IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING APPLICATION DEADLINE:  please note that the deadline for applications is indicated in local time as per the time zone of the applicant’s location.

This post is a limited-term fixed-term post.

a.    Organizational Setting

The post is located in the Publications and Design Section of the WIPO Information and Digital Outreach Division. The Division is responsible for delivering communications strategies and content that explain the intellectual property system in an engaging and informative way, and contribute to better understanding worldwide of WIPO’s role and services.

The Publications and Design Section is responsible for developing and implementing WIPO’s visual corporate identity. We manage the production of editorial and graphic design content for WIPO’s diverse public information materials and campaigns, in multiple languages and formats, and we are responsible for Organization-wide editorial policies and publications quality control to strengthen communications and ensure consistency with the WIPO brand.

b.    Purpose Statement

The Section is looking for a Publications and Design Officer who will coordinate the large volume of publication and design projects carried out by the busy internal team and our external suppliers, ensuring final deliverables are of high quality, on time and on budget.

The Section is transitioning to digital workflows and the Publications and Design Officer will have a central role in supporting this evolution of our working practices and technologies.

c.    Reporting Lines

The Publications and Design Officer works under the supervision of the Head of the Publications and Design Section.

The incumbent will perform the following principal duties:

a.   Support the Head of Section in evolving the digital transformation of the publishing workflow.

b.   Prepare the annual plan of flagship reports and other major publications, campaigns and major events, and provide inputs for the optimum use of resources and digital transformation, using internal planning systems.

c.   Coordinate publication and design requests from WIPO colleagues, maintaining a timely and smooth project workflow, from brief to final digital and print content, and proposing improvements and efficiencies wherever possible:

– make sure the client request is complete, making suggestions, clarifying and rewriting the brief as necessary;
– prepare schedules for each project and keep these on track, responding to queries and reporting on any issues;
– allocate work according to the type of project, schedule and budget available;
– maintain an accurate weekly team workplan, with each job tracked;
– prepare regular reports on requests in progress and completed.

d.   Ensure final production quality control of all publication and design jobs in terms of completeness against the brief and adherence to internal guidelines.

e.   Maintain our digital asset management protocols, product specifications, and accessibility and branding guidelines, in close coordination with other Sections and following industry best practices.

f.    Manage subscriptions with external image banks.

g.   Field branding and logo queries, consulting with the Head of Section and Senior Graphic Designer as appropriate.

h.   Monitor the Publications and Design Section mailbox.

i.    Perform other related duties as required.

Education (Essential)

First-level university degree in publishing, print and media technology, multimedia design, communications, business administration or a related field.

Education (Desirable)

Studies related to business management or publishing.

Graphic design training.

Experience (Essential)

At least six years of experience working in the domain of publishing and communication at the international level.

Experience in working in multilingual publishing.

Experience of online planning tools.

Experience (Desirable)

Experience of management of staff and budget.

Experience of brand management.

Experience of digital publishing workflows.

Experience of digital transformation.

Experience working within the United Nations system or at international level in a team environment .

Experience of the Creative Cloud suite (in particular InDesign and Photoshop).

Language (Essential)

Excellent knowledge of English or French and good working knowledge of the other language.

Language (Desirable)

Knowledge of other official UN languages.

Job Related Competencies (Essential)

Knowledge of principles of open access, accessibility and user experience.

Excellent organizational skills.

Excellent communications skills, maintaining effective working relations with external providers and giving high-quality customer service to our internal clients.

Good problem-solving skills.

Ability to work well in a team and under stress.

Ability to work on own initiative and in an independent manner.

Meticulous attention to detail.

Ability to adapt to new technologies.

1.    Communicating effectively.

2.    Showing team spirit.

3.    Demonstrating integrity.

4.    Valuing diversity.

5.    Producing results.

6.    Showing service orientation.

7.    Seeing the big picture.

8.    Seeking change and innovation.

9.    Developing yourself and others.

Mobility:  WIPO staff members are international civil servants subject to the authority of the Director General and may be assigned to any activities, office or duty station of the Organization.  Accordingly, the selected candidate may be required to move from time to time to new functions and/or to another duty station.

Annual salary:

Total annual salary consists of a net annual salary (net of taxes and before medical insurance and pension fund deductions) in US dollars and a post adjustment.  Please note that this estimate is for information only.  The post adjustment multiplier (cost of living allowance) is variable and subject to change (increase or decrease) without notice.  The figures quoted below are based on the July 2023 rate of 89.2%

Please refer to WIPO’s Staff Regulation and Rules for detailed information concerning salaries, benefits and allowances.

Additional Information

* Initial fixed-term appointment of two years, renewable subject to satisfactory performance and other applicable conditions.  The selected candidate’s appointment will be subject to an overall term of five years in this position, with no possibility of renewal beyond that term.  S/he may, however, apply and be considered for other positions at WIPO.

This is not applicable to WIPO staff members on fixed-term, continuing or permanent appointments, who were recruited following a competition under Staff Regulation 4.10 (“Appointment Boards”).

This vacancy announcement may be used to fill other posts at the same grade with similar functions in accordance with Staff Rule 4.9.5.

Applications from qualified women as well as from qualified nationals of unrepresented Member States of WIPO and underrepresented geographical regions are encouraged. Please click on the following links for the list of unrepresented Member States and the list of underrepresented regions and the WIPO Member States in these regions.

The Organization reserves the right to make an appointment at a grade lower than that advertised.

By completing an application, candidates understand that any willful misrepresentation made on this web site, or on any other documents submitted to WIPO during the application, may result in disqualification from the recruitment process, or termination of employment with WIPO at a later date, if that employment resulted from such willful misrepresentations.

In the event that your candidature is shortlisted, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of an identification and of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. WIPO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and these will be reviewed individually.

Additional testing/interviewing may be used as a form of screening.  Initial appointment is subject to satisfactory professional references.

Additional background checks may be required.