SENIOR CIVIL AFFAIRS OFFICER

Overview

Lead strategic civil affairs initiatives to support peacekeeping objectives.

You have:

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in political science, law, international relations, public administration, business administration, social sciences, engineering, economics or related field.
• A minimum of ten years of progressively responsible experience in political affairs, civil affairs, public administration or related area is required.
• A minimum of five years of experience in a position requiring conflict management, facilitation, mediation or negotiation skills, with an emphasis on analytical and strategic planning functions is required.
• Experience in facilitating structured dialogue events between different parties, and reconciliation activities and processes is desired.
• Experience in data analytics or related area is desirable.
• Fluency in English (both oral and written) is required.
• Knowledge of the situation in Kosovo is desirable.

Contract

This is a P-5 contract. This kind of contract is known as Professional and Director staff. It is normally internationally recruited only. It's a staff contract. It usually requires 10 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 110,869 USD and 138,944 USD.

Please keep in mind that the salary displayed here is an estimation by UN Talent based on the location and the type of contract. It may vary depending on the organization. The recruiter should be able to inform you about the exact salary range. In case the job description contains another salary information, please refer to this one.

Org. Setting and Reporting

The position is located in UNMIK, Office of Community Support, Pristina. The incumbent will report to the UNMIK Head of Office of Community Support.

Responsibilities

Within limits of delegated authority, the Senior Civil Affairs Officer will be responsible for the following duties. (These duties are generic, and may not be performed by all Senior Civil Affairs Officers.) • Participates in the formulation of the Mission’s strategic plan; identifies emerging issues, analyzes their implications. • Prepares reports, or oversees the preparation of reports, based on assessments of the impact of the political, economic and social environment on mandate implementation. • Recommends strategic policy direction to senior staff and other officials with regard to civil affairs. • Engages and negotiates with local interlocutors and represents mission priorities to them. • Develops and maintains relations with government officials and local leaders; ensures participation in implementation decisions and activities by various ethnic, political and social groups. • Plans, manages, coordinates, organizes and supervises civil affairs operations within the assigned area of responsibility. • Supervises the formulation of action plans and the development of concepts of operations, ensuring they are within the overall goals and objectives of the potential operation. • Monitors, analyses and reports on developments related to cultural heritage of the various communities in Kosovo. • Guides, evaluates and mentors staff. • Leads team members efforts to collect and analyze data and provides insight to identify trends or patterns for data-driven planning, decision-making, presentation and reporting. Ensures that everyone can discover, access, integrate and share the data they need. • Performs other related work as required. Work implies frequent interaction with the following: Staff within work unit, mission headquarters; Multilateral/bilateral donors; Counterparts in other international organizations; Senior national and local government officials, community-based organizations. Takes responsibility for the overall planning, analyses and reporting on various components of a peacekeeping operation. Uses sound judgment and a proactive approach to achieve mission/unit’s goals and objectives to proposing policy initiatives. Provides accurate and timely reports and analysis on developments and their impact related to different communities in Kosovo.

Competencies

• Professionalism: Knowledge of the strategic direction of a peacekeeping mission and understanding of political, social and economic environment and their impact on a mission mandate implementation. Ability to transform mandate objectives into a results-oriented work programme. Ability to provide expert advice to senior government officials, to the Head of Mission and mission senior staff. Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations. Takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work. Able to analyze and interpret data in support of decision-making and convey resulting information to management. • Teamwork: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; solicits input by genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others; places team agenda before personal agenda; supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings. • Accountability: Takes ownership of all responsibilities and honours commitments; delivers outputs for which one has responsibility within prescribed time, cost and quality standards; operates in compliance with organizational regulations and rules; supports subordinates, provides oversight and takes responsibility for delegated assignments; takes personal responsibility for his/her own shortcomings and those of the work unit, where applicable. • Leadership: Serves as a role model that other people want to follow: empowers others to translate vision into results; is proactive in developing strategies to accomplish objectives; establishes and maintains relationships with a broad range of people to understand needs and gain support; anticipates and resolves conflicts by pursuing mutually agreeable solutions; drives for change and improvements; does not accept the status quo; shows the courage to take unpopular stands. Provides leadership and takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work; demonstrates knowledge of strategies and commitment to the goal of gender balance in staffing. • Judgement/Decision-making: Identifies the key issues in a complex situation, and comes to the heart of the problem quickly; gathers relevant information before making a decision; considers positive and negative impacts of decisions prior to making them; takes decisions with an eye to the impact on others and on the Organization; proposes a course of action or makes a recommendation based on all available information; checks assumptions against facts; determines the actions proposed will satisfy the expressed and underlying needs for the decision; makes tough decisions when necessary.

Education

Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in political science, law, international relations, public administration, business administration, social sciences, engineering, economics or related field. A first-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Job - Specific Qualification

Not available.

Work Experience

A minimum of ten years of progressively responsible experience in political affairs, civil affairs, public administration or related area is required. A minimum of five years of experience in a position requiring conflict management, facilitation, mediation or negotiation skills, with an emphasis on analytical and strategic planning functions is required. Experience in facilitating structured dialogue events between different parties, and reconciliation activities and processes is desired. Experience in data analytics or related area is desirable. Knowledge of the situation in Kosovo is desirable.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the position advertised, fluency in English (both oral and written) is required.

Assessment

Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which may be followed by competency-based interview.

Special Notice

Staff members are subject to the authority of the Secretary-General and to assignment by him or her. In this context, all staff are expected to move periodically to new functions in their careers in accordance with established rules and procedures. The United Nations Secretariat is committed to achieving 50/50 gender balance in its staff. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for this position. Extension of the appointment is subject to extension of the mandate and/or the availability of the funds.

United Nations Considerations

According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Candidates will not be considered for employment with the United Nations if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts. The term “sexual exploitation” means any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another. The term “sexual abuse” means the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions. The term “sexual harassment” means any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offence or humiliation, when such conduct interferes with work, is made a condition of employment or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, and when the gravity of the conduct warrants the termination of the perpetrator’s working relationship. Candidates who have committed crimes other than minor traffic offences may not be considered for employment. Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible. The United Nations places no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs. The United Nations Secretariat is a non-smoking environment. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to applicants with disabilities upon request, to support their participation in the recruitment process. By accepting a letter of appointment, staff members are subject to the authority of the Secretary-General, who may assign them to any of the activities or offices of the United Nations in accordance with staff regulation 1.2 (c). Further, staff members in the Professional and higher category up to and including the D-2 level and the Field Service category are normally required to move periodically to discharge functions in different duty stations under conditions established in ST/AI/2023/3 on Mobility, as may be amended or revised. This condition of service applies to all position specific job openings and does not apply to temporary positions. Applicants are urged to carefully follow all instructions available in the online recruitment platform, inspira, and to refer to the Applicant Guide by clicking on “Manuals” in the “Help” tile of the inspira account-holder homepage. The evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted in the application according to the evaluation criteria of the job opening and the applicable internal legislations of the United Nations including the Charter of the United Nations, resolutions of the General Assembly, the Staff Regulations and Rules, administrative issuances and guidelines. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications according to the instructions provided in inspira to be considered for the current job opening. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application. Job openings advertised on the Careers Portal will be removed at 11:59 p.m. (New York time) on the deadline date.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.

Potential interview questions