Communications Specialist (Open to Tier 1 & 2 applicants)

International Personnel Service Agreement

In line with the commitment to safeguard capacity and support personnel already in the Organization, a majority of UNDP UNCDF/UNV vacancies are advertised using a tiered application process whereby:
Tier 0 : UNDP/UNCDF/UNV IP staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments, whose posts will be abolished, or contracts will be terminated or not renewed during 2026.
Tier 1 : Other UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments
Tier 2 : UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding temporary appointments (TA), personnel on regular PSA contracts, and Expert and Specialist UN Volunteers
Tier 3 or no tier indicated : All other contract types from UNDP/UNCDF/UNV and other agencies, and other external candidates
Please make note of the Tier(s) indicated in the vacancy title, if any, and ensure that you satisfy the eligibility to apply.
The Central African region is home to the second largest tropical rainforest in the world, is sucking out about 1.5 billion tons of CO2 of the atmosphere or 4% of the world's emissions every year and provides a habitat to more than 10,000 plant and animal species. Forest loss is accelerating despite ongoing efforts, as government action alone has not been enough to establish an effective balance between the interests of the forest and of economic development.
CAFI's objective is to recognize and preserve the value of the forests in the region to mitigate climate change, reduce poverty, and contribute to sustainable development. This objective will be attained through the implementation of country-led, national scale REDD+ and Low Emissions Development (LED) investment frameworks that include policy reforms and measures to address the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation and promote sustainable development. The CAFI Trust Fund is the principal means to implement the Central African Forest Initiative. It is administered by the MPTF-O, that also provides the Secretariat services.
The objective of this IPSA engagement is to strengthen the CAFI's Secretariat in its communications, visibility, and reporting across the CAFI portfolio.
Scope of Work
Content creation
Implement within the Secretariat the knowledge of new trends and technologies in web- and digital-based graphic design.
Maintain the CAFI Trust Fund presence in public dialogue where appropriate.
Develop relationships with key partners to maximize visibility and traffic to CAFI digital platforms and to maximize the distribution of content.
Lead on the identification of new communications opportunities and products consistent with the CAFI's branding and visibility.
Coordinate the production and publishing of daily content (social networks, presentations, text, images, video or HTML) to engage audiences in a meaningful way.
Create content for the CAFI website, keeping the site current with new articles, CAFI-funded programmes pages and thematic areas.
Responsible for daily updates across CAFI's social media platforms. This includes preparing and publishing regular content on key developments, news, programme achievements, and events related to CAFI; monitoring engagement; and ensuring timely, innovative and proactive communication in alignment with CAFI's visibility objectives.
Identify and develop compelling stories from the CAFI portfolio, and produce multimedia content (stories, videos, graphics, and social media updates) that showcase programme impact. This includes identifying compelling stories from within the CAFI portfolio, working with country teams, collecting background materials, commissioning photographers when needed, and transforming programme reports into multimedia products.
Maintain CAFI social media presence including by developing a list of international days and events relevant to CAFI partner and donor countries, listing relevant hashtags, mapping key stakeholders and influencers, drafting social media kits for main events of the year, and sharing a regular stream of content via the CAFI Twitter account.
Quality control
Lead on the production of high-quality communications products for print, audio/visual and social media in UN languages, including short videos, infographics and other related materials.
Responsible for drafting detailed Terms of Reference (TORs) of all deliverables expected from the external communication firm contracted by the CAFI Secretariat. This includes communication products, event‑related services, multimedia content, films, and any other visibility materials.
Conduct systematic quality control of all deliverables to ensure compliance with CAFI's communication strategy, branding guidelines, editorial standards, and expected impact. Provide consolidated feedback, request revisions, and ensure outputs meet operational and strategic requirements before validation
Review materials coming from country partners and develop and provide regular and targeted guidance to align messaging with CAFI's vision and communication & visibility strategy.
Perform editorial reviews of relevant portfolio knowledge products developed by the CAFI Secretariat (ie. Brochures, annual highlights etc).
Design and develop infographics, posters, leaflets, presentations, brochures, reports and any other design required to meet communications objectives.
Contribute to the design and implementation of the CAFI communication strategy, including; providing updates and soliciting feedback from teams and stakeholder; applying state of the art practices, in the Fund's graphic design and communication.
Establish and manage the Secretariat's central database of all CAFI communication materials, including publications, multimedia content, design assets, event materials, social media packages, and visibility products. The Specialist will ensure proper classification, version control, metadata tagging, and accessibility of all communication assets for internal and external use.
Media relations
Draft press releases, factsheets, talking points, and scripts for video messages.
Organize responses to media requests and support messaging.
Support media outreach during major events/meetings by creating opportunities for positive messaging about CAFI 's achievements and milestones, identifying opportunities, themes and media outlets drafting pitches, supporting the organization of interviews, taking photos, preparing communications material (press releases, talking points, key messages).
Support the contracting of national communication consultants, media professionals, or journalists in CAFI partner countries by preparing TORs, coordinating assignments, and conducting rigorous quality control of all deliverables produced at country level. This includes ensuring alignment with CAFI's messaging, communication strategy, and editorial standards, as well as providing technical guidance to national contractors.
Support the organization of field visits with journalists and photographer(s) to CAFI programme sites to amplify messaging around the conservation of forests as a climate solution.: This will include site identification, drafting technical notes to capture existing programmes and results to be featured during field visit, preparing compelling pitches with compelling elements resulting from research and technical notes, establishing a list of identifying target media, liaising with journalists and governments and preparing briefing pack for field visit participants.
Competencies
Core Competencies:
Achieve Results:

LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact
Think Innovatively:

LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems
Learn Continuously:

LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences
Adapt with Agility:

LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands
Act with Determination:

LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results
Engage and Partner:

LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration
Enable Diversity and Inclusion:

LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity
Cross-Functional & Technical competencies:
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
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.
Business Development-Collective Intelligence Design:

Ability to bringing together diverse groups of people, data, information or ideas, and technology to design services or solutions
Communications-Social Media management:

Ability