Communications and Reporting Intern

UNOPS is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development.

UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources.

Working with us

UNOPS offers short- and long-term work opportunities in diverse and challenging environments across the globe. We are looking for creative, results-focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines.

Diversity

With over 4,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of UNOPS partners spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a wide range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced, diverse workforce — a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs, and continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates.

Work life harmonization

UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands.

The UNOPS Sri Lanka under the Bangladesh Multi Country Office (BDMCO) implements projects on behalf of UN agencies and bilateral donors and in close coordination with the Government and national authorities. With an established presence across the region, the office runs operations including procurement, project development and technical management, and provides  financial, human resources and infrastructure-related services. The functional objective of UNOPS Sri Lanka is to deliver its projects in an efficient and effective manner and in line with the principles, rules and regulations of UNOPS, so as to achieve the outcomes sought by the clients.

The main purpose of this assignment is to facilitate effective and timely reporting and communication on the UNOPS Office for Sri Lanka & Maldives, and its constituent programmes and projects.

The learning opportunities of the internship are:

• A broad understanding of formulating communication plans, reporting requirements from the regional and local offices of UNOPS projects, design, drawing up and updating of factsheets and dashboards.

• Exposure to a joint UN project implementation approach and partnership with government ministries/departments.

• Introduction to the UN and UNOPS brands, including training on brand guardianship and participation in UN coordination mechanisms for communication and reporting.

• Exposure to the Sri Lanka context, including field visits to UNOPS project sites.

• Mandatory training for all UNOPS personnel on the UN system, human rights, field security, cybersecurity, gender mainstreaming, prevention of sexual harassment and HIV/AIDS issues (including certification).

The Intern shall assist the Hiring Manager  in the following duties and responsibilities:

Reporting

• Assist in the timely delivery of narrative progress reports to donors and project partners in compliance with legal requirements; coordinate with Workstream Leads for updates/inputs on progress reports;

Communication 

• Assist in developing and maintaining the Country Office Communication Plan;

• Assist in the development of communication and promotion materials to showcase country portfolio’s achievements, outputs and lessons learned;

• Assist in the finalization and packaging of project outputs such as plans, manuals, handbooks/guidebooks and similar documents;

• Assist in developing and enhancing presentation materials (PowerPoint presentation, case materials and other similar workshop/training materials);

• Assist in the development of media materials relevant to Country Office business plan;

• Support the production of project factsheets and other visibility materials, and preparation and timely distribution of press releases when required;

• Contribute to public information and communication activities at the Regional and HQ level;

• Represent the Country Office on UN Communication Group and other inter agency/ organization forum.

Visibility and branding

• Assist in a ‘brand guardian’ role by supporting development and editorial oversight of all public materials, including the website, presentations, proposals and reports;

• Participate in the production of social media content (pictures, testimonies, videos etc.)

• Advise the PDM on the production of visibility and promotional materials;

• Create, maintain, update and disseminate country factsheets;

• Drafting and translation of press releases;

• Information gathering for communication outreach material;

Events

• Provide support to teams in event planning as well as outreach programmes.

• Bachelor University Degree is a minimum requirement. The incumbent should have graduated from such studies within three years prior to the application date of the internship;

• Enrollment in, or completion of Advanced university degree (Masters or equivalent) in Communication, Journalism or in any other relevant area is preferred.

• Previous experience in communication and/or reporting;

• Competent in the use of all commonly used computer software, including MS Word, MS Powerpoint, MS Excel,  Adobe Photoshop, and Google Suite; experience in graphic designing is desired

• Knowledge of the UN system and familiarity with UNOPS brand an advantage;

• Exceptional English communication skills, both written and verbal;

• Time management;

• Attention to detail;

• Creativity and innovation;

• Organizational ability and quality orientation;

• Teamwork skills;

• Goal-oriented and driven.

Contract type: Internship Contract level: Intern
Contract duration: 6 Months

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• Work life harmonization - UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types
• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few Mandatory Courses (around 4 hours) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS.
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns. Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.