Japan: Social Media Officer - Olympics

Title: Social Media Officer
Duty Station: Tokyo, Japan
Duration: January 2020 to end September 2020
Contract Type: Temporary Appointment (P3)
Closing date: 22 January 2020 (midnight Geneva time)
Start date: ASAP

Operational context

Established in December 1950, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is mandated to lead and
coordinate international action to protect and assist refugees and other persons of concern.
Social Media is one of UNHCR's most important channels of public communications.
UNHCR's global Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat and TikTok channels
have millions of followers worldwide. Expert management of social media - including
UNHCR's own global social media accounts - is essential to meeting the objectives of the
Global Communications Strategy and UNHCR's broader objectives.

UNHCR's global social media team - a remote team spread across three different time zones requires extra experienced capacity, to develop new partnerships, strategize and deliver social media content, in support of the refugee participation at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, summer 2020. The Tokyo 2020 Olympics provide a unique opportunity to engage and inspire audiences in Japan and abroad on the refugee cause, and to increase awareness and understanding of UNHCR and the vital role we play in refugee protection. The story of the first-ever Refugee Olympic Team at the Rio 2016 Olympics saw the highest media coverage that UNHCR has ever recorded.

Over 400,000 Brazilians joined UNHCR’s social media platforms, and to this day this is a motivated audience that engages and shares UNHCR’s storytelling. Recognizing the global importance of this event, and the potential opportunities, the Social Media Officer will engage both the Japanese and the global audiences with relevant storytelling and other content.

Functional Statement
Based in Tokyo, Japan, reporting to the Head of Social Media at UNHCR Headquarters in
Geneva with day-to-day supervision from the Senior Project Leader in Tokyo, the incumbent
will be part of UNHCR’s Global Social Media Team. The team is responsible for developing
and delivering the organization’s social media strategy and managing its global accounts,
namely Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok and Snap. The team
nurtures a diverse refugee-supporting community of tens of millions of people worldwide,
leads on social media content partnerships, and provides strategic and operational support to
UNHCR’s leadership, national account managers, regional bureaux and partners. Moreover,
the incumbent will collaborate closely with the Tokyo-based UNHCR staff in charge of the
Japanese-language social media accounts.

This temporary appointment is focused on social media strategy, planning, content
production, social and digital partnerships-building, in support of the refuge participation at
the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and more broadly, of the way that sport acts as a bridge
and common ground to create understanding and better relations between displaced and
host communities.

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job
description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory
framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules,
UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability
frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a
manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies
and UNHCR’s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties and responsibilities
Social Content Production and Publishing
Produce original and high-performing content for UNHCR and partners’ social media
accounts in Japanese and English, working as part of a wider team. The content will be
tailored to the platform specificities of Instagram Story, IGTV and Instagram feed, TikTok,
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Line. The content will be published on accounts
relating to UNHCR in Japan and the UNHCR global accounts. As video is our highestperforming form of social content, work closely with the Social Media Video Producer,
conceive, script, edit / produce, publish and distribute video products for UNHCR and partner
channels.

Audience Targeting, Growth and Engagement
Engage in a SWOT analysis of UNHCR-related social media accounts in Japan and develop
proposals for maximizing their potential. In line with the UNHCR communications strategy for
Tokyo 2020 and the overall Global Communications Strategy, identify potential new
audiences for these accounts; and apply a plan to reach, engage and increase their
following, using the latest tools and content trends, including targeting posts and paid as well
as organic content.

Social Listening, Monitoring and Crisis Communications
Monitor conversations on social media platforms in Japanese, which relate or may potentially
relate to UNHCR, the IOC Refugee Olympic Team and other relevant keywords. Identify,
assess and take action as required to mitigate risk, in crisis communications scenarios.
Similarly, monitor positive conversations relating to the same areas and identify opportunities
for UNHCR to insert itself into them, whether to mitigate potential negative communications
moments or to reach new audiences.

Social Media Partnerships
Support the Head of Social Media and the Senior Project Leader in nurturing and managing
UNHCR's partnerships with social media and digital companies, including but not limited to
Line, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and TikTok in Japan.
Identify opportunities and best practices for strategic placement of UNHCR content on thirdparty platforms, including social and digital media companies, and in particular non-traditional
UNHCR partners.
Collaborate with the Social Media Officer leading on influencer engagement and the Global
Goodwill Ambassador Team to strategically make the most of the online voices, accounts,
networks and fanbases of UNHCR’s celebrity supporters to meet the objectives of the
UNHCR strategy for the Olympics.

Organizing, Distribution and Analysis
Attend internal and external meetings as required, representing the global social media team
and keeping the team updated and informed. Create and assist with the distribution of social
media content packs to UNHCR stakeholders including country officers, Bureaus, PSP and
national partners, the UNHCR #WithRefugees coalition, NGO partners, GWA and high-level
influencers and others as required.
Document and analyze social media video metrics, working closely with the Corporate
Communications Team on reporting, and feed learnings back to the social media team in a
timely manner to ensure the strategy and work plan can adapt.
Travel may be required, likely within Japan and/or to Headquarters in Switzerland.

Accountabilities
Social media content published on UNHCR’s global and Japanese social media channels
under his/her watch (1) accurately and appropriately showcases the rights and needs of
refugees, asylum-seekers and host communities as well as UNHCR’s role in their protection
and assistance; (2) helps to advance UNHCR’s communications goals and (3) drives media,
public and/or donor engagement.

Monitoring and Progress Controls
UNHCR closely tracks the performance of all social media content and identifies effective
messaging, formats and strategies. Material developed by the Social Media Officer will be
measured for impact and efficacy.
The Officer will attend regular editorial meetings and confer regularly with team members
including the Head of Social Media.

Performance will be assessed on an ongoing basis, with established goals, regular informal
feedback, and a formal assessment midway through the contract.
Measurable outputs include social media reporting by DER's Corporate Communications
section, which assess the performance of UNHCR's social media accounts across the board.

Essential minimum qualifications and professional experience required
 Minimum of 5 years of experience working in communication roles, managing
corporate social media accounts with a graduate degree (equivalent of a Master’s) or
6 years with undergraduate degree (equivalent of BA/BS) in Social Media, Digital
Journalism, Communications, Digital Marketing or related field
 Fluency in Japanese - written and oral with excellent copy-writing skills for social
media.
 Fluency in English - written and oral with excellent copy-writing skills for social media.
Desirable Qualifications and Competencies
 Experience managing branded accounts with one million or more followers.
 Experience developing and conducting training workshops on social media and
speaking about social media in relevant public forums.
 Experience working in an international non-profit context, ideally including time in
the field, or ability to demonstrate experience of an equivalent working context with
awareness, advocacy and fundraising objectives.
 Experience producing social media content for one million + follower social media
accounts around major international events, in particular sporting events.
 An understanding of working with Goodwill Ambassadors/celebrities and the
particular opportunities and challenges around celebrity activity - highly desirable.
 Knowledge of the UN system and the humanitarian community - desirable
 Previous work experience in the humanitarian or development sectors is an asset.

Key Competencies
 Proven effective and creative social media content production skills.
 Digital content production skills: expertise in editing with Adobe Premiere Pro and
other relevant Creative Cloud tools desirable.
 Digital IT skills: collaborative tools such as Slack, Trello, Google Drive and Teams,
using content-sharing platforms, confident using Google Analytics and social media
monitoring and publishing software such as CrowdTangle, Brandwatch, Social Flow,
Falcon, LexisNexis etc.
 Proven/demonstrated ability to work to deadlines.
 Proven editorial judgement, especially in sensitive and fast-moving political and news
environments.
 Proven organizational and problem-solving skills required.

Location
The successful candidate will be based in Tokyo, Japan.

Interested applicants should submit their application to the Profile Social Media
Officer - Job ID 13933 at https://bit.ly/2u5gVd8.

To view all vacancies, visit https://www.unhcr.org/careers.html .

Deadline for applications: 22 January 2020 (midnight Geneva time).

The UNHCR workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages and
opinions. UNHCR seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal
opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce.
Applications are encouraged from all qualified candidates without distinction on grounds of
race, colour, sex, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation and gender
identity.