Terms of Reference
I. General Information
Title: JPO in Information and media management
Sector of Assignment: Humanitarian Affairs, Programme management support
Organization/Office: United Nations / Office for Outer Space Affairs / UN-SPIDER
Country and Duty Station: Bonn, Germany
Duration of assignment: 2 years with possibility of extension for another year. The
extension of appointment is subject to yearly review concerning priorities, availability of
funds, and satisfactory performance
II. Supervision
Title of Supervisor:
Head, UN-SPIDER Bonn Office
Establishment of a Work Plan: During the first month of the assignment, the Junior
Professional Officer (JPO) will work jointly with his/her direct supervisor to finalize an agreed
upon work plan. The final work plan will be discussed and mutually agreed to by the JPO and his/her supervisor.
Initial introductory briefing on background and work of the Office and of UN-SPIDER;
discussion and direction on assignments, including regular follow-up consultations and
feedback (as often as needed); continuing work-related interaction with other professional
staff of Office through staff meetings and ad hoc meetings; periodic evaluations with the
Head of the UN-SPIDER Bonn Office
Evaluation: The United Nations Performance Evaluation System (e-performance) will serve
as a primary platform to evaluate of the JPO’s performance.
III. Duties, Responsibilities and Output Expectations
Within delegated authority, the Junior Professional Officer will be responsible for the following duties:
The JPO shall be involved directly in the activities of the work being carried out by the UN-
SPIDER Bonn Office in the implementation of the United Nations Platform for Space-based
Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER). The duties of
the JPO would include inter alia:
- Compiling, managing and disseminating the information content of the UN-SPIDER programme (40%).
- Compiling and managing the information content of the UN-SPIDER Knowledge Portal, including the technical management of the modules of the Content Management System as needed; in line with the user requirements/expectations and with the objective of sharing and storing relevant experiences, knowledge and documents.
- Contributing to the implementation of the content management guidelines, in line with the UN-SPIDER Plan of Work, and support their implementation.
- Contributing to the drafting and editing of technical documents.
- Supporting the UN-SPIDER team in the acquisition, analysis and dissemination of information and knowledge-based resources.
- Acting as an editorial interface between external sources of information and UN-SPIDER.
- Supporting the UN-SPIDER Bonn Office in the provision of technical advisory support to selected African countries (30%).
- Contributing to the preparation and implementation of advisory missions to selected African countries.
- Contributing to facilitate the use of space-based information, services, and products by national disaster management agencies and other government agencies and stakeholders with a focus on African countries.
- Supporting the organization of in-house conferences, expert meetings, workshops and training on relevant topics related to information compilation and knowledge management (20%).
- Carrying out other specific activities in support of UNOOSA as required (10%)
IV. Qualifications and Experience
Education:
Master’s degree in communications, journalism, public relations, international relations,
information/ knowledge management, geography, geographic information systems.
Work experience:
A minimum of 2 years of relevant work experience in information/ media management,
website content management, Earth observation or geographic information systems,
advisory support to developing countries.
Languages:
English and French are the working languages of the UN Secretariat. For this position,
fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another UN official language is an advantage.
Other skills:
- Knowledge or experience in geographic information systems, remote sensing, or other space-based tools and applications such as satellite telecommunications or global navigation satellite systems.
- Experience in database administration and content management.
- Experience in the provision of technical advisory support to developing countries on the use of communication and information technologies or geospatial information.
- Good interpersonal skills and ability to establish and maintain effective working relations in a multi-cultural organization.
Further Information on the program and application you can find here.
