Vacancy

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Senior Policy and Planning Officer

This vacancy is open for competition only amongst nationals of the 57 OSCE Participating States. More information here

The OSCE Competency Model is a framework of core values and core competencies specific to the OSCE that aims to define the behaviours that are essential to effective performance in any given position.

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Issued by: OSCE Mission to Skopje
Vacancy number: VNSKPS00584
Vacancy type: International Seconded
Field of expertise: Political Affairs
Functional level: Middle management
Grade: S3
Number of posts: 1
Duty station: Skopje
Date of issue: 30 October 2020
Deadline for application: 1 December 2020 - 23:59 Central European Time (CET/CEST)

General Minimum Requirements

The general minimum requirements for working with the OSCE are:

Excellent physical condition
Possession of a valid automobile driving license and ability to drive using manual transmission
Ability to cope with physical hardship and willingness to work extra hours and in an environment with limited infrastructure

Field of Expertise Requirements

The general minimum requirements for working in this field of expertise are:

Diplomatic experience or experience working in political affairs with international organizations or governments
Experience in preparing analytical reports
Excellent communication and drafting skills
Knowledge of regional political history and developments
Diplomatic and negotiating skills
Some knowledge of the OSCE principles and commitments

Level of Professional Competence Requirements

Furthermore, this level of responsibility requires the following:

Education:

Second-level university degree in international studies, public policy, political science or law or related fields. A first-level university degree in combination with two years of additional qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the second-level university degree.

Experience:

Minimum 6 years of relevant, diversified and progressively responsible professional experience including at least 3 years at the management level relevant to the actual position.

Mission Specific Requirements

Additionally, this particular post has specific requirements:

Mandatory:

Knowledge of societal, political and historical context in the South Eastern Europe;
Experience in planning and co-ordination and in programme/project management, preferably in international organizations;
Excellent analytical capability and profound knowledge of information collection and analytical method;
Ability to operate windows applications, especially an MS Office environment. Experience with Oracle and Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) would be an asset;
Excellent oral and written communication skills;
Professional fluency in the English language, including experience editing English-language documents for substance and language;
Demonstrated ability and willingness to work as a member of a team, with people of different cultural and religious backgrounds, gender diversity and varying political views, while maintaining impartiality and objectivity;
Demonstrated gender awareness and sensitivity, and an ability to integrate a gender perspective into tasks and activities;
Excellent interpersonal skills. Ability to work in a dynamic environment as well as on own initiative in a methodical manner;
Flexibility and ability to work under pressure and within limited time frames.

Desirable:

Previous working experience in South Eastern Europe;
Previous experience in an international field operation in the area of rule of law, policing, diplomacy or similar, and/or in strategic planning, policy and programme management;
Knowledge of a local language or a lingua franca spoken in the Mission area.

For more detailed information on the work of the OSCE Mission to Skopje, please see www.osce.org/skopje

Tasks and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of Head of Mission (HoM) and Deputy Head of Mission (DHoM), the Senior Policy and Planning Officer is responsible for:

1. Supporting and advising the Head of Mission (HoM), Deputy Head of Mission (DHoM) and other Senior Management on decision-making and policy and planning issues;

2. Providing recommendations to HoM, DHoM and other Senior Management on progress in the implementation of the Mission's mandate, objectives and desired outcomes;

3. Co-ordinating and providing input for the preparatory work of the Budgetary cycle programmatic documents Programme Budget Performance Report, Programme Outline and Unified Budget;

4. Ensuring, in close co-operation with the Programme Managers (Heads of Department) that Departmental outcomes and outputs are timely, quality-checked, focused and value-added vis--vis Mission objectives and strategy;

5. Supporting HoM in co-ordinating the Mission's relations with the Host Country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and with other institutions and authorities as appropriate;

6. Preparing and reviewing background documents, briefings, talking points and travel packages for HoM on behalf of the Office of the HoM;

7. Formulating, collating and/or providing relevant materials for HoMs official presentations of the Missions activities including those at high-level meetings. Upon request, accompanying HoM to meetings to provide assistance on programmatic or policy/ planning issues;

8. Supporting Senior Management in developing management and organisational measures with the objective of systematically improving the productivity, efficiency and efficacy of the Mission;

9. Co-ordinating regular exchange with relevant Mission departments and functions for optimised co-ordination and synergy and monitoring the progress of programme implementation and budget usage;

10. Serving as the Missions Focal point with the Programming Evaluation Support Unit and the Policy Support Officer within the Secretariats Conflict Prevention Centre; liaising with representatives of the OSCE participating States and other international actors;

11. Providing strategic guidance and overall co-ordination to the Missions Extra Budgetary Projects;

12. Supervising the National Project Co-ordination Officer in the Office of the HoM;

13. Performing other duties as assigned by HoM or DHoM.

The OSCE is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages the nomination of qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious, ethnic and social backgrounds. Please note that nationals or permanent residents of the country of the duty station are not eligible to apply.

Candidates should, prior to applying, verify with their respective nominating authority to which extent financial remuneration and/or benefit packages will be offered.

Please apply to your relevant authorities several days prior to the deadline expiration to ensure timely processing of your application. Delayed nominations will not be considered.