Strategic Communication and Civic Campaign Expert (EDMITE).
Vacancy Number: Pr20/02100
Contacts:
Ms. Eva Bounegru.
eva.bounegru@undp.org
Background
Electoral support and capacity development are part of UNDP’s democratic governance assistance worldwide, through which UNDP helps nations build democratic frameworks to improve representation, accountability, and transparency for the benefit of citizens.
UNDP has a long-standing partnership with the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) and the Center for Continuous Electoral Training (CCET) aiming at advancing the democratic electoral processes in Moldova by consolidating the transparency and efficiency of elections’ management, modernization of electoral IT solutions and enhancing the inclusiveness and participation of voters. This partnership, which spans over 10 years, resulted in the establishment of strong professional institutions, development of a modern State Automated Information System “Elections” (SAISE), the enhancement of the State Register of Voters’ accuracy and the design and implementation of effective long-term civic and voter education instruments.
Throughout the last electoral cycles, CEC and CCET due to the continuous UNDP’s support have demonstrated strengthened capacities and, despite challenges and persistent financial limitations faced by the institutions, delivered “well-administered elections” as attested by OSCE/ODIHR Observation Missions.
Building on the sustainable results achieved during the first phase of the Project implementation (2017 – 2020), the objectives of the current Project phase (2020 – 2023) are: 1) Enhance the inclusiveness of the electoral process by increasing the functional and technical capacities of the State Automated Information System “Elections” (SAISE); 2) Enhance the political participation of citizens by setting up and implementing the voters’ information and civic education programmes; 3) Strengthen the capacity for effective and coherent oversight and monitoring on political party financing; and 4) Improve the legal and regulatory framework to respond to the EOM recommendations.
To achieve the objectives and ensure the sustainability of results, the Project will further enhance strategic partnerships and will engage with key stakeholders, including public institutions, civil society organizations and the donor community. The interventions of the Project will have systematic and significant implications at policy/legislation, coordination, institutional and electoral service provision levels, having a sustainable impact at the national level.
Scope of work
The Project intends to contract a Strategic Communication and Civic Campaign Expert (hereafter the Consultant) to provide the professional support and expertise in the Project communication and civic campaign work. He/she will be responsible for drafting and implementing the Project’s Communication Strategy in compliance with the corporate visibility guidelines and rules and in close collaboration with the Project Team and UNDP Communications Analyst, Donor organization, beneficiary institutions, CSOs and mass-media representatives. Specifically, the Consultant will have the following responsibilities:
- Elaborate and lead the implementation of the Project’s Communication Strategy and Visibility Plan in close collaboration with the Project Team and UNDP Communications Analyst;
- Conceptualize and implement, in close collaboration with the Project Team, innovative civic education activities, targeting youth, women, people with different types of disabilities and ethnic minorities;
- Provide expert support in increasing the cooperation and outreach of information among Project beneficiaries and partners, including, but not limited to Central Electoral Commission, Centre for Continuous Electoral Training, Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, CSOs, etc.;
- Provide communication and visibility support in the delivery of Project events, workshops, civic education campaigns, and other relevant Project activities, as necessary. This support will involve drafting of events scenarios, moderation, coordination, and evaluation of both face-to face and online activities.
- Draft talking points, briefs, factsheets, handout materials and dynamic presentations, considering the gender and human rights aspects;
- Collect testimonials to communicate Project outputs and results;
- Maintain the evidence of the Project workshops, seminars and events organized within the civic campaign programmes, with related links and in a disaggregated manner;
- Draft and coordinate with the Project Team and UNDP Communications Analyst press-releases, articles, success stories, blogs, communication reports and news about the Project’s most important achievements to be placed in the national media and/or in the local and regional media/websites;
- Coordinate the development, design, and layout of a wide range of Project communication and promotional materials (written, visual, audio and video) for internal and external audiences, for presentation, print, online and media outlets use;
- Coordinate the process of dissemination of Project knowledge products in line with corporate communication policies;
- Develop and manage social media and information campaigns;
- Engage with the Project beneficiaries, Government, Donor organization, development partners, CSOs, mass-media, public institutions, and other stakeholders for coordinating communication and outreach events according to the Communication Strategy and Visibility Plan;
- Respond to requests for inputs from UNDP, Donor organization and beneficiary institutions with respect to communication and visibility aspects of the Project;
- Maintain the Project’s event calendar and provide regular updates for the UNDP event calendar;
- Update and maintain electronic database of partners (UN agencies, NGOs, media, etc.);
- Ensure compliance with all corporate rules and regulations of UNDP and the Donor organization in the field of communication and visibility promotion and reporting;
- Write Terms of References and/or Technical Specifications and participate in the evaluation of offers submitted by the Project short-term experts and service providers related to communication services and products;
- Participate in the evaluation of applications submitted in the framework of the Project Civic Campaign Grants Programmes (CSOs and mass-media);
- Maintain close communication and coordination between the Project and grantees during the execution of the grants to ensure high visibility of the activities and their compliance with UNDP rules and regulations;
- Deliver trainings for the beneficiary institutions and grantees on communication and social media aspects, including Facebook, Youtube, medium.com, Instagram, etc., according to UNDP Standard Operating Procedures for Communications;
- Provide expert advice and recommendations to mitigate potential public communication crisis and sensible issues. This shall include, but not be limited to, press monitoring (pre and post crisis), drafting of press releases and/or written reactions, and ad-hoc crisis reports.
- Provide contributions and inputs to the Project work-plans and narrative reports on a quarterly, mid-year and annual basis, or more often as required by the Project Manager;
- Develop and submit monthly reports/timesheets on the performed activities, carried out tasks, containing relevant links, statistics, and disaggregated data;
- Prepare and submit the final activity report in the form of a Brochure with Results and Human Stories (incl. quantitative and qualitative data and information, pictures, graphics, charts, impact of obtained results, conclusions, and recommendations);
Perform other tasks as may be required by the Project Manager on an ad-hoc basis.
For detailed information, please refer to Annex 1 – Terms of Reference
Requirements for experience
Academic Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree or higher in Journalism, Communication, Media Studies, Public Relations, or communication related area.
Experience and knowledge:
- At least 7 years of demonstrated experience in working with mass-media or as a communication specialist;
- At least 3 years of work experience in developing and implementing media/communications strategies and plans, visibility and awareness raising campaigns, drafting communication materials and products (including elaboration of articles, press releases, interviews and other communication products) - (please submit links in the proposal);
- Proven experience in designing and implementing civic campaign activities, in close collaboration with CSOs and mass-media;
- Proven experience in the use of social media, multi-media, and digital platforms;
- Previous experience in the design and delivery of lectures, trainings, workshops, or media/communication seminars, as well as moderating/facilitating public events;
- Previous experience in crisis communication is a strong advantage;
- Proven experience in video production is an advantage;
- Experience in mainstreaming gender and human rights aspects is an advantage.
- Experience in similar positions in an UNDP and/or EU-funded project or other international organization is an advantage.
Competencies:
- Excellent written communication, creative and analytical skills;
- Strong sense of initiative and ability to work independently;
- Demonstrated interpersonal skills, as well as the ability to communicate effectively with all stakeholders and to present ideas clearly and effectively;
- Knowledge and sound understanding of election area (CEC roles and responsibilities, as well as Government institutions, NGOs and international donors working in this field);
- Outstanding oral and written communications and editing skills, with proven ability to meet tight deadlines, to handle multiple priorities simultaneously and to adapt to changing circumstances.
- Fluency in Romanian, English and Russian languages (verbal and written) is a must.
Personal qualities:
- Proven commitment to the core values of the United Nations, in particular respecting differences of culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, language, age, HIV status, disability, and sexual orientation, or other status;
- Responsibility, flexibility and punctuality, ability to meet deadlines and prioritize multiple tasks.
The UNDP Moldova is committed to workforce diversity. Women and men, persons with different types of disabilities, LGBT, Roma and other ethnic, linguistic or religious minorities, persons living with HIV, as well as refugees and other non‐citizens legally entitled to work in the Republic of Moldova, are particularly encouraged to apply.
Documents to be included
Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/ information to demonstrate their qualifications:
- Offeror's Letter confirming interest and availability;
- Technical proposal (incl. brief description of experience, approach, and methodology for the completion of the assignment);
- Financial proposal (in USD) specifying a total lump sum requested for the assignment specified in the Terms of Reference;
Duly completed and signed Personal History Form (P11), personal CV and at least 3 references.
Financial proposal
The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of the lump sum amount (daily rate and number of anticipated working days).
Travel
Travel is not envisaged in the framework of the current assignment.
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