Senior External Relations Officer

A (least hardship)

FamilyFamily

PR4

Professional

Reason

Regular > Regular Assignment

July 11 2025

Senior External Relations Officer

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships
The Senior External Relations Officer normally reports to the Representative or Deputy Representative. The incumbent has direct supervisory responsibility for External Relations staff.
External contacts are predominantly with partners media government embassies and other international organizations in the country on matters of importance to the organization.

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter UN Staff Regulations and Rules UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core functional cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCRs core values of professionalism integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties
- Stay abreast of the challenges posed by the political context the UN and humanitarian reform and institutional developments in the area of forced displacement and humanitarian operations.
- Through a consultative process with UNHCR colleagues (Programme Protection etc.) with external actors and partners develop and implement protection and assistance strategy with clearly articulated objectives timelines and outputs.
- Implement a communications strategy that generates support for UNHCRs operations from external partners (e.g. the general public governments partners the media academia and forcibly displaced and stateless persons).
- Articulate all issues pertaining to the needs of the forcibly displaced and stateless persons and the strategies in place to respond to their needs.
- Ensure that the UNHCR priorities are given adequate weight in the documentation of the UN Country Team.
- Maintain a close dialogue with and provide accurate information to donors by organizing regular briefings bilateral meetings and donor missions. Prepare reports as appropriate.
- In accordance with the operational context and in close cooperation with headquarters access new and non-traditional funding sources as appropriate including private sector and humanitarian pooled/basket funds (e.g. Central Emergency Response Fund Human Security Fund).
- Through a consultative process with headquarters disseminate information on UNHCRs global funding situation and mobilize additional funds to implement special projects aimed at enhancing the quality of protection for forcibly displaced and stateless persons in the country operation.
- Participate in inter-agency cooperation and communication strategies initiatives and tools.
- Support senior management in representing UNHCR in the UN Country Team and other UN coordination fora.
- Support and participate in local UN integrated missions Inter-Agency Standing Committee Emergency Relief Coordinator and Cluster communication strategies and initiatives.
- Manage the information flow within the country operations by identifying priority matters securing analyzing and disseminating documentation and information to support country operations and corporate communication processes and priorities.
- Consolidate information on UNHCRs country operations and identify appropriate messages for campaigns and appeals.
- Coordinate the drafting of and/or draft situation reports briefing notes background material talking points fact sheets press releases and articles.
- Develop targeted communications strategies and media packages for situations and/or activities that require focused attention.
- Identify and target major events and initiatives (e.g. commercial cultural political and sports) to promote the work of UNHCR.
- Manage media relations by inter alia responding to direct queries publishing press releases and organizing regular briefings and visits to country operations.
- Approve fund-raising messages.
- Approve any relevant expenditure for the implementation of fund-raising activities.
- Decide which donors to approach and which operations or activities to prioritize for special fundraising appeals.
- Approve the communications strategy.
- Approve budgets and expenditures for communications activities.
- Clear external relations/communication products and tools.
- Represent UNHCR fund-raising and communication priorities in inter-agency initiatives and fora.

- Lead risk assessments and discussions with team(s) to proactively manage risks and seize opportunities impacting objectives. Ensure that risk management principles are integrated in decision-making both at strategic and operational levels. Allocate resources for planned treatments with resource requirements in Strategic Plans. Ensure that risks are managed to acceptable levels and escalate as needed. If a Risk Owner designate the Risk Focal Point and certify that the annual risk review is completed and ensure that the risk register is updated during the year as needed.
- Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications
Education & Professional Work Experience
Years of Experience / Degree Level
For P4/NOD - 9 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 8 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 7 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education
Political Sciences; Social Sciences; International Relations;
Journalism; or other relevant field.

Certificates and/or Licenses
Not specified

Relevant Job Experience
Essential
Experience in humanitarian operations in a field environment.
Excellent knowledge of local institution politics and culture.

Desirable
Good knowledge of UNHCR operations both at Headquarters and in the Field.
Fund-raising and programming/programme management experience.
Experience of working with social media.

Functional Skills
IT-Web Content Management
IT-Computer Literacy
ER-Inter-Agency External Relations
ER-Inter-Agency Leadership/Coordination
CO-Drafting and Documentation
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Language Requirements
For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.
For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.
For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.

All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse harassment including sexual harassment sexism gender inequality discrimination and abuse of power.

As individuals and as managers all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.

This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening shortlisting and selection of candidates.

The position requires proven organizational skills in advocacy and effective stakeholder management with demonstrated experience in strategic external engagement with donors UN agencies partners and governments. The incumbent should have strong analytical capacity and ability to forge consensus among diverse stakeholders internal and external. S/he should have a demonstrated ability to develop donor/ partner engagement strategies including high-level drafting skills proficiency in management and analysis of budgets encompassing a diverse range of activities.

The incumbent will guide the External Relations unit in RB MENA and therefore prior experience successfully managing international staff is required. This should include the capacity to step in as Head of Pillar in the absence of the External Engagement Coordinator. S/he will work within an integrated External Relations/ Inter-Agency team and should have accumulated expertise in all aspects of External Relations including Donor Relations Reporting and Inter-Agency Coordination developed working at HQ/ Regional Bureau and country level. The role does not cover Communications functions which is managed by a dedicated Comms Unit in RB MENA.

To succeed in this position the incumbent must also have experience in inter-agency stakeholder management in humanitarian or development contexts including experience in facilitating inter-agency meetings workshops and planning processes. Experience of working with the Refugee Coordination Model (RCM) is required while experience of IDP cluster coordination or UNSDCF processes is considered an asset.

The Senior External Relations Officer will often have to respond at short notice to requests for information and analysis to support fundraising and to fulfil demands from donors. For this the incumbent is expected to demonstrate flexibility strong interpersonal skills but also outstanding networking and partnership building skills.

Given the continuing potential for new emergencies in the region the incumbent should have proven capacity for undertaking emergency deployments to support operations in external relations donor relations or inter-agency functions. Experience working within the MENA region is an essential asset as well as outstanding English drafting skills for external perusal of documents.

Operational context

Occupational Safety and Health Considerations:

To view occupational safety and health considerations for this duty station please visit this link: of Position:

The MENA Regional Bureau covers multiple operations as well as several large-scale and complex emergency situations. Within this context the Bureau sustains regular engagement with a variety of external stakeholders including governments embassies media academia UN agencies and other international organizations NGOs the private sector and persons of concern. The Bureau is also responsible for co-leading at the regional-level the interagency Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP) in response to the Syria crisis - a USD 4.6 billion appeal covering 4 countries and over 200 partners.

In respect of External Engagement the Bureau focuses on securing sustaining and increasing financial and political support for UNHCR and forcibly displaced and stateless people in the MENA region through direct engagement with external stakeholders support to country operations as well as support to a large number of high-level meetings missions and inter-agency processes related to the 3RP.

Under the overall supervision of the External Engagement Coordinator the External Relations team in the Bureau is comprised of one Senior External Relations Officer one External Relations Officer one Reporting Officer one Associate Reporting Officer and one Assistant Communications Officer. Given significant recent budget cuts affecting UNHCR RB MENA cost-saving measures were recently put in place with an overarching goal of maintaining operational effectiveness. Due to significant operational changes in the region the inter-agency coordination needs will remain substantial in the coming years particularly in relation to the Syria situation/3RP including with regards to return and inside Syria coordination as well as potential new emergencies within the MENA region. At the same time competition is likely to increase due to the need to strengthen fundraising vis--vis other agencies which will likely lead to more earmarked funding requiring additional reporting and donor relations capacity. In this context of increasing needs and budget cuts an integration of External Relations Donor Relations and Inter-Agency functions under the External Engagement pillar will ensure a multi-skilled agile team which can effectively engage donors interagency partners and external stakeholders while optimizing resources and saving costs.

Under the direct supervision of the External Engagement Coordinator the Senior External Relations Officer will work as part of a dynamic and flexible team. Key duties include: management of the External Relations team developing donor engagement/ fundraising strategies dialogue with donors and embassies and provision of relevant information on UNHCRs operations and financial requirements; dissemination of information on UNHCRs global funding situation and mobilization of additional funds; production of accurate and timely funding overviews and reports; identifying funding opportunities; drafting proposals; contributing to regional coherence with regard to donor relations and outreach; supporting country operations; supporting inter-agency processes and fundraising opportunities; providing input into the resource allocation decision-making processes; and preventing misalignment between funding and budget.

Therefore the position requires accumulated expertise in all aspects of External Relations including Donor Relations Reporting and Inter-Agency Coordination developed working at HQ/ Regional Bureau and country level. The role does not cover Communications functions which is managed by a dedicated Comms Unit in RB MENA.

Living and Working Conditions:

Jordan has a total population of 9.4 million people. Amman houses 42% of Jordans population 4.008 million making it the populous city in the country. Amman is categorized as (A) duty station. Several International airlines operate daily flights from Amman (Queen Alia International Airport). The local currency is the Jordanian Dinar and the exchange rate is fixed and equivalent to ( 1 JOD0.71 USD) Money traders and good local banking system are available.

Jordan is visa free for UNLP holders; however appointed staff must obtain a residency permit. Residency permits and other local protocol remain a challenge due to governmental procedures subject to frequent changes. The process of obtaining residency in Jordan may vary depending on nationality of applicant type of contract offered and its length.

Staff members assigned to Amman are residing in private accommodation. Rent in Amman can vary depending on the size of the property itself number of bedrooms and the area of Amman in which it is located. Renting a 3-bedroom apartment can range fromUSD per month.

Food and other commodities are widely available in the local shops and markets.

Amman tends to have a Mediterranean climate; summers are mildly hot winter usually starts around the end of November and continues until mid-March there is occasional snowfall.

The medium for teaching in international schools is English however there are a few French language schools as well. There is a plethora of institutions for children of all ages from pre-school to high school as well universities.

The majority of international educational institutions are in Amman.

Amman is the home to many top-end hospitals and clinics. Due to Jordanian healthcares international appeal nearly all doctors and many support staff speak English. Healthcare here is also very accessible and affordable.

Additional Qualifications

Skills

CO-Drafting and Documentation ER-Inter-Agency External Relations ER-Inter-Agency Leadership/Coordination IT-Computer Literacy IT-Web Content Management

Education

Bachelor of Arts: International Relations Bachelor of Arts: Journalism Bachelor of Arts: Political Science Bachelor of Arts: Social Science

Certifications

Work Experience

Competencies

Accountability Analytical thinking Client & results orientation Commitment to continuous learning Communication Empowering & building trust Judgement & decision making Leadership Managing performance Organizational awareness Political awareness Strategic planning & visions Teamwork & collaboration

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Additional Information

This position doesnt require a functional clearance