Digital Communication Specialist (Web Editor), P-3

Digital Communication Specialist (Web Editor) – P-3

Contract type: Fixed Term Position Duty Station: Rome Level: P-3 Location: Italy Categories: Communication

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, the right to a Champion

How can you make a difference?

Organizational Context:

The Division of Global Communication and Advocacy (DGCA) works to place children and child rights at the heart of global, regional and national agendas. Through strategic advocacy, communication, engagement and brand leadership, DGCA strengthens UNICEF’s influence, mobilizes support and drives positive change for children worldwide. The Division provides leadership and support across headquarters, regional and country offices to amplify UNICEF’s voice and advance child rights, humanitarian action and sustainable development outcomes.

The Website, Editorial and Governance Section leads UNICEF’s global web editorial, platforms and digital governance functions. The Section stewards UNICEF’s digital voice and develops authoritative, audience-focused content for the global UNICEF website and other priority editorial products across languages. It works to strengthen UNICEF’s visibility, reach and engagement through editorial excellence, audience insights, analytics and evolving search and digital discoverability practices, while reinforcing content governance, brand integrity and UNICEF’s position as a trusted source of information on children’s rights. The Section also provides platforms, standards, guidance and capacity-building support to regional and country offices across the organization.

Purpose of the Job:

Under the general guidance of the Digital Communication Manager, the Web Editor is responsible for overseeing key sections of the UNICEF global website, including evergreen content related to programmes, institutional information and humanitarian action and emergencies, as well as other assigned thematic portfolios in line with annual priorities, with the goal of advancing and communicating UNICEF’s mandate and highlighting the impact of UNICEF’s work, as well as the voices of children and young people across the globe.

Responsibilities include writing, editing, producing and distributing compelling narratives, web features and stories for the general public, partners, opinion leaders, the media and a variety of key audiences, in line with the UNICEF Strategic Plan.

The incumbent will work to strengthen the discoverability, reach, engagement and performance of UNICEF web content across search engines and evolving AI-mediated discovery by applying audience insights, analytics and search best practices.

Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks:

• Overall accountability
• Writing, editing and production of web content
• Global priorities and campaigns
• Web engagement, search discoverability and performance
• Web standards, best practices and capacity building
• Digital transformation and content lifecycle
• Workplan management

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: Digital Communication Specialist_P3.pdf

To qualify as a champion for every child you will have…

• Minimum requirements
• Education: Advanced university degree (Master's or higher) in Communication, Journalism, International Relations, Development Studies, or related fields is required. Two years of additional relevant work experience that was gained after obtaining a Bachelor's degree may be accepted in lieu of advanced degree.
• Work

Experience

• A minimum of five years of relevant, progressively responsible, professional work experience in digital communications, external relations, writing and editing (or equivalent fields), of which at least two years involve managing website content and digital communication channels, is required.
• Demonstrated expertise in digital content strategy and audience trends, including best-in- class practices in user-centred content, platform and search discoverability, and content optimization for traditional and Al-mediated search environments is required. Demonstrated expertise in web analytics and search optimization tools is required, including Google Analytics, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), with the ability to interpret performance, search-visibility and audience data to inform editorial decisions and improve content reach, authority and discoverability. Demonstrated knowledge of current and emerging digital, audience and content trends, with the ability to adapt editorial approaches and apply evolving best practices is essential. Experience using software and applications relevant to the position, including internet navigation, content management svstems, email svstems and web tracking tools is neccessary.
• Skills: Outstanding ability to write and edit external digital communication materials, ability to express clearly and concisely ideas and concepts in written and oral form is required. Ability to transform dense technical and programmatic information into engaging content that is accessible to the general public and a wide array of partners and stakeholders is expected. Demonstrated ability to coordinate across editorial, design, development, platform and technical teams to support the effective end-to-end production and delivery of web content is required. Detail-oriented, creative, able to work efficiently with teams and stakeholders outside of the communication division is a requirement. A sophisticated understanding of development and humanitarian issues, world affairs, and current events is required.
• Language

Requirements

• Proficiency in English is required.

• Desirables

• Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

• Experience with Drupal is considered as an asset.

• Two years of international experience, including field experience or meaningful periods supporting humanitarian operations, is preferred.

• Knowledge of and experience with the United Nations, international or non-governmental organizations is highly desirable.

• Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts.

• For every Child, you demonstrate...

• UNICEF's Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

• UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

• (1) Builds and maintains partnerships

• (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

• (3) Drive to achieve results for impact

• (4) Innovates and embraces change

• (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity

• (6) Thinks and acts strategically

• (7) Works collaboratively with others

• Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

• UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

• UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of bene