Communications Officer (NDC Hub) At Pacific Community

Description

The Pacific Community (SPC) is the principal scientific and technical organisation in the Pacific region, supporting development since 1947. We are an international development organisation owned and governed by our 27 country and territory members. In pursuit of sustainable development to benefit Pacific people, our organisation works across more than 25 sectors. We are known for our knowledge and innovation in such areas as fisheries science, education, public health, geoscience, and conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.

The Programme – Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability Programme (CCES) was established to support SPC in strengthening and streamlining its climate change initiatives by consolidating the existing climate change work of SPC under strategic and technical management. In addition, CCES provides leadership in SPC’s climate change and environmental sustainability actions, coordinates and liaises with regional and international partners coherently for the organisation and enhances mainstreaming of the issue within its divisional development work.

The role – Communications Officer (NDC Hub) will provide high-level communications support to NDC Hub in the valorisation of NDC Hub and its related activities, in order to ensure high visibility of the role of the NDC Hub in line with our One SPC approach and support of its connection with the Climate Change Flagship and related work of CCES’s activities and results. The Communication Officer (NDC Hub) will also support the management system of information and communication aligned with SPC processes, relevant platforms and existing tools.

The key responsibilities of the role include:

Update and implement the communication and visibility strategy for the NDC Hub bearing in mind its role in linking with the rest of the Climate Finance leveraging capability of SPC

• Conduct brief baseline assessment of NDC Hub Communications (social media and website engagement analytics).
• Implement the communication and visibility strategy of NDC Hub, in collaboration with all NDC Hub implementing partners.
• Update the NDC Hub communication and visibility strategy with inputs from NDC Hub implementing partners.
• Establish communication templates for NDC Hub partners to be used for different communication platforms.
• In collaboration with the other SPC services, assess and measure the effectiveness of the communication of the NDC Hub project and adjust the approaches accordingly.

Communications and visibility support for the NDC Hub and its role in the climate finance architecture

• Produce regular communication products and ensure they are widely distributed to increase the NDC Hub visibility.
• Support the development of innovative and strong communication tools and dissemination strategies to value climate change publications of SPC and enhance the organisation’s visibility in CC.
• Establish a storage and archiving system for storing all the articles, materials and communication tools of the project.
• Assist the SPC communication unit by relaying and/or drafting CC news items.
• In collaboration with the ICKM Officer, review and update the NDC Hub website and articulate it with CCES webpages.

Capacity Building

• Contribute to TNA surveys to assess communication capacity development and training needs requirements for project beneficiaries.
• Actively support and encourage the development of capacity building to strengthen the long-term capacity of country counterparts in implementation of Paris Agreement and NDCs through on the job training and specially designed training.
• Coordinate and organise appropriate communications training for the benefit of PICTs.
• Provide technical guidance, awareness, and training to the NDC Hub partners and beneficiary countries in the area of NDC implementation and communication.

For a more detailed account of the key responsibilities, please refer to the online job description.

Key selection criteria

Qualifications

• Degree in communication, media, marketing or a related field and in one of the fields covered by the project with successful communication experience or equivalent body of knowledge and experience.

Technical expertise

• At least 5-6 years’ experience in designing and implementing programme or project or communication strategies.
• Demonstrated experience in creating and publishing content for the web and social networks.
• Experience of working with communication and/or knowledge systems and software for scientific data.
• Proven experience in networking, relationship building and partnership management with different stakeholders.
• Ability to mobilise various partners.
• Demonstrated commitment to gender equality and human rights-based approaches.
• Excellent interpersonal skills in the multicultural environment of the Pacific Islands.
• A proactive and positive team player able to work effectively in a multicultural environment, with great initiative, willing to lend a hand in a broad range of tasks to support the CCES team in achieving their goals.
• Demonstrated competence in being well organized, works effectively under minimal supervision, able to multi-task, and effectively meet deadlines on multiple, and sometimes urgent requests for support.

Language skills

• Excellent English communication skills (oral and written) with a working knowledge of French being an advantage.

Interpersonal skills and cultural awareness

• Ability to work in a multicultural, inclusive and equitable environment.

Salary, terms and conditions

Contract Duration – Until 31 August 2027 – subject to renewal depending on funding and performance.

Remuneration – The Communications Officer (NDC Hub) is a band 8 position in SPC’s 2025 salary scale, with a starting salary range of 2,044‒2,555 SDR (special drawing rights) per month, which currently converts to approximately FJD 6,152–7,691 (USD 2,719–3,398; EUR 2,504–3,130). An offer of appointment for an initial contract will normally be made in the lower half of this range, with due consideration given to experience and qualifications.Progression within the salary scale will be based on annual performance reviews. Remuneration of expatriate SPC staff members is not subject to income tax in Fiji; Fiji nationals employed by SPC in Fiji will be subject to income tax.

Benefits for international employees based in Fiji – SPC provides a housing allowance of FJD 1,350–3,000 per month. Establishment and repatriation grant, removal expenses, airfares, home leave travel, health and life and disability insurances and education allowances are available for eligible employees and their eligible dependents. Employees are entitled to 25 working days of annual leave per annum and other types of leave, and access to SPC’s Provident Fund (contributing 8% of salary, to which SPC adds a 10% contribution).

Languages – SPC’s working languages are English and French.

Recruitment principles – SPC’s recruitment is based on merit and fairness, and candidates are competing in a selection process that is fair, transparent and non-discriminatory. SPC is an equal-opportunity employer, and is committed to cultural and gender diversity, including bilingualism, and will seek to attract and appoint candidates who respect these values. Due attention is given to gender equity and the maintenance of strong representation from Pacific Island professionals. If two interviewed candidates are ranked equal by the selection panel, preference will be given to the Pacific Islander. Applicants will be assured of complete confidentiality in line with SPC’s Privacy Policy.