Strategic Communications, Advocacy and Partnerships Specialist [Open to Internal & External applicants]
- Organisation: UNDP
- Location: Home Based
- Deadline: 14 November 2026
Duties and Responsibilities
Tiered Approach
In line with the commitment to safeguard capacity and support personnel already in the Organization, a majority of UNDP UNCDF/UNV vacancies are advertised using a tiered application process whereby:
• Tier 0 : UNDP/UNCDF/UNV IP staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments, whose posts will be abolished, or contracts will be terminated or not renewed during 2026.
• Tier 1 : Other UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments
• Tier 2 : UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding temporary appointments (TA), personnel on regular PSA contracts, and Expert and Specialist UN Volunteers
• Tier 3 or no tier indicated : All other contract types from UNDP/UNCDF/UNV and other agencies, and other external candidates
Please make note of the Tier(s) indicated in the vacancy title, if any, and ensure that you satisfy the eligibility to apply.
Background
As the lead United Nations agency on international development, UNDP works in 170 countries and territories to eradicate poverty and reduce inequality. We help countries develop policies, leadership skills, partnerships and institutional capabilities to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
As outlined in the UNDP Strategic Plan 2026-2029, UNDP’s work is guided by four strategic objectives that together define our contribution to human development: expanding prosperity for all, strengthening effective governance, safeguarding a healthy planet and building crisis resilience. These objectives are enabled by three accelerators that drive transformative impact across our portfolio: digital and AI innovation, gender equality and sustainable finance. Through this integrated approach, UNDP supports countries to deliver tangible improvements in people’s lives and to advance sustainable development at scale.
UNDP, through its Sustainable Finance Hub (https://sdgfinance.undp.org/), supports partners in promoting financing for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As an accelerator of the UNDP Strategic Plan, sustainable finance strengthens countries’ ability to mobilize, align and deploy finance at scale for national priorities. UNDP supports international and country level policy reform as a catalyst for system-wide change, stronger policy environments, better-functioning markets and more coherent financing strategies for sustainable development.
Based in UNDP, the Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA) is a partnership of over 80 governments, companies and international organizations that accelerates the transition from cash to digital payments in order to reduce poverty and drive inclusive growth by:
• Advocating for the transition from cash to responsible digital payments in a way that advances financial inclusion and promotes responsible digital finance.
• Catalyzing the development of inclusive digital payments ecosystems in member countries to reduce costs, increase transparency, advance financial inclusion-- particularly for women-- and drive inclusive growth; and
• Conducting action research and sharing the knowledge and experiences of our members to inform strategies for making the transition.
Billions of dollars in cash payments and transfers are made daily in emerging and developing economies, including payment of salaries, social welfare and relief, payments to suppliers, remittances, etc. The problems with these cash payments include a lack of transparency, accountability and security, as well as inefficiency. Individuals who receive cash payments are often part of the 1.7 billion excluded from the formal financial sector. This means they are excluded from access to a range of appropriate and affordable financial services to help them save safely take advantage of economic opportunities and reduce their vulnerability to risk.
Shifting these payments from cash to digital has the potential to improve the lives of low-income people, particularly women, while giving governments, the development community and the private sector a more transparent, time and cost efficient, and often-safer means of disbursing payments.
From a corporate perspective, payments completed in the value chain of businesses represent some of the most significant payment flows of national economies. To highlight this impact, the Alliance published a report on “ The Future of Supply Chains: Why Companies are Digitizing Payments" showcasing how companies in different business sectors have benefited from digital payments in their supply chains and play an important role in building an inclusive digital payment ecosystem. Thus, the Better Than Cash Alliance is committed to supporting digitization of companies' payment flows in different business sectors across the corporate payment grid (B2B, B2P, B2G, and P2B).
The Better Than Cash Alliance Team’s Core Values are the following:
• Achieving together
• Striving for excellence
• Service oriented
• Results oriented
Through its Strategy 2030, the Alliance seeks to ensure that 100 million more women, young people, micro and small businesses, and displaced and marginalized communities have the choice to use responsible digital payments that improve livelihoods, strengthen resilience and expand economic opportunities. Achieving this ambition requires strong strategic communications, advocacy and partnerships to position responsible digital payments as a development priority, strengthen collaboration with governments, development partners, Alliance members and UNDP Country Offices, and translate evidence into policy dialogue and action.
Under the overall supervision of the Global Advocacy and Communications Specialist, and in close collaboration with programme, partnerships and communications colleagues, the Strategic Communications, Advocacy and Partnerships Specialist will lead strategic communications, advocacy and partnership engagement across the Alliance's priority programmes in Africa, with a primary focus on East and West Africa, while providing strategic communications support to initiatives in Arabic-speaking countries, particularly Jordan and Sudan.
The Specialist will strengthen the Alliance's visibility and influence, foster strategic collaboration with Alliance members, governments, central banks, UNDP Country Offices and development partners, and translate programme evidence into strategic communications, advocacy and policy engagement at country, regional and global levels.
Duties and Responsibilities
The Specialist will drive the implementation of the strategic communications, advocacy and partnership priorities of the Better Than Cash Alliance Strategy 2030, with a primary focus on East and West Africa and strategic communications support to programmes in Arabic-speaking countries, particularly Jordan and Sudan.
The assignment will contribute to:
• Strategic communications, thought leadership and executive positioning;
• Advocacy and policy engagement to advance responsible digital payments;
• Strategic partnerships and stakeholder engagement;
• Country and regional communications support across Africa and the Arab States.
Coordinate the strategic communications, thought leadership and executive positioning.
• Actively contribute to the implementation of the Alliance's strategic communications priorities in alignment with Strategy 2030;
• Develop executive communications, including speeches, talking points, opinion pieces and strategic messaging for senior leadership;
• Coordinate to the development and dissemination of flagship publications, knowledge products and multimedia content across digital and traditional platforms and partner networks to communicate and bring greater visibility to programme results and institutional priorities;
• Collaborate closely with Alliance members, UNDP Country Offices, Regional Bureaux and strategic partners to amplify communications efforts.
Advance advocacy and policy engagement to ensure usage of responsible digital payments.
• Coordinate the implementation of advocacy initiatives that translate implementation evidence into policy dialogue and strategic engagement;
• Coordinate in cooperation with the Head of Communications and Advocacy the Alliance's participation in global and regional policy platforms and initiatives, including the G20, the G7 Partnership, Digital Public Infrastructure initiatives, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and Africa CDC;
• Develop policy briefs, executive briefings, advocacy materials and key messages for high-level engagement;
• Coordinate the planning and delivery of policy dialogues, high-level events and advocacy campaigns;
• Promote the integration of implementation evidence into policy and regulatory discussions.
Strengthen strategic partnerships and stakeholder engagement.
• Collaborate with the Partnerships Specialist to strengthen engagement with Alliance resource members and strategic partners;
• Coordinate joint communications and advocacy initiatives with global and regional partners, including development finance institutions, philanthropies and private sector actors;
• Facilitate collaboration across partners to strengthen programme coherence and collective impact.
Deliver country and regional communications, advocacy and knowledge exchange.
• Coordinate strategic communications and advocacy for priority country programmes, with a focus on East and West Africa and Arabic-speaking countries, particularly Jordan and Sudan;
• Capture, package and translate implementation evidence, country experiences and lessons learned into strategic communications, advocacy and knowledge products;
• Facilitate knowledge exchange across Alliance members to support policy dialogue, peer learnings and internal organizational learning.
The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization
Institutional Arrangements