Communications Officer

Tiered Approach

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.

Background

UNDP Myanmar delivers area-based socio-economic assistance to vulnerable and crisis-affected communities through integrated interventions that support recovery, resilience, social cohesion, livelihoods, climate resilience, access to essential services, and community capacity across diverse operating environments.

The Communications Officer will support communications, digital media, visibility, storytelling, and content development efforts across UNDP Myanmar’s programme portfolio. The position will support communication approaches that promote inclusive representation and visibility of women, youth, persons with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups across programme communications and storytelling. The position will also support the mainstreaming and standardization of communication and visibility approaches across programmes and field locations,

The Communications Officer will work under the supervision of the Communications Expert (IUNV), with a matrix reporting line to the Resident Representative (RR).

Duties and Responsibilities

a) Support communications and visibility activities

• Support implementation of communication and visibility activities aligned with programme and corporate priorities.
• Draft and edit communication materials for internal and external audiences including social media content, web stories, briefing materials, presentations, and visibility products.
• Support management of social media platforms, including content scheduling, publishing, monitoring, and reporting.
• Support the development of engaging content tailored to different communication platforms and audiences, ensuring alignment with the organization's brand and donor visibility standards.
• Assist in monitoring social media performance and analytics and support preparation of performance reports and insights.
• Support updates and maintenance of websites and digital platforms using content management systems (CMS).
• Coordinate with programme and project teams to support timely communications products and visibility materials.
• Support the coordination of communications with programme and project teams, field offices, UN agencies, UN Communications Group, and external communications service providers where relevant.

b) Content development and multimedia support

• Develop social media content, stories, programme summaries, donor visibility materials, web articles, and multimedia products highlighting programme results and community perspectives, tailored to different audiences and communication platforms.
• Translate and adapt communication materials between Myanmar and English as required.
• Participate in regular communications coordination meetings with programme/project teams and field offices to support coherent messaging, visibility planning, and workflow management.
• Support the maintenance of a communications pipeline and tracker to ensure the timely development of stories, visibility products, donor communications, campaigns, and multimedia materials.
• Support the maintenance of a pipeline of gender-responsive stories, multimedia content, and visibility opportunities highlighting the experiences and contributions of women and girls.
• Produce written, visual, and digital content that promotes inclusive, balanced, and dignified representation of women, men, youth, older persons, persons with disabilities, and vulnerable populations across communications products and platforms.
• Support graphic design and layout of communication materials using Canva, Adobe Photoshop, or similar design platforms.
• Support photography, video documentation, interviews, and collection of community stories in line with ethical, safeguarding, and inclusive standards, including coordination with communications service providers where required.
• Translate technical and programme information into accessible and audience-appropriate communications products.
• Support communications around events, donor missions, launches, campaigns and other public engagement activities, including logistical and content support.
• Support the integration of gender-responsive and socially inclusive approaches across communication and visibility activities.

c) Outreach, coordination, and knowledge management

• Liaise with programme and project teams to support communication planning and coordination across the organization.
• Contribute to maintaining organized digital asset management and communications filing systems.
• Monitor communication and digital media trends and support adoption of relevant best practices.
• Support tracking, evaluation, and reporting on communications and digital engagement activities.
• Support dissemination of communication products across internal and external platforms.
• Support preparation of communication inputs for donor reports, programme updates, and resource mobilization materials.
• Support internal knowledge-sharing and collaboration across programme and field teams.
• Contribute to communication approaches that promote inclusive and gender-responsive representation across products and platforms.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Institutional Arrangement

The Communications Officer will work under the supervision of the Communications Expert (IUNV), with a matrix reporting line to the Resident Representative, and in close coordination with the Deputy Resident Representative, the Risk and Strategic Management Unit (RSMU), programme and project teams, field offices, and operations colleagues.

UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across units, functions, teams, and projects in multidisciplinary teams to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration.

Competencies

Core 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 & Technical competencies

Communications Campaign Management Ability to produce and implement communications and advocacy campaigns which lead to impactful change. Communications Writing and Editing Ability to create and/or edit written content in different UN languages. Communications Digital Strategy Ability to plan the use of resources through digital channels to reach and engage target audiences effectively and to achieve particular objectives. Business Management Knowledge Facilitation Ability to animate individuals and groups, internally and externally, and to design and facilitate activities, to share and exchange knowledge, information and ideas. Knowledge of tools and approaches to stimulate active participation, contribution, and exchange. Business Management Working with Evidence and Data Ability to inspect, cleanse, transform and model data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions and supporting decision-making. Business Management Project Management

Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control

resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals.

Busines 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.

Required Skills and Experience

Min. Education requirements

• Advanced university degree (master´s degree or equivalent) in Communications, Journalism, Media Studies, Development Studies, Social Sciences, or 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

• Minimum 2 year (with Master’s degree) or 4 years (with Bachelor’s degree) of relevant experience in communications, media, public information, knowledge management, or related areas.
• Experience in copywriting and content development for social media and digital platforms.
• Experience managing social media platforms and monitoring analytics.
• Experience developing communication materials including visual and digital content.
• Experience using Canva and/or Adobe creative tools.
• Experience using MS Office applications, CMS management, and digital communication platforms.
• Experience working with multidisciplinary teams and managing multiple priorities.
• Experience using website content management systems (CMS);
• Experience with Drupal.
• Experience supporting multilingual communications and translation between Myanmar and English.
• Experience supporting donor visibility or programme communications.
• Experience in a not-for-profit, development, humanitarian, international organization, UNDP or the UN system environment.
• Experience supporting communications in development or humanitarian contexts.
• Experience coordinating communications consultants, creative service providers, or multimedia content development processes.
• Experience supporting gender-responsive, safeguarding-sensitive, or inclusion-focused communications initiatives.
• Fluency in Myanmar and English is required.