Communications Officer

1. Introduction

The position falls under the development cooperation project “Promoting Decent Work for Syrian Refugees in Host Communities”. The project is funded by the KfW Development Bank and links to ILO Programme and Budget 2026-2027 Outcome 6 and CPO TUR 159 (Policies and programmes implemented by constituents aimed at protecting migrant workers' rights and promoting decent employment for the Syrian refugees and migrant workers).

The project aims to facilitate the entry of Syrian refugees and Turkish citizens from host communities into the labour market and to help them develop, strengthen and upgrade their skills and competences as required. The overall objective of the proposed project is to enhance formal employment for Syrian refugees under temporary protection (SuTP) and Turkish citizens and to create formal sector jobs.

The project builds on ILO interventions on the Syrian refugee crisis in Türkiye since 2014, promoting comprehensive short- and medium-term employment-rich measures to be implemented within the framework of Türkiye’s overall response and the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP). The project is implemented by the ILO in close cooperation with the Ministry of Labour, and Social Services (MoFLSS) , the national authorities and the social partners in various provinces, including Ankara, Sanliurfa, Hatay, Gaziantep, Adana, Mersin, İstanbul, İzmir, Bursa and Konya.

The project has three outcomes

- Outcome A: SuTP are qualified to participate in the formal labour market.

- Outcome B: Turkish public employment services are strengthened to support SuTP and disadvantaged Turkish citizens to access the formal labour market.

- Outcome C: Transition to formality is facilitated for SuTP and Turkish citizens.

The Communications Officer is responsible for ensuring clear, consistent, and effective communication for the project. This includes implementing communication activities, preparing visibility and information materials, managing digital platforms, and supporting outreach and awareness efforts.

2. Reporting lines

The Communications Officer will assist the Project Manager under the overall supervision of the Director of the ILO Office for Türkiye and will undertake the below mentioned duties.

3. Main duties and responsibilities

1. Prepare and implement a communication plan for the project.

2. Design and implement all outreach activities of the project including preparation of project visibility products including social media posts, publications, briefs and visualization of data ensuring visibility of the project in coordination with DCOMM and in line with ILO and KfW visibility rules.

3. Support the drafting of information material on project activities to be available in information offices and other sites as needed.

4. Establish and update the project’s electronic and social media tools (e-newsletter, project social media accounts).

5. Provide communication and visibility support to ensure the visibility and communication of results from assessments such as impact assessment, evaluations, and satisfaction surveys

6. Coordinate awareness raising activities in collaboration with the relevant team members and consultants.

7. Maintain a project beneficiary/constituent/partner/participant list and regularly update the relevant partners on project activities and foster contacts and relations with the media outlets with a view to increase ILO’s and projects visibility both at national and local levels.

8. Liaise closely with other communication officers within the Office with a view to support the overall visibility of the project and Office and contributing to the office-wide communication efforts

9. Review and edit project materials including brief notes, reports and activity reports as well as draft news releases, speaking points, correspondence or other information publications, and assist with the distribution of information materials.

10. Provide input to the ILO-Ankara website to ensure visibility of the project and help maintenance of the ILO-Ankara website in close coordination with DCOMM and other communication officers.

11. Liaise with the other UN agencies to promote ILO's values, increase the project's visibility and facilitate the scaling-up of the project's interventions and support the office’s work within the UN Communication Group.

12. Participate in the organization of seminars, conferences and meetings.

13. Perform other duties as may be assigned by the Project Manager and the Director of the ILO Office for Türkiye.

Required qualifications

Education

First level university degree in communication, journalism, international relations, political science, social science or any other related field.

Experience

At least two years of professional experience in policy advocacy, communication, organization and implementation of awareness raising campaigns, writing news stories, and basic graphic design.

Technical requirements:

• Experience in design and production of information materials (online print, audio-visual, etc.).

• Experience in visibility and communications

• Experience in working with vulnerable groups and/or refugees will be an asset.

Languages

 Excellent knowledge of Turkish and English (oral and written)

Competencies

In addition to the ILO core competencies, Communication, Collaboration, Sensitivity and Diversity, Client orientation, Ability to organize work of own the following specific competencies are also required for this position:.

• Excellent writing skills.

• Good interpersonal and communication skills.

• Ability to use social media tools and website design tools.

• Ability to adapt message to culturally diverse audiences.

• Good knowledge of the challenges SuTP is facing in Türkiye.

• Knowledge of the ILO’s mandate and its programme of activities as well as social partners and actors in the sector.

• Good analytical skills.

• Good knowledge of computer applications for information collection, information management and dissemination.

• Ability to work on own initiative as well as a member of a team.