Communications Specialist (IPSA-11) UNCDF New York, USA

Background

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.

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. 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).

Duties and Responsibilities

a) Ensure strategic communication, brand and quality management

• Provide strategic support in the ideation, writing, editing and quality control of UNCDF communications plans and products, with a view to amplify brand awareness that reflects on-the-ground impact, and contributes to strategic business development, partnership building and resource mobilization efforts.
• Ensure brand coherence and strategic messaging alignment on communication material created by country-based colleagues, conduct quality assurance on communication materials created by colleagues in country and at regional level.

b) Lead content curation and amplification

• Oversee the production of a range of communications materials, including case studies, data-driven impac