Director, Public Information

Position description

This position is located in the Outreach Division of the Department of Global Communications. The Director reports to the Under-Secretary-General (USG) for Global Communications. The Outreach Division works to engage and educate people and their communities worldwide to encourage support for the ideals and activities of the United Nations.

Responsibilities

Within delegated authority, the Director will be responsible for the following. • Directs the Outreach Division which includes Education Outreach Programs, Creative Community Outreach Initiatives, NGO Relations, Advocacy and Special Events), Dag Hammarskjöld Library, UN Chronicle, Knowledge Solutions and Design Section, UN Publications and Visitors Services. • Contributes to the formulation of the department’s overall strategies and policies by participating in various committees, preparing documents on policy issues, and acting, as required, in an advisory capacity to the USG; contribute to the overall management of the Department’s activities and operations. • Provides leadership to the development of innovative and/or change management programmes. • Builds relationships and fosters interactions with external and UN system partners to promote understanding of the Organization’s priorities and issues through its outreach programmes. • In line with the Global Communications Strategy for the UN, formulates and implement the substantive work programme of the Division under his/her supervision, determining priorities, and allocating resources for the completion of outputs and their timely delivery. • Oversees the management of activities undertaken by the Division, ensuring that programmed activities are carried out in a timely fashion and co-ordinates work in the different areas both within the Division and Department, and with other organizations of the United Nations System, donors and agencies as appropriate. • Co-ordinates and oversees the preparation of reports for presentation to intergovernmental bodies such as the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budget Questions, Committee for Programme Coordination, Economic and Social Council, the General Assembly and other policy-making organs, as appropriate. • Reports to intergovernmental bodies on budget,programme performance and on programmatic issues, as appropriate, . • Ensures that the outputs produced by the Division maintain high-quality standards; that reports are clear, objective and based on comprehensive data. Ensures that all outputs produced by the office/division under his/her supervision meet required standards before completion to ensure they comply with the relevant mandates. • Oversees the programmatic and administrative tasks necessary for the functioning of the Office/Division, including preparation of budgets, assigning and monitoring of performance parameters and critical indicators, reporting on budget/programme performance, preparation of inputs for results-based budgeting, evaluation of staff performance (PAS), interviews of candidates for job openings and evaluation of candidates. • Oversees the recruitment of staff for Division taking due account geographical and gender balance and other institutional values. • Manages, guides, develops and trains staff under his/her supervision; foster teamwork and communication among staff in the Division and across organizational boundaries. • Chairs meetings, seminars, etc., on substantive-related issues; represents the Organization at international, regional, inter-agency meetings, seminars and conference; provides programmatic/substantive expertise on an issue, or holds programmatic/substantive and organizational discussions with representatives of other institutions. • Perform other related duties as requested by the senior management of the Organization.

Qualifications

• Professionalism: Knowledge of the substantive field of work in general and of specific areas being supervised. Shows ability to produce reports and papers on technical issues and to review and edit the work of others. Shows ability to apply UN rules, regulations, policies and guidelines in work situations. Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations. • Accountability: Takes ownership of all responsibilities and honours commitments; delivers outputs for which one has responsibility within prescribed time, cost and quality standards; operates in compliance with organizational regulations and rules; supports subordinates, provides oversight and takes responsibility for delegated assignments; takes personal responsibility for his/her own shortcomings and those of the work unit, where applicable. • Leadership: Serves as a role model that other people want to follow: empowers others to translate vision into results; is proactive in developing strategies to accomplish objectives; establishes and maintains relationships with a broad range of people to understand needs and gain support; anticipates and resolves conflicts by pursuing mutually agreeable solutions; drives for change and improvements; does not accept the status quo; shows the courage to take unpopular stands. Provides leadership and takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work; demonstrates knowledge of strategies and commitment to the goal of gender balance in staffing. • Vision: Identifies strategic issues, opportunities and risks; clearly communicates links between the Organization’s strategy and the work unit’s goals; generates and communicates broad and compelling organizational direction, inspiring others to pursue that same direction; conveys enthusiasm about future possibilities. • Judgement/Decision-making: Identifies the key issues in a complex situation, and comes to the heart of the problem quickly; gathers relevant information before making a decision; considers positive and negative impacts of decisions prior to making them; takes decisions with an eye to the impact on others and on the Organization; proposes a course of action or makes a recommendation based on all available information; checks assumptions against facts; determines the actions proposed will satisfy the expressed and underlying needs for the decision; makes tough decisions when necessary.

Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in business or public administration, finance, accounting, law, social sciences, communication or related area. A first-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Over fifteen years of progressively responsible experience in journalism, strategic communications, or international relations, of which at least five years were at the international level in a large multicultural institution is required. Experience in senior management, administration and operations is required. Experience in development and implementation of outreach programmmes in the UN common system or similar intergovernmental organization is required. Extensive experience in building partnerships and cooperative arrangements/initiatives with to academia, civil societies, celebrities, and sports organizations is required. Experience in development and implementation of multilingual communications strategies is desirable. Experience in fundraising is desirable.

Application instructions

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