UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, an advocate.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment

Since the escalation of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, more than 2 million people from Ukraine have crossed the Slovak border. Slovakia currently hosts over 156,000 Ukrainian nationals with Temporary Protection status, of whom 80% are children and women. The most vulnerable groups within the refugee community, such as refugee youth and adolescents, children with disabilities, and their families, face higher risks and are harder to reach, necessitating more focused communication and outreach activities.

UNICEF is focusing on connecting the most vulnerable and hard-to-reach groups within the refugee population to national systems and services. This is implemented through the PATHWAYS program, which targets Ukrainian youth and adolescents with protection and education programs and facilitates ongoing collaboration with national and civil society stakeholders. The crucial part of the PATHWAYS initiative is outreach and engagement with youth which will be mainly executed via digital campaigns.

UNICEF Refugee Response Office (RRO)in Slovakia is seeking a Junior Digital Communications Consultant with extensive experience with social media management and creating digital content. The consultant will report to the Communications Officer of the UNICEF RRO in Slovakia. The consultant will work in close coordination with the Education team as well as with other programme colleagues in health, youth and social policy.

The consultancy is based in Bratislava, Slovakia. Travel to support communications activities is also expected.

Scope of Work

Under the supervision of the Communications Officer, and in coordination with other teams, primarily the Communications team, the consultant will support communication and advocacy activities in Slovakia.

More specifically, the consultant will:

1. Support digital communications:

• Develop communication assets (ex. presentations, graphics, flyers, social media posts, carrousels, short videos) to communicate information related to UNICEF RRO activities in Slovakia.
• Support the regular update, implementation, and monitoring of UNICEF Slovakia’s Digital Editorial Calendar, ensuring its alignment with regional and global campaigns and priorities.
• Work with the Communications Officer and programme colleagues to package and amplify branded content, social media messages and designs, videos, infographics, and other digital materials for web and social media channels in line with the Digital Editorial Calendar.
• Ensure tactical use of organic, earned and paid channels.
• Monitor social media campaigns, flagging risk and opportunities to deepen engagement.
• Support collaboration with influencers and partners to further amplify the message.

2. Contribute to communications campaigns:

• Support the Communications team with new ideas for the planned communications activities (ex. Pathways imitative, Gender equality, Mental health and psycho-social support, social cohesion, bullying prevention etc.).
• Contribute to further developping existing UNICEF´s digital platforms such as “How wonderful you are here” or “Love shouldn’t hurt” making mental health and gender based violence content more accessible, targeting adolescents and young people from Ukraine and Slovakia.
• Develop Pathways initiative related content focused on youth outreach to support Ukrainian adolescents and youth in Slovakia in accessing opportunities for continued education and skills building, career guidance and first job opportunities to enable their transition to work.
• Monitor and measure digital key performance indicators on social media accounts.

3. Strengthen the collaboration with UNICEF Slovensko National Committee (NatCom) on communications and social media outreach:

• Serve as a liaison between RRO Slovakia and UNICEF NatCom on communications activities.
• Support regular meetings with NatComs to align communications activities.
• Provide capacity building and hand-over digital communications during the phase-out of the RRO.

4. Provide support for overall logistics arrangement:

• Support the Communications section in organising meetings and events, as well as support capacity building activities.
• Support the logistical arrangements (ex. checking and coordinating events and visibility) and the delivery of workshops and trainings (ex. developing the agenda for the training; supporting facilitation as needed);
• Liaise with Implementing Partners and other stakeholders for the curation of content for target audiences.

Work Assignment Overview

Estimated Duration of the Contract

100 working days between January and June 2025.

Consultant’s Work Place and Official Travel

The Consultant will be based in Bratislava.

As part of this assignment, some local travels are foreseen. The consultant will arrange her/his travel as and when they take place, and related costs will be reimbursed per UNICEF travel policy.

Travel Clause

• All UNICEF rules and regulations related to travel of Consultants apply.
• All travels shall be undertaken only upon the prior written approval by UNICEF.
• The consultant must be fit to travel, be in a possession of the valid UN BSAFE certificate, obligatory inoculation(s) and have a valid own travel/medical insurance and an immunization/vaccination card.

Estimated Cost of the Consultancy & Payment Schedule

Payment will be made on submission of an invoice and satisfactory completion of the above-mentioned deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs are incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines. All materials developed will remain the copyright of UNICEF and UNICEF will be free to adapt and modify them in the future.

Please submit a professional fee (in EUR) based on 100 working days to undertake this assignment, without travel fees as these will be reimbursed as and when they take place.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Required:

• Minimum High School/Secondary School diploma required.
• Minimum of 1 year of relevant experience in Communications.
• Minimum of 1 year of relevant experience in graphic design and video editing (CANVA, ADOBE photoshop, Adobe Premiere, etc.)
• Minimum of 1 year of relevant experience in social media management (Facebook, Instagram)
• Fluency of English and Slovak is required.

Desired:

• Experience working with UNICEF is a strong asset.
• Experience working with youth.
• Experience with other UN organization is an asset.
• Experience working within refugee setting is a strong asset.
• Experience working with state and NGO partners is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS), and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most marginalized children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles 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.

Remarks:

Please include a full CV and a Cover Letter in your application. Additionally, indicate your availability and professional fee (in EUR) to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a professional fee will not be considered. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.