Senior Communication Associate, GS7, FT, #138497, Kingston, Jamaica, Multi-Country Office for the Caribbean
- Organisation: UNICEF
- Location: Jamaica, Multi-Country Office for the Caribbean
- Deadline: 11 November 2026
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 Hope
UNICEF’s Caribbean Mult-Country Office (MCO) serves twelve English- and Dutch-speaking Caribbean countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. As part of UNICEF's Future Focus Initiative, the Caribbean MCO brings together policy influence, technical expertise and strategic partnerships to advance results for children across the region through one integrated programme, one management structure and a shared pool of resources. The Multi-Country Programme 2027-2031 focuses on three shared outcomes: equitable access to primary health care, learning and skills; protection of children from all forms of violence; and child poverty reduction and resilience strengthening.
Children across the Caribbean face interconnected challenges including learning losses, mental health concerns, violence, child poverty and increasing exposure to climate-related disasters. Despite many countries being classified as upper-middle or high income, significant inequalities persist, particularly for vulnerable children, adolescents, indigenous communities and those living in remote areas. Small island developing states also face fiscal constraints and heightened vulnerability to economic and climate shocks, requiring stronger regional cooperation and system-based solutions.
The Caribbean MCO’s management strategy is governed by four principles that together translate the new business model into concrete ways of working:
• Impact-driven : technical expertise is organized in shared multi-country working groups rather than replicated in each country, with enabling functions aligned around UNICEF’s strongest comparative advantages.
• Effective and agile : parallel country ecosystems are replaced by harmonized systems and flexible cross-country staffing, keeping management lean and decisions close to implementation.
• Grounded : regional scale is balanced with national depth through country-specific workplans, Heads of Office in each duty station, and matrix management that anchors authority and accountability at country level.
• People-centered : structural and managerial choices are guided by staff wellbeing, transparency and inclusion, with clear role definitions, meaningful consultation, and continuous investment in learning and development.
The operational expression of this model is the working group model . Rather than replicating similar roles across four separate country offices, technical and operational expertise is organized into 16 thematic and functional working groups, each distributed across different duty stations and each serving the full 12-country MCO — not just its host location. Roles are designed around three organizing principles: shared regional service , meaning every specialist contributes to the wider MCO; complementary expertise , meaning team capabilities reinforce each other rather than repeating the same profile in multiple places; and agile presence , meaning the workforce can be rapidly deployed across countries through travel, surge support or remote modalities in line with evolving needs and priorities. This working group model is the foundation of a fundamentally new way of working for UNICEF in the Caribbean: depth replaces duplication, and shared capacity replaces fragmented country-by-country coverage
Under the Area Representative with a dotted line with the Programme Coordination, three strategic shift working groups – Communication & Advocacy, Partnerships, and Knowledge Management, Data Analytics & Evaluation – provide the enabling capacities required to deliver a more influential, partnership driven and evidence rich multi country programme. Together, they position the MCO to shape public debates, build and leverage high value partnerships, and systematically use data, evidence and learning to drive results for children across the 12 countries.
How can you make a difference ?
Under the supervision of Communications Specialist (Team Lead), the Senior Communication Associate provides specialized communication and advocacy support to the Caribbean Multi-Country Office (MCO), contributing to UNICEF's strategic communication, advocacy, public engagement, youth engagement, media outreach and campaign efforts across the 12-country platform. The position supports UNICEF's mandate to advocate for the protection of children's rights, influence decision makers, mobilize public support, and position UNICEF as a leading voice for children in the Caribbean.
The Senior Communication Associate supports the translation of programme evidence, policy priorities and advocacy objectives into communication products and engagement opportunities that strengthen UNICEF's visibility, credibility and influence. The role contributes to regional campaigns, digital communications, media relations, content production, knowledge sharing, stakeholder engagement and advocacy initiatives that advance results for children.
In line with UNICEF's vision of building a network of strategic, innovative and effective advocates for children, the Senior Communication Associate supports the implementation of integrated communication and advocacy strategies aligned with the MCO's three programmatic priorities:
• Equitable access to primary health care, learning and skills;
• Protection of children from all forms of violence; and
• Child poverty reduction and resilience strengthening.
Key functions of the Senior Communication Associate :
• Support the Implementation of Communication and Advocacy Activities
• Support Campaigns, Public Engagement and Brand Visibility
• Knowledge Management and Digital Communication Support
• Administrative and Operational Support
• Collaboration and Team Support
This position belongs to the Communication & Advocacy working group. If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: G7 Senior Communication Associate Jamaica.pdf
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
Minimum requirements:
Education: Completion of secondary education is required. A university degree in Communications, Journalism, Public Relations, Digital Media, Marketing, International Relations, Social Sciences or another relevant field is highly desirable .
Work Experience:
• A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience in communications, advocacy, public information, media relations, digital communications, social media, journalism, marketing, stakeholder engagement, or a related field is required.
• Experience supporting the planning, coordination and implementation of communication and advocacy activities is required.
• Experience drafting, editing and producing communication products for diverse audiences is required.
• Experience coordinating communication campaigns, events, media outreach activities and public engagement initiatives is required.
• Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders is required.
• Experience in communications, advocacy or external relations within an international organization, development agency, NGO, UN organization or multicultural environment is highly desirable.
• Experience maintaining digital communication platforms, content management systems, knowledge management tools or social media channels is desirable.
• Experience compiling, analyzing and reporting communication performance metrics and engagement data is desirable.
• Experience working with consultants, vendors, implementing partners and service providers is desirable.
• Experience supporting multi-country, regional or cross-functional communication and advocacy initiatives is highly desirable. Experience in a similar role across geographically dispersed duty stations is an asset.
• Experience supporting youth engagement, public advocacy, social and behaviour change, or child-rights communication initiatives is an asset.
Required Skills :
• Strong content development, editing and proofreading skills.
• Communication campaign coordination and implementation skills.
• Ability to support media relations and stakeholder engagement activities.
• Knowledge of digital communication tools and social media platforms.
• Knowledge management and information organization skills.
• Event coordination and logistics management skills.
• Ability to compile, analyze and present communication performance data and reports.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to tailor messages to diverse audiences, build strong relationships with a wide range of stakeholders across dispersed Duty Stations, and adapt quickly to new teams and changing contexts.
• Proficiency in SharePoint and content management platforms.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook).
• Strong organizational, coordination and multitasking skills.
Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chines, French, Russian or Spanish) or local language of the duty station is considered an asset.
Capabilities Required: