Assistant Communications Officer

D

Non Family with Residential LocationNon Family with Residential LocationDanger Pay

Budapest Hungary

NOA

National Professional Officer

Reason

Regular > Regular Assignment

June 18 2025

Assistant Communications Officer

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships
In line with its Global Communications Strategy UNHCR requires skilled communications professionals to conceive and execute a range of activities that help us lead the narrative on forced displacement generate empathy and mobilize action. This body of work spans communications strategy and coordination news and media relations multimedia content production social media engagement Goodwill Ambassadors and other influencers public outreach and campaigns fundraising analytics and brand.
UNHCRs Assistant Communications Officers need to cultivate a keen understanding of our target audiences - including an up-to-the-minute grasp of the methods and tone of voice that resonate deeply win trust and spark quality engagement. They must be vigilant about editorial and journalistic standards attentive to protection concerns and political sensitivities and focused on communicating successfully with key demographics. These audiences will vary by location language and platform among other factors as well as whether the aim is to inform advocate or raise funds.

The Assistant Communications Officers functions working relationships and skills specializations differ depending on language location grade and whether they sit within a country operation a regional bureau or the Global Communications Service. UNHCRs primary target audiences include public media and policymakers while our main partners and influencers include peers and private sector trusted figures and our own workforce. Some communicators will focus mainly on news and media relations for example while others will produce multimedia content manage social media accounts or lead advocacy campaigns. Forging partnerships with media outlets that reach target audiences is a central role for all Assistant Communications Officers.

All Assistant Communications Officers are expected to work strategically in support of UNHCRs operational and communications objectives for their geographic area of responsibility (AoR) as well as global priorities. Communications approaches should reflect our core values as an organization that is caring trustworthy proactive outcome-focused and responsive. This will reinforce UNHCRs role as the lead agency that protects refugees internally displaced and stateless people and mobilizes action to provide solutions.


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
- Assist in establishment of close working relationships with television radio and news agencies to promote and ensure the dissemination of UNHCR aims activities and principles.
- Assist in development of working relationships with the Government NGOs and UN Agencies in order to raise interest and develop co-operation in inter-related activities.
- Organize UNHCRs public awareness campaign in the duty station.
- Draft bulletins and updates on UNHCRs operations in the duty station.
- Brief national and international media of developments in UNHCRs operations in the duty stations and accompany visiting media to the refugee camps where applicable.
- Assist in planning and organizing advertisements exhibitions training seminars conferences meetings social events and other activities to promote a better understanding of UNHCRs activities and accomplishments by the general public and/or organized groups.
- Assist in preparation of communication budget.

- Support the identification and management of risks and seek to seize opportunities impacting objectives in the area of responsibility. Ensure decision making in risk based in the functional area of work. Raise risks issues and concerns to a supervisor or to relevant functional colleague(s).

- Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Years of Experience / Degree Level
For P1/NOA - 1 year relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or no experience with Graduate degree; or no experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education
Journalism; International Relations; Political Science;
Communications; Public Information; Media
Film / Video; or other relevant field.

Certificates and/or Licenses
Not specified.

Relevant Job Experience

Essential
Minimum 1 year of professional experience in journalism and/or communications mainly at international level.

Desirable
Strong social media presence. Experience working on advocacy campaigns. Experience working with goodwill ambassadors and other high-profile influencers. Experience with brand management. Experience with measurement and evaluation especially providing analysis of media coverage social media engagement web traffic etc. Experience reporting writing editing for magazines newspapers and websites. Experience using digital asset management systems. Experience with digital analytics and performance reporting.

Functional Skills
CO-Digital content production
CO-Drafting and Documentation
CO-Editing
CO-International Media Contacts
CO-Journalism (incl. print broadcast photography video layout & graphics)
CO-Preparation of key messages/talking points/speeches
CO-Public Speaking
CO-Spokesperson skills
CO-Video production for digital platforms (including news organizations)
IT-Web Content Management
(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.

Specific Essential/Desired qualifications:

Experience with web content management systems: WordPress or others. Upload content translations duplicate existing content blocks and create simple new content blocks when necessary.
Desirable: Design new pages/content blocks with WordPress in line with the Ukraine is Home style and in consideration of user needs.

Experience with creating simple graphic designs with Canva or other tools.
Desirable: Experience with creating simple animations with Canva or other tools.

Basic knowledge of ICT technologies and relevant digital applications; primary testing of new features on Ukraine is Home might be required as well as ensuring that all the uploaded content is mobile-responsive.

The selection process may include a written test and candidates may be required to undergo a written assessment.

English

Ukrainian

Operational context

Occupational Safety and Health Considerations:

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

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been present in Ukraine since 1994 and substantially increased its presence and response after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The geographical presence within Ukraine has significatively expanded to deliver the emergency response. The country office is located in the capital Kyiv and sub- and field offices are currently located in Dnipro Kyiv Lviv Odesa and Kharkiv.

The war in Ukraine has caused death and suffering on a dramatic scale. In 2025 more than 12.7 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and protection according to the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan. Some 3.7 million people are internally displaced while around 6.8 million refugees from Ukraine are recorded across Europe and beyond. Some 75000 people including some of the most vulnerable notable older people and people with disabilities live in collective sites spread across the country. Ukraine also hosts asylum-seekers and refugees and is home to thousands of people who are stateless or at risk of statelessness.

The massive destruction of civilian infrastructure with the energy sector being particularly targeted has made life extremely challenging for millions of people who have lost their homes and livelihoods and has severely disrupted access to electricity water heating as well as critical services including healthcare education and social protection services. Humanitarian access continues to be hampered particularly in frontline areas as well as to areas under temporary occupation of the Russian Federation. Civilians remain exposed to serious risks to their physical security and integrity particularly in eastern and southern regions of Ukraine. The risk of GBV including sexual violence continues to prevail alongside family separations loss of housing and properties as well as identity and civil documentation. Populations displaced or otherwise affected by the war live in situations of deprivation following the loss or damage of their housing loss of income and often become dependent on an overstretched social protection system.

The Government of Ukraine maintains a strong lead role in responding to the needs of its population and UNHCR supports the Government and its central and local institutions to provide protection shelter/housing cash and in-kind assistance to displaced and other people impacted by the war. Currently UNHCR has MOUs with five-line ministries the First Ladys foundation as well as the Office of the Ombudsman 19 regional state administrations and agreements with 14 partners to deliver assistance and support the localization of the response.

Under the leadership of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator UNHCR operates as part of the Inter-agency humanitarian response working in close coordination with local authorities and humanitarian partners. UNHCR is leading three clusters - Protection Shelter and NFIs and CCCM. The strategic orientation of UNHCRs response is to reach people particularly those with specific vulnerabilities who remain in frontline and heavily affected areas with immediate relief while supporting displaced people and those who have remained in their homes or returned with protection advice housing support livelihoods advice and cash assistance to enable their recovery and attainment of durable solutions.

Protection needs to be truly at the center of this response as the highest critical needs of the population caused by the international armed conflict are in the area of protection. Since Ukraine is a highly sophisticated country with a strong government leadership and well-established administrative social protection and digital systems it is essential to design and deliver UNHCRs protection programs in a way which simultaneously addresses immediate needs and supports the further development of sustainable and inclusive national protection systems.

With the EU having voted to confirm Ukraines accession to the EU at the end of 2023 Ukraine will also embark on a series of substantial and long-term reforms in numerous sectors including justice and home affairs which presents an opportunity to contribute to strengthened and more inclusive protection asylum and statelessness reduction systems. Working closely with government authorities local community representatives and partners from the embassies UN civil society and international financial institutions amongst others is thus key to ensuring that UNHCRs response is closely aligned with and complementary of national and local strategies and recovery plans.

As the war continues new urgent humanitarian needs are created every day alongside protracted ones and peoples and communities efforts to recover and rebuild their lives in war-torn communities. Among the IDPs and refugees from Ukraine the majority express a hope and desire to return to their homes as soon as the security situation allows. The protection needs of the population thus need to be analyzed and addressed both from a humanitarian as well as from an early recovery and durable solutions perspective with UNHCR playing a leading role in this work.

The incumbent will manage and oversee the development of Ukraine is Home UNHCRs primary tool to reach IDPs and refugees with critical impartial information about access to rights support for return and reintegration and/or continued stay in host communities. Some 3.7 million people are currently displaced within Ukraine and nearly 6 million remain in neighboring countries as refugeesand Ukrainians are eager to return home and are already doing so often under difficult or uncertain the war in Ukraine continues and many are understandably unwilling or unable to return home. UNHCR is not promoting returns given the continued volatility and risks in Ukraine - but our longstanding approach is to respect the wishes of refugees provided it is fully voluntary and that they have access to the information needed to make a fully informed decision.

For those who do decide to return home the scale of destruction is enormous and challenges abound. Moreover refugees and IDPs will return home to communities transformed by war. Ukraines recovery will occur against a backdrop of new laws and policieswith a focus on building back better and positioning the country for potential integration in the European Union. Recovery will also pose new challenges in restoring the social fabric and rebuilding cohesive communities among returnees and residents impacted by the war. This altered policy and social landscape will have huge consequences for the millions of people displaced by the warand for decisions regarding to impartial independent accurate and real time information is critical.

The overall aim of the Ukraine is Home information platform is to create an interactive and multi-faceted approach to the provision of mass information via the preferred means of a digitally literate and engaged populationand to build on the physical and online architecture already in place to ensure access to protection assistance and inclusion in communities. There are many actors at the central regional and municipal levels engaged in early recovery activities. The platform aims over time to connect various opportunities and information regarding services into a single user-friendly platform. The online platform will enable refugees to safely access information and services from countries of asylum but without any obligation to return to Ukraine. This requires continuous updating of the digital information platform with new information answering or referring information queries to the relevant colleagues or partners engaging with various government ministries on content development and alignment with their respective coordinating with a range of partners and external stakeholders to continue to develop the platform so that it serves the information needs of forcibly displaced people in a highly fluid operational position requires considerable diplomatic skills technical capacities and a firm grasp of UNHCRs role and mandate.

The incumbent will be expected to develop and lead a coordinated communications roll-out plan for Ukraine is Home inside Ukraine and in all refugee host countries in Europeusing a variety of social media tools and channels coordination with refugee and migrant-led organizations and the ability to develop innovative content and visuals that are accessible timely and targeted to forcibly displaced is Home is designed to foster two-way communication with refugees and IDPs proving various means to feed back questions and receive answers including through referrals to relevant partners or service providers and to work closely with the Regional Bureau for Europe and the Regional Call Center Team to ensure that the FAQ are up to date and accurate.

Efforts to reach refugees and IDPs also necessarily include information provision and key messages through different means and mediums particularly to ensure that elderly people or non-digitally literate IDPs and refugees have access they need to inform decision-making. UNHCRs recent regional protection monitoring report found that among older people (who are among the most likely to return in the near future) the preferred information channel is communication by phone as opposed to social media and/or online outreach. Focus group discussions with Roma refugees also revealed that many women cannot read and/or do not own electronic devices such as phones and tablets rendering both written and digitally presented information inaccessible to them. For these groups the most trusted information sources are community 4 Reliance on community-based protection networks and established community architecture including former UNHCR/UNICEF Blue Dot community centers in host countries is therefore at the heart of the Ukraine is Home information strategy and outreach.

Living and Working Conditions:

Security:

The international armed conflict in Ukraine is ongoing and the Russian Federation Armed Forces temporarily occupy parts of Donetsk Luhansk Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. The frontline is the primary area of kinetic military operations particularly in the eastern and southeastern regions and north of Kharkiv. Cruise missiles ballistic missiles aero-ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been targeting vital civilian and military sites including airports since the start of the invasion. As a result commercial air travel is suspended and vehicles and trains are the only modes of transportation. Since 2023 there has been an increase in attacks targeting civilian infrastructure throughout the country.

Whilst the UN has not been targeted directly the threat of collateral damage continues to remain in place with cases of UNHCR IPs reporting collateral damages and several humanitarian workers recorded as been killed and injured since the start of the full-scale invasion. The UN Security Management System (UNSMS) applies a comprehensive Security Risk Management (SRM) process to identify security threats and evaluate risk levels. The security risk levels are regularly reviewed. Currently the most significant threats and hazards are associated with the international armed conflict with current risk levels ranging from high to Very High or Unacceptable in areas with ongoing hostilities.

This has resulted in a decrease of humanitarian space making it difficult and sometimes impossible to access people in need in frontline areas. When assessing risk levels the security personnel and the UNHCR Representative as part of the countrys Security Management Team adhere to the SRM process as defined by the UNSMS. In general the projected risk level in all three SRM areas where the UN/HCR operates is High.

Therefore applicants for positions in Ukraine should be prepared to work in a highly dynamic security environment where unexpected events occur frequently. Air raids are common and staff may be required to work from bunkers or underground car parks metro stations and other locations for extended periods. Power and water outages are to be expected and will make life more challenging during the winter months. Depending on the evolution of the war disruptions to public services such as shops banks and restaurants may occur. Curfews are in place throughout the country and mission travel must be authorized by the Representative or designated managers subject to the completion of mandatory BSAFE SSAFE and IFAK training and security clearance procedures. Private trips within the country are prohibited for international staff.

The Field Security Unit works closely with UNDSS and other interlocutors of the UNSMS to ensure that program activities can be implemented within the acceptable level of risk by following the required measures and procedures set up and approved by the Designated Official. Due to the countrys evolving operational and security environment UNHCR needs to maintain strong security contingency preparedness supporting its mandate of providing protection and assistance to people in need.

Additional Qualifications

Skills

Bachelor of Arts: Communication Bachelor of Arts: International Relations Bachelor of Arts: Journalism Bachelor of Arts: Media Bachelor of Arts: Political Science Bachelor of Arts: Public Information

Certifications

Work Experience

Competencies

Accountability Analytical thinking Client & results orientation Commitment to continuous learning Communication Empowering & building trust Innovation & creativity Organizational awareness Political awareness Teamwork & collaboration

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Additional Information

This position requires Functional Clearance