Result of Service

To improve the Programme’s global visibility and knowledge exchange among Programme partners to promote inclusive sustainable urbanisation.

Work Location

Nairobi, Kenya

Expected duration

6 months

Duties and Responsibilities

UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable and resilient towns and cities. It is the focal point agency for all urbanization and human settlement matters within the UN system. UN-Habitat envisions well-planned, well-governed and efficient cities and towns, with adequate housing, infrastructure and universal access to employment and basic services such as water, energy, and sanitation.
The Planning, Finance & Economy Section is responsible for coordinating the Agency’s substantive, normative and operational work on various dimensions of planning, finance and economy. The Planning, Finance & Economy Section aims to develop, document, pilot/test and disseminate planning policies, norms, standards, tools, methodologies, regulatory frameworks, operating procedures and practices at global, regional, national and sub-national levels in support of (a) urban and territorial planning at all scales including urban design and public space design; (b) urban finance (municipal finance and urban development/projects finance); and (c) local economic development.

The Urban Planning and Design Lab (Urban Lab) is an initiative from UN-Habitat to promptly respond to the requests of national and local governments to support sustainable urban development. The Urban Lab is the integrative facility of the Agency where innovative processes and partnerships are translated into tangible and transformative solutions to complex urban challenges. Throughout, the Urban Lab acts as a neutral broker, managing knowledge in complex stakeholder settings to resolve multi-sectoral, multi-scalar and multi-stakeholder challenges.

The Lab brings together a multidisciplinary team of urban planners, environmental, data-science, mobility, legal and financial experts, providing a holistic and proactive approach to sustainable urbanization. Hence, the Lab captures the necessary thematic disciplines, experts, actors and stakeholders.

In this context, the Urban Lab applies an integrated approach to systemic and strategic planning to deliver transformative change for sustainable urbanization and to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the New Urban Agenda.
The Global Future Cities Programme (GFCP) under the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office’s Prosperity Fund (UK FCDO) aims to deliver targeted interventions in 19 cities across 10 countries to encourage sustainable development, increase prosperity whilst alleviating high levels of urban poverty. The programme will also create significant short and long-term business opportunities in growing markets forecast to be regional growth hubs. In addition, the programme will make a significant contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and implementation of the New Urban Agenda (NUA). The Global Future Cities Programme includes cities in Brazil, South Africa, Nigeria, Turkey, Burma/Myanmar, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The programme builds upon three integrated pillars, that collectively will address key barriers to prosperity, in selected cities:
• Urban planning – technical assistance for spatial restructuring (city strategies, urban renewal, regeneration, master planning and planning frameworks)
• Transportation – technical assistance to support cities to develop integrated multi-modal public transport systems
• Resilience – technical as
sistance to develop strategies to address the impact of climate change (e.g. flooding) and ensure development is sustainable
The UK FCDO has requested UN-Habitat’s Urban Lab to support the Implementation Phase by providing strategic advice, knowledge management and quality recommendations on both Programme and local levels. A programme level capacity building component is being delivered with the support of an implementing partner, the United Kingdom Built Environment Advisory Group (UK BEAG). The Urban Lab’s main contribution is to work as a neutral actor, facilitating processes to make sure that interventions adequately incorporate principles for sustainable urbanization, that cities are capacitated to sustain the interventions in the long-run and that knowledge will be shared on local and global level.

Duties and Responsibilities
UN-Habitat’s Urban Lab now seeks to strengthen its team in the delivery of the programme by engaging a consultant to lead the global visibility, communications, knowledge management and engagement work.

The consultant will be hired and work under the overall supervision of the Head of the Urban Lab with the direct supervision of the Programme Manager of the Global Future Cities Programme. The consultant will also work closely with the Chief of the Planning, Finance and Economy and the communication focal points. The consultant will coordinate with UN-Habitat’s Communication and Media unit to follow the UN-Habitat’s Communication Strategy and to inform UN-Habitat’s media outreach by performing the following duties and responsibilities:


1. Enhancing and executing a coordination and action plan delivering the Programme's Global Visibility and Communication Strategy:
 Further develop and implement the existing Programme coordination and action plan that delivers the Global Visibility and Communications Strategy
 Maintain and ensure use of key messages document and calendar of events for the Programme
 Work with multiple stakeholders (across the Programme and wider UN-Habitat) to execute the coordination and action plan. Either directly, or by supporting others, source human-interest stories that demonstrate impact of the Programme
 Build a library of photo, video and stories and make sure it accessible for communication focal points within the Planning, Finance and Economy Section and UN-Habitat’s Communication and Media unit.

2. Securing media coverage, social media posts and presence at third-party events to increase awareness of the Programme:
 Identify opportunities and coordinate with multiple stakeholders to achieve media coverage in local, national and global outlets that will positively enhance visibility of the Programme
 Prepare briefing and background material, including pitch documents, required in preparation for media relations activity
 Identify and train spokespeople in preparation for media relations activity
 Coordinate and collaborate with multiple stakeholders to increase visibility of the Programme across social media, including with UN-Habitat’s Communication and Media unit.
 Coordinate with multiple stakeholders to ensure the Programme’s visibility at targeted third-party events

3. Increasing quantity and quality of content and use of the Global Future Cities’ Knowledge Platform (globalfuturecities.org) and Community Forum (community.urbanagendaplatform.org):
 Keep track of, engage with, and collate communications outputs prepared by multiple stakeholders
 Develop content for the Knowledge Platform that demonstrates synergy across multiple projects of the Programme and is forward-facing
 Edit content provided by stakeholders for the Knowledge Platform
 Develop and execute a plan for the Community Forum that results in i) an increase in the number of users, ii) regular/repeat engagement by existing users, and iii) more activity in general
 Identify new opportunities for, or work with colleagues to expand, sharing of knowledge across all projects of the Programme (among stakeholders within the Programme and the wider general public), and integrate the use of the Knowledge Platform and/or Community Forum to facilitate this sharing
 Implement the Knowledge Platform and Community Forum, e.g. approving new users, uploading content, working with web developers to make any necessary changes
 Source and coordinate with any third-party suppliers to improve functionality and/or reporting in order to deliver duties listed above

4. Strengthening support to increase engagement with stakeholders (predominantly city authorities and local communities) at project-level:
 Provide direct assistance to boost the actions of Local Engagement Champions
 Extend counsel to delivery partners on their activities that engage local communities
 Producing newsletters with engagement features to encourage programme partners and other interested parties to engage on the programme and its platform.

5. Developing and delivering an action plan to increase visibility of the work of the Planning, Finance and Economy Section:
 Develop an action plan that supports the Planning, Finance and Economy Section to increase the visibility of its work within UN-Habitat, the wider UN family and the general public
 Secure additional human resource where required/possible to deliver the approved action plan, and oversee any recruitment and output delivery associated with this
 Ensure delivery of the approved action plan
 Support Community of Practice on Planning, Finance and Economy communication and knowledge management activities

6. Sustaining high standard of communications output, regularly monitor and evaluating effectiveness of communications output and use results to inform adapting plans, for the Programme and wider Section:
 Both directly and through supervising and supporting Section communication focal points, ensure all external-facing communications outputs of the Programme are of a high standard
 Define baselines and set up methods and measures for monitoring effectiveness of communications activity
 Regularly reflect and adapt plans if required to ensure communications resource is used effectively

Qualifications/special skills

Competency: Technological Awareness. Keeps abreast of available technology, understands applicability and limitations of technology to the work of the office, actively seeks to apply technology to appropriate tasks, shows willingness to learn new technology.

Communication. Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed, Excellent drafting ability and communications skills, both oral and written; proven ability to communicate complex concepts orally; ability to prepare written reports that are clear, concise and meaningful.

Teamwork. Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; is willing to learn from others; places team agenda before personal agenda; supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.

Client orientation. Considers all those to whom services are provided to be “clients ” and seeks to see things from clients’ point of view; Establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect; Identifies clients’ needs and matches them to appropriate solutions; Monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients’ environment to keep informed and anticipate problems; Keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects; Meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client.

Academic Qualifications: Advanced University degree in Communications, Journalism, Marketing, Public Relations, Advocacy, Graphic Design, International Development or related field is required. A first‐level university degree in combination with two additional years may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree

Experience: A minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience in the field of communications, journalism, public relations, knowledge management, or advocacy is required,
Experience in external relations, media relations or public relations is required,
Experience in developing communication materials to report on impact is required,
Experience in writing / editing is an asset,
Experience managing volunteers and/or interns is an asset,
Experience with website management is an asset.
Experience in the field of inclusive sustainable urbanisation is an asset,
Experience in any of the countries or cities of the programme is an asset
Experience in ‘communicating with communities’ is an asset,
Working knowledge and understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals and of the New Urban Agenda is an asset,
Experience with website management is an asset,
Knowledge of graphic design software is an asset,
Knowledge of social media platforms and building online communities is an asset.
Working knowledge and understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals and of the New Urban Agenda;
Knowledge of graphic design software and social media platforms s an asset;

Language: English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this position, fluency in English (both oral and written) is required. Knowledge of another UN official language is an advantage.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.