Job Description

II. Organizational Context

Background

Spotlight Initiative is the United Nations high-impact initiative to end violence against women and girls. Launched in September 2017 with €500 million in seed funding from the European Union, the initiative is aimed at eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls, as well as harmful practices. It follows a transformative and evidence-based approach, addressing unequal power relations between men and women and focusing on gender equality and women’s empowerment. In line with the principles of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Initiative follows a human rights-based approach and takes into consideration the specific needs of women and girls who experience multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and upholds the principle of “leaving no one behind”. This work is embedded in the broader normative framework of the sustainable development goals and builds on decades of work, existing initiatives, and accelerated momentum.

Spotlight Initiative seeks to intensity the focus and accelerates progress on eliminating violence against women and girls, as well as harmful practices, through “dedicated large-scale resources, comprehensive design and focus, and evidence-based programmatic theory of change”.

Spotlight Initiative aims to support transformative change on the ground to end violence against women and girls globally. It adopts a comprehensive approach to violence, implementing interventions under 4 outcome areas: laws, policies and institutions; violence prevention; response (provision of quality services and addressing impunity); and support to the women’s movement and civil society organizations.

The Initiative is supported by a Secretariat to ensure coherence, alignment, quality, and strong technical support for a programme with regional specificities. The Spotlight Secretariat’s technical unit is specifically accountable for the technical quality and coherence of the Initiative. It responds to requests from the Initiative’s Strategic and Operational Committee for support and assistance to: provide key technical support and guidance in development of country programmes: collaborate with and provide support to technical officers of UN Agencies at country and regional levels to guarantee the technical quality and coherence of the Initiative, regularly brief and consult all relevant UN Agencies, serve as a liaison to civil society at the global level to build partnerships and ensure inclusion, ensure timely deployment of technical capacity to country programmes as needed, initiate and support regional programming where there is no regional structure, make the linkages between programming and policy outputs, provide on-going monitoring support for quality assurance, coordinate the evaluation of programmes, and ensure public information, communication and visibility for the Initiative and Conduct analysis and management of the Initiative’s knowledge.

Under the supervision of the Communications Lead for the Spotlight Initiative, (Communications Specialist, EVAW), the Digital Editor is responsible conceptualizing, developing, writing, editing and acquiring written and visual content for the global Spotlight Initiative website, digital campaigns and platforms. The Editor will also copy-edit written products, publications and other content as required by the Secretariat.

The Digital Editor ensures that the content is:

accurate, appropriate, timely and engaging
conforms to journalistic standards and Spotlight Initiative branding
provides regional balance across the Initiative’s programme countries
is well coordinated with that of core UN Agencies working on the Spotlight Initiative: UN Women, UNDP, UNFPA and UNICEF

III. Scope of Work Functions:

Plan, research, write, edit and publish stories and content for Spotlight Initiative channels:
Work closely with Spotlight Initiative teams and communications focal points in country and regional programmes to develop human interest stories.
Develop and regularly update content for the website.
Foster relationships with key stakeholders, including various UN agencies, implementing partners, and civil society partners to promote collaboration and knowledge sharing
Develop and maintain digital content editorial calendar.
Produce or copyedit innovative and engaging copy for all digital content and campaigns, including the newsletter.
Work closely with the Public Information Officer and Social Media Content and Video Editor to create scripts and other content for social media and ensure integration between the website and social media channels.
Copy, edit and review all social media content for syntax and UN Editorial consistency.
Produce and edit written content for the Spotlight Initiative Secretariat as needed, including Annual Reports, Impact Reports and Report Summaries.
Contribute to the drafting of scripts, op-eds, speeches and video messages for Spotlight Initiative events, leadership and UN Global Advocates.
Adapt editorial approach to meet emerging needs of the Secretariat as Spotlight Initiative enters its second phase of programming to ensure the continuing relevance of the Initiative.
Build communications capacity:
Manage, develop and deliver storytelling training and workshops to build capacitywithin the team, country programmes and broader community.
Work collaboratively with inter-agency colleagues to ensure relevant content is shared and amplified.
Maintain, monitor and administer Spotlight Initiative website:
Evaluate and test website functionalities and match user requirements to ensure consistent product quality and performance.
Monitor and review Spotlight Initiative web pages — including regional and country pages — to ensure adherence to the Global Communications and Visibility Strategy, web-writing guidelines and web user manual.
Scan all content published on website to ensure quality and consistency with web-writing guidelines and the UN Editorial Manual.
Liaise with developers to identify and correct bugs, system and security issues.
Frequently update and optimize Web User Manual.
Coordinate the translation of web content:
Coordinate in-house translation with French- and Spanish-speaking colleagues, as required.
Monitor deadlines and delivery of translations for posting.
Carries out any duties assigned by the Spotlight Initiative Global Communications Lead or the Technical Advisor.

IV. Competencies

Core Values:

Respect for Diversity
Integrity
Professionalism

Core Competencies:

Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
Accountability
Creative Problem Solving
Effective Communication
Inclusive Collaboration
Stakeholder Engagement
Leading by Example

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:

https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

Ability to produce (write or edit) fresh, accurate, jargon-free and reader-friendly copy on deadline.
Outstanding writing and copy-editing skills.
Familiarity with and ability to learn web content management systems.
Knowledge of digital analytics, audience growth and engagement strategies.
Ability to work in a deadline-driven environment with multiple projects running concurrently.
Good research and writing skills.
In-depth understanding of EVAWG.

V. Minimum Qualifications

Education and Certification:

Advanced university degrees in Journalism, Communications, International Development or similar field, or equivalent work experience; a first-level university degree, combined with two additional years of qualifying experience, may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

At least 5 years of relevant professional experience in news reporting, journalistic writing, editing or communications, for both UN and private sector.
Experience in writing, editing, fact-checking and copy-editing skills, including a strong understanding of online storytelling.
Experience in web development and content management systems, and an understanding of modern web standards and communication principles.
Experience working closely with a large, international network of contributors.
Strong understanding of the Spotlight Initiative’s goals and objectives.
Proven experience building communications capacity within an organization.
Experience leading inter-agency UN projects.

Languages:

Fluency in English

Statements :

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.

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