UNOPS

The Asia Pacific Regional Office, based in Bangkok, Thailand, provides strategic leadership and oversight for UNOPS operations across 17 countries, ensuring high performance, operational excellence, and alignment with organizational goals. Operations currently span Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Pacific Islands. Across these countries, we work closely with key stakeholders to strengthen partnerships and maximize impact through five main operating units: Afghanistan (AFCO), Myanmar (MMCO), South Asia Multi-Country Office (SAMCO), East Asia and Pacific Multi-Country Office (EAPMCO), and the Asia Regional Health Cluster (ARHC). Through these entities, we provide agile, client-focused service delivery across diverse sectors - including infrastructure, health, procurement, and project management - supporting the implementation of sustainable development solutions across the region.

The East Asia and Pacific Multi-Country Office (EAPMCO), headquartered in Bangkok, supports UNOPS operations across 24 countries in Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, and the Pacific. Established in January 2023, EAPMCO provides strategic direction, operational support, and quality assurance to ensure the efficient and effective delivery of projects across its portfolio. EAPMCO implements initiatives in priority areas such as energy transition, climate change, and sustainable development, drawing on UNOPS' core expertise in human resources, procurement, infrastructure, fund management, and programme management.

Established in 2016, UNOPS Philippines supports the government and development partners in advancing sustainable development through services including sustainable procurement, project and grant management, infrastructure, and logistical support. UNOPS projects in the Philippines focus on key areas such as governance, justice, health, and infrastructure, with a strong emphasis on capacity building, community resilience, and accelerating progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Partnership for Peace and Development in Mindanao (PPDM) Programme, known as EU4BARMM, is a European Union-funded initiative supporting peacebuilding, institutional strengthening, and inclusive governance in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The programme operates across multiple thematic work packages addressing the tri-justice system — encompassing formal, Shari'ah, and customary justice systems — reflecting the region's socio-cultural, historical, and constitutional identity under the Bangsamoro Organic Law.

Effective communication is a strategic, cross-cutting imperative for the EU4BARMM programme. The programme's credibility and public legitimacy depend on a coherent narrative that builds trust in the BARMM justice system and advances public knowledge and understanding of its pluralistic legal architecture. At the same time, donor visibility, results documentation, and knowledge management requirements necessitate a consistent, high-quality communications presence across all work packages and programme reporting cycles.

Multiple work packages generate communication-related deliverables — including documentation of legal processes, development of knowledge products, community awareness campaigns, and visibility materials — each with distinct audience profiles, technical content requirements, and messaging objectives. Without a centralized communications function, there is a significant risk of inconsistent messaging, technical inaccuracies in the translation of process, performance or substantive content into accessible formats, and duplication of communications roles across work packages.

A dedicated Communications Specialist with substantive understanding of the tri-justice system and the BARMM legal and political context is essential to ensure the relevance, accuracy, and quality of all programme communications outputs. The Specialist will serve as the programme's central communications resource, consolidating communications requirements across work packages under a unified strategic framework, complemented by targeted short-term inputs from technical resource persons where needed.

The Communications Specialist provides centralized, crosscutting strategic communications support across the EU4BARMM programme, ensuring consistency of messaging, technical accuracy, and coherence of communication outputs across all work packages. Operating as part of the programme's crosscutting advisory and quality assurance layer under the supervision of the Programme Manager, the Specialist consolidates communications requirements across the programme under a unified strategic framework, reducing duplication of communications roles within individual work packages.

The role focuses on strategic direction, editorial oversight, and quality assurance of key communication outputs, while providing targeted support to work package teams as required.. The Communications Specialist ensures that complex socio-political,  legal and institutional content related to the tri-justice system is translated into accurate, accessible, and context-appropriate formats, contributing to building trust in and advancing public understanding of the BARMM tri-justice system and the programme’s broader development objectives.

Required

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in Communications, Journalism, International Development, Public Policy, Law, or related fields with 9 years of relevant experience OR

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in any of the above or related fields with 7 years of relevant experience is required

Desired

• Graduate-level training or demonstrated specialization in strategic communications for development, legal or policy communications, or communications for peacebuilding and conflict-affected settings is desired.

• Formal training or certification in visual communication, digital communications, or knowledge management for development programmes is desired.

Required

• Relevant experience is defined as progressively responsible professional experience in communications, knowledge management, or public information within development, governance, or peacebuilding programmes or related areas. 

• Demonstrated experience in developing and implementing strategic communications plans for complex, multi-stakeholder programmes is required.

• Proven ability to translate technically complex legal, policy, or institutional content into clear, accessible, and audience-appropriate written and visual outputs is required.

• Demonstrated experience developing a diverse range of communications products, including knowledge products, donor visibility materials, community awareness materials, and programme documentation, is required.

• Experience providing centralized communications support across multiple programme components or work packages simultaneously is required.

Desired

• Familiarity with the justice sector, rule of law, or legal pluralism programming and the ability to communicate concepts related to plural legal systems accurately and accessibly, is desired.

• Prior experience working in conflict-affected or post-conflict settings in Southeast Asia, with specific knowledge of the Philippine or BARMM context, is desired.

• Prior engagement with UN system organizations, EU-funded programmes, or multilateral development initiatives, including familiarity with EU donor visibility requirements, is an asset.

• Experience developing community-facing information, education, and communication (IEC) materials for diverse or marginalized audiences in a culturally sensitive manner is desired.

• Demonstrated experience in digital communications, social media management, or multimedia content production for development programmes is an asset.

• UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes. 
• UNOPS will at no stage of the recruitment process request candidates to make payments of any kind.
• Applications to vacancies must be received before midnight Copenhagen time (CET) on the closing date of the announcement. Applications received after the closing date will not be considered. 
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to proceed to the next stage of the selection process, which may include various assessments. 
• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of a wide range of nationalities, cultures, languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. We strive to sustain and strengthen this diversity, fostering an inclusive working environment where all personnel are treated with respect and have equal access to opportunities.
• UNOPS evaluates all applications based on the skills, qualifications and experience outlined in the vacancy announcement. We are committed to a fair and transparent selection process and welcome diverse perspectives, including those of women, indigenous and racialized communities, individuals of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations, and persons with disabilities.
• We are committed to enabling all candidates to perform at their best during the assessment process. If you are shortlisted and require support or reasonable accommodation to complete any assessment, please inform our human resources team upon receiving your invitation.
• UNOPS has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment, and other forms of abusive conduct, including discrimination, abuse of authority, and harassment. To uphold these standards, background checks are conducted for all final candidates to help ensure that individuals with a history of such conduct are not hired. By applying for a position with UNOPS, candidates acknowledge and consent to these verification processes.
  

• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post. 
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few mandatory courses (they take around 4 hours to complete) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract. Please note that you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers. For more information on a retainer contract here. 
• For more details about the contract types, please click here.
• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda. 
• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.