Caribbean and Pacific Regions. UNCDF is led by an Executive Secretary based out of New York, USA. Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 2321 (XXII, para 1.a), the Administrator of the UNDP performs the function of the Managing Director of UNCDF. UNCDF is overseen by the Executive Board of United Nations Development Fund (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and performs the function of the Executive Board of UNCDF.
As part of the Directorate, the Strategic Communications Team supports the Executive Secretary and all Divisions to elevate UNCDF’s corporate positioning both internally and externally, strengthen brand visibility and thought leadership by leading the development, harmonization, and amplification of communication activities and deliverables in line with overall business strategy, priority areas and upcoming Strategic Framework. The Strategic Communication Team collaborates with the External Relations Team to shape strategic engagements for UNCDF’s Executive Leadership Team (Executive Secretary, Chief Investment Officer, Chief Finance Officer, and Chief Operations Officer).
As part of this team, the Communications Analyst leads on the production of publications and all branded content required for off and online communication activities. The Communications Analyst will advance the graphic and digital design efforts for UNCDF content globally, regionally and locally both on and offline.
Duties and Responsibilities
a) Establish and maintain the UNCDF corporate brand style guide to promote visual brand consistency across all publications.
- Create and update style guidelines for print and digital materials
- Monitor application of the style guide across teams at HQ, regional and local levels
- Increase level of brand compliance across the organization
- Offer guidance and training on branding to internal teams and consultants producing branded material.
- Deploy multi-branding guidelines in collaboration with other partners and UN agencies
b) Develop and oversee the graphic design of UNCDF’s flagship products for print and digital usages to effectively communicate key information and engage donors, partners, and other stakeholders as required.
- Design and produce digital communications assets such as reports, power point decks, brochures, one pagers, social media cards, digital banners, etc.
- Design print ready assets such as brochures, roll up banners, flyers, etc.
- Design and reflow branded assets in multiple languages
- Maintain and update a set of branded templates on Adobe Creative Suite and Canva to allow colleagues to quickly create communication assets in full compliance with brand and editorial guidelines
- Improve branded assets and templates based on feedback from colleagues and main target audience groups
c) Support the production of engaging digital multimedia content to communicate organizational efforts, thought leadership, technical and financial information and achievements to a wider audience including Member States, partners, UN sister agencies, media, staff, and general public.
- Explore new tools and trends to help devise new audiovisual ways to create thought leadership products, tell impact stories and present financial services and instruments in a compelling, engaging and clear manner
- Provide technical support (recording, editing, coordinating etc.) to produce videos, animations, infographics, audio formats such as podcasts and any other multimedia content
- Support set up of video recording sessions of senior leaders, including set up of light, audio and video material
- Provide guidance to improve the production of digital multimedia content
- Collaborate with subject matter experts to collect accurate information and help break down technical and often jargony content into public facing messages and content
d) Lead the onboarding process for new digital products and platforms to enhance UNCDF’s digital presence and improve organizational capabilities in digital communications.
- Assess and adopt relevant digital tools and platforms to support external and internal communications activities such as data visualization of financial transactions and graphics to strengthen thought leadership pieces
- Organize training sessions for staff members on new tools and platforms (e.g., Canva)
- Improve internal graphic design capabilities through training, deployment of templates and coaching
- Proactively propose new tools and platforms to increase efficiency and reduce costs of graphic design and broader visibility efforts
e) Offer backup support for social media communications and webmaster/CMS maintenance to ensure an uninterrupted, high-quality online presence.
- Assist with social media publishing and monitoring
- Help in maintaining and updating website content by using the Content Management System
- Coordinate with the web team to publish and promote content
- Help in monitoring performance analytics of digital platforms
The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.
Competencies
Core Competencies:
Achieve Results: LEVEL 1
- Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline
Think Innovatively: LEVEL 1
- Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements
Learn Continuously: LEVEL 1
- Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback
Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 1
- Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible
Act with Determination: LEVEL 1
- Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident
Engage and Partner: LEVEL 1
- Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships
Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 1
- Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination
Cross-functional Competencies:
Business Management: Communication
- Communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience. Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels
Communications: Creative direction and copywriting
- Ability to creatively communicate concepts in an engaging and simple way
Communications: Graphic design
- Ability to communicate visually and create appealing UNCDF graphic products
Business Direction & Strategy: System Thinking
- Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system.
Communications: Multimedia production
- Ability to create and combine images, text and audio- visuals to produce multimedia content
Communications: Social Media management
- Ability to represent and promote the UNCDF brand in virtual communities and networks
Communications: Brand & quality management
- Ability to position a UNCDF brand and uphold it to a high level of quality
Required Skills and Experience
Min. Academic Education:
- Advanced university degree (master´s degree) in Graphic Design, Art, Communications, Journalism, Development Studies, International Relations or a related field is required or
- A first-level university degree (Bachelor´s degree) in the areas mentioned above in combination with additional 2 years of qualifying experience, will be given due consideration in lieu of Master´s degree.
Min. years of relevant Work experience:
- Applicants with a Master’s degree (or equivalent) in a relevant field of study are not required to have professional work experience. Applicants with a Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) are required to have a minimum of two (2) years of relevant professional experience in communications, including digital and print graphic design.
Required skills and competencies:
- Practical experience creating engaging and memorable digital and print branded assets.
- Strong grasp of design fundamentals, such as color theory, typography, layout, and composition.
- Strong familiarity with graphic design tools and platforms, such as Adobe Creative Suite (specifically Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign), Canva and PowerPoint.
- Strong artistic ability, including hand-drawing or digital illustration skills, is considered an asset.
- Knowledge of After Effects and Premiere Pro a bonus.
- Knowledge of CSS, HTML, front end design and user interface design a bonus.
- Great attention to details when creating and delivering designed assets, proven ability to conduct quality assurance together with copywriter.
Desired additional skills and competencies:
- Experience with the United Nations system, multilateral organizations or international financial institutions.
- Experience designing communication assets such as brochures, reports, flyers, roll up banners, social media cards, digital banners, power point, video animation etc.
- Experience delivering multiple branded assets as part of large global communications campaigns and storytelling through data.
- Experience ensuring brand coherence and fostering brand compliance in large organizations is desirable.
- Experience using new platforms, tools and design innovation to think out-of-the-box and convey technical financial information to non-expert audience.
- Knowledge of data visualization techniques.
- Experience operating in a fast-paced environment and managing multiple competing deadlines.
- Experience working with copy writers and/or translators designing multi language assets and managing design reflows based on translated copy, and multiple edit rounds is highly desirable.
- Experience preparing video packages and material for UNifeed and other multimedia requests.
Required Language(s) (at working level):
- Fluency in English is required.
- Knowledge of French is an asset.
Equal opportunity
As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination.
UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.
Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority
UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles.
Right to select multiple candidates
UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.