Project Officer

OVERVIEW
**Post Number**: 1CAUIS0094PA
**Grade**: P-3
**Parent Sector**: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)
**Duty Station**: Montreal
**Job Family**: Communication and Information
**Type of contract**: Project Appointment
**Duration of contract**: 1 year
**Application Deadline (Midnight Paris Time)**: 07-JUL-2025
**UNESCO Core Values**: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism
Background
Established in 1999, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) serves as UNESCO’s statistical agency for its 193 Member States (MS) and 12 Associated Members. The UIS agenda focuses on delivering cross-national comparable data for global, regional, and development agendas, covering the fields of education, science, culture, and communication and information. The UIS provides technical support for Member States to produce transformative data based on the three pillars: standards and methodologies; data production; brokering and outreach. The UIS’s vision, described in its 2022-2029 Medium-Term Strategy, is to ensure that countries’ policies and decision-making are informed by sound statistical information; that they can benchmark progress towards national and international goals; and learn from the experiences of others. The UIS seeks to build a management team that will lead the successful implementation of this vision.
The UIS plays a pivotal role in shaping global education by providing essential data, technical expertise, and leadership in learning outcomes. It actively addresses challenges related to AI and machine learning, establishing a strong foundation for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through collaborations with UNICEF, the World Bank, OECD, and the GEMR, the UIS fulfills emerging data requirements. Its joint efforts in conducting the Joint Survey on national education responses to COVID-19 demonstrate its commitment to addressing immediate priorities. The data generated through these initiatives inform global, regional, and funding mechanisms for education, including platforms like the UN Transforming Education Summit, the Global Education Cooperation Mechanism (GCM), G7, G20, and the GPE results framework. Furthermore, in partnership with the GEMR, the UIS has successfully adopted an SDG 4 benchmarking process, becoming a leading authority in data and monitoring within the GCM. This process serves as a vital tool for countries to set and monitor targets, positioning the UIS and the GEMR at the forefront of supporting countries in achieving improved education outcomes. Recognizing the significant influence of AI and machine learning, the UIS actively engages in this domain by providing critical data and technical inputs. This proactive involvement ensures that education systems are well-equipped to leverage the potential of AI and address associated challenges through informed decision-making and policy development.
Purpose
The Project Officer, under the authority of the Senior Executive Officer, is responsible for implementing communication strategies to enhance the Institutes visibility. This involves creating a corporate branding strategy, promoting the use of UIS data with innovative content and online services, establishing outreach channels for key stakeholders, and facilitating fundraising efforts. The broader plan seeks to strengthen UIS as the preferred source for statistical data by defining key stakeholder messages, developing branding guidelines, aligning teams with stakeholder priorities, using customer satisfaction surveys to improve outreach, and creating advocacy materials for social media dissemination. Additionally, the plan includes developing new products and online services, expanding communications with governments, donors, and partners, identifying effective messaging channels, enhancing stakeholder engagement through social media, improving relationships with partners, and exploring opportunities to integrate UIS data into larger initiatives, particularly those linked to the SDGs.
Main Responsibilities and Tasks
Support the development, implementation, and monitoring of communication strategies focused on priority issues to establish UIS as the trusted source of statistical data and promote the use of UIS data.
Coordinate diverse projects within the team related to public-facing materials in collaboration with United Nations System organizations, donors, NGOs, and agencies as needed. Provide programmatic and substantive reviews of materials prepared by UIS teams for presentation to internal and external bodies, ensuring high-quality standards and clarity.
Draft and edit media materials, such as press releases, articles, Op-Eds, Q&As, key messages, and other major corporate communications materials for both internal and external audiences.
Supervise the production of all team materials in multiple languages.
Manage international, regional, and national launches of UIS reports and events, including setting strategic direction