Resettlement and Complementary Pathways Officer

Only candidates who are not nationals of the country of assignment are eligible to apply to this position

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* Staff members will not normally serve in International Professional positions in the country of their nationality. In addition, in case of a first appointment upon recruitment, the assignment must be outside the staff member’s country of nationality.

In practical terms this means that you are not eligible to apply for International Professional vacancies advertised in the country where you are national of.

Reason

Regular > Regular AssignmentNo2024-07-01November 28, 2023

Resettlement and Complementary Pathways Officer

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships
The position for Resettlement and Complementary Pathways Officer may be based in Country Operations, Regional Bureaux or Headquarters.

The incumbent's primary role is to support resettlement and complementary pathways activities in his/her Area of Responsibility (AOR) through identification of needs, submission of cases, monitoring and enforcing procedural compliance, integrity and quality of case submissions, and ensure progress against targets. He/she contributes to comprehensive protection and solutions strategies and needs to make resettlement both strategic as well as responsive to the needs of people of concern to UNHCR

The role may also involve managerial responsibilities in supervising staff and affiliate workforce.

The incumbent works in close coordination with the Resettlement and Complementary Pathways Service in the Division of International Protection in Headquarters, and protection teams in Bureaux and country operations.

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
- Identify, interview, assess resettlement and complementary pathways needs, and process cases identified for resettlement and complementary pathways following established procedures; provide counselling to individuals.
- Monitor activities for resettlement and complementary pathways, as applicable, to ensure progress against targets, transparency and efficiency in case submissions and appropriate follow-up with resettlement countries and other key stakeholders.
- Review and provide timely feedback and guidance on resettlement submissions prepared in the country office/ by country offices to harmonize quality and consistency of resettlement delivery.
- Manage a process to ensure that persons of concern and partners receive up-to-date and accurate information on UNHCR's resettlement and complementary pathways policies and procedures.
- Promote and monitor the implementation of UNHCR's global resettlement and complementary pathways policies, procedures and guidelines in the AOR.
- Provide guidance and advice on policies, protection standards and procedures for resettlement and complementary pathways.
- Ensure Standard Operating Procedures for identification of cases for resettlement and resettlement case management are in place and in line with UNHCR Global Standards.
- Promote and contribute to measures that enhance the prevention, detection and response to fraud committed by persons of concern generally and in resettlement and complementary pathways in particular.
- Maintain regular contact and close cooperation with resettlement countries and partners to ensure effective delivery of resettlement and complementary pathways; and adherence to adequate protection standards.
- Guide and support government officials and partners undertaking missions related to resettlement and complementary pathways.
- Assist selection missions by resettlement countries to the region/country operations.
- Stay abreast and analyse the implication of political, legal, social and economic developments in the AOR and recommend policy / strategic approaches to further UNHCR objectives with respect to resettlement and complementary pathways.
- Contribute to the development and enhancement of policy and guidelines for resettlement and complementary pathways practices.
- Systematically apply an Age, Gender and Diversity perspective in all aspects of the resettlement and complementary pathways process; comply with UNHCR policy and guidelines on HIV/AIDS.
- Promote and put in place mechanisms for preventing fraud in resettlement and complementary pathways activities to maintain the integrity of the resettlement and complementary pathways process in the AOR.
- Assist in the production of up-to-date and accurate statistics, analytical reports on resettlement and complementary pathways, updates and briefing notes, including with regard to the trends, the country/ region's performance in meeting resettlement targets, challenges and responses.
- Ensure that resettlement and complementary pathways activities are reflected in the country operations plans, the protection and solutions strategies in line with the regional strategy.
- Contribute to comprehensive protection and solutions strategies in the country operation or region.

For jobs in the Regional Bureaux only:
- Review and provide feedback and advice to country operations on their resettlement and complementary pathways strategies and priorities, to ensure that they are coherent and consistent with the regional strategy and are fully integrated into country operations plans; Assist offices in the annual planning exercise for resettlement and complementary pathways.
- Review and provide timely feedback and guidance on resettlement submissions prepared by country offices to harmonize quality and consistency of resettlement delivery; monitor procedural compliance.
- Conduct periodic field missions to provide advice on the quality and consistency of resettlement submissions, decisions and activities.
- Assist in negotiating with resettlement countries the design and development of regional resettlement programmes and complementary pathways involving governments and non-governmental organisations in close consultation with the Resettlement and Complementary Pathways Service in the Division of International Protection at Headquarters.
- Coordinate with DIP, other entities within the Bureau and country operations to ensure a comprehensive and consistent approach in the prevention, detection and response to fraud committed by persons of concern across the region.
- Collect resettlement and complementary pathways related information to be used by the Resettlement and Complementary Pathways Service in the Division of International Protection for external publications.
- Assist in assessing training needs, draw regional training plan and strategy and deliver resettlement, complementary pathways and related training to UNHCR staff, partners and other stakeholders as required.
- Contribute to a communications strategy that generates support from external parties for the expansion of resettlement and complementary pathways.

- Support the identification and management of risks and seek to seize opportunities impacting objectives in the area of responsibility. Ensure decision making in risk based in the functional area of work. Raise risks, issues and concerns to a supervisor or to relevant functional colleague(s).
- Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications
Years of Experience / Degree Level
For P3/NOC - 6 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 5 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 4 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education
Political Science;
Social Sciences;
International Law;
Law;
International Public Law;
International Refugee Law;
International Human Rights Law;
Refugee and Forced Migration International Relations; or other relevant field.

Certificates and/or Licenses
Protection Learning Programme; RSD- Resettlement Learning Programme; MLP;
(Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Relevant Job Experience
Essential
At least 6 years ( 5 years with Graduate degree) of professional work experience relevant to refugee protection work, of which 2 years in an international capacity. Demonstrated experience in casework or case management, preferably in a refugee or immigration context.
Desirable
Sound understanding and ability to implement UNHCR's policy and global strategic priorities, such as AGDM, IDP, Statelessness, and HIV/AIDS, in the area of responsibility at appropriate level. Knowledge of and experience with Complementary Pathways programmes. Diverse field experience. Experience working in a multi-cultural environment. Knowledge of additional UN languages.

Functional Skills
DM-Database Management
PR-Refugee Resettlement programs
PR-Resettlement Anti-Fraud Policy and Procedures
PR-Mixed migratory movement management
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Language Requirements
For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.
For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.
For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.

All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination and abuse of power.

As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.

This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates.

The Resettlement and Complementary Pathways Officer is expected to have a strong background in resettlement case processing and complementary pathways, as well as experience in managing teams. Strong drafting and communication skills are required, as well as solid planning and organizing skills.

The incumbent is also expected to have good interpersonal and coordination skills; s/he should be able to work with different stakeholders in resettlement, as well as Durable Solutions staff in sub-offices. Solid experience and knowledge of the UNHCR case management database proGres, and experience in UNCHR reporting and programming are desirable.

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Operational context

Occupational Safety and Health Considerations

To view occupational safety and health considerations for this duty station, please visit this link:

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel

Nature of Position

With over 3.4 million refugee and refugee-like populations, as of 14 June 2023, Iran is the second largest refugee hosting country globally. Additionally, Iran hosts over 1.1 million Afghans of varying status including, 360,000 Afghans with Iranian residence permits, 267,000 family passport holders and 500,000 undocumented Afghans.

UNHCR supports the government’s policies towards inclusion of refugees into national services with focus on health, education and livelihood opportunities. UNHCR-funded activities are implemented through direct implementation and tripartite partnership arrangements with main governmental ministries and agencies.

Following events in Afghanistan in August 2021, renewed interest in resettlement for Afghan refugees from Iran led to a launch of a resettlement upscaling exercise in 2022 with the aim of progressively increasing resettlement submissions in the coming years, while expanding the existing complementary pathways for refugees in Iran.

The Resettlement and Complementary Pathways Officer reports to the Senior Durable Solutions Officer, s/he oversees the resettlement case processing, including case identification, interviews, reviews and submissions. The incumbent ensures procedural compliance, and integrity and quality of case submissions. S/he supervises caseworkers, reviewers and other staff working in the Durable Solutions Unit to ensure progress against targets. 

The incumbent liaises with different stakeholders to ensure smooth resettlement processing, such as government counterparts, resettlement countries and other UNHCR offices, and serves as Officer-in-Charge during the absence of Senior Durable Solutions Officer. The incumbent provides training and coaching to staff, especially in building national capacity in resettlement case processing.

The incumbent contributes to formulation and implementation of protection and solutions strategy of the operation. S/he is also responsible for resettlement reporting and planning. Familiarity with UNHCR case management database proGres and UNHCR programming are therefore desirable. 

Working with other functional units, the Resettlement and Complementary Pathways Officer oversees the complementary pathways portfolio, which aims to expand solutions beyond resettlement for Afghan refugees in Iran.

Living and Working Conditions
UNHCR is present in Iran through its Country Representation in Tehran, three Sub-Offices (Mashhad, Kerman, Shiraz), Field Office in Tehran and two Field Units (Esfahan and Dogharoun).

Teheran is a B category duty station (Family duty station). Certain aspects of working/living conditions in Iran could be affected by the ongoing sanctions.  

Issuance of entry visa and residence permit for international staff and his/her dependents/family members is subject to the approval of the Government, for which the process can take several months. Family members with a dependent visa are not allowed to work. For international staff and their family members residing in Iran are required to follow the cultural practices in Iran, which include the donning of culturally appropriate dress, particularly for women. 

Iranian schools only teach subjects in Farsi.  There are a few privately owned schools offering curriculums in English in Teheran. There are also some Embassy schools such as French Embassy School, Italian Embassy offering course in their native language. German Embassy School, in its international section provides classes in English up to grade 8, which is open for any nationals. This school is a candidate school for the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programs KG1 to 5, but as of October 2022, no international schools in Iran offers IB curriculum. Similarly, Pakistan Embassy School and Indian Embassy School also offer courses in English, which however are open only for nationals of the respective countries. There can be changes regarding international schools in Iran. Our international staff members are constantly updated on the most recent developments.

In Tehran, pharmacies, shops, shopping malls, markets and cafes/restaurants, etc are available. Staff can purchase basic commodities, groceries, household items and clothing, while some foreign products / international food items etc may be less easily available. Living cost in Teheran is on rise. Iranian banks are available and accessible by foreign nationals through a required process. There are several hospitals and clinics offering medical services to Iranians and foreign nationals alike, although, at times the language can be a barrier for international who do not speak Farsi. Staff live in private accommodation – different options are available with varying rental prices. 

There are one international airport and one domestic airport in Teheran. For in-country travels, there are multiple domestic flights and trains connecting Teheran to cities/towns across the country, including where UNHCR has offices. When required, the office also use road missions. Direct international flights are connected to a number of countries with several airlines. 

The security level throughout Iran remains at level 2 (LOW) except for Sistan-Baluchestan which is recognized as level 3. The area is prone to earthquakes. Depending on the season, air quality in Tehran can deteriorate to below a normal range. 

Living/working conditions in Iran could evolve and can be subject to change.  
 

Additional Qualifications

Skills

Bachelor of Arts (BA): International Law, Bachelor of Arts (BA): International Relations, Bachelor of Arts (BA): Law, Bachelor of Arts (BA): Social Science

Certifications

HCR Management Learning Program - UNHCR, HCR Protection Learning Program - UNHCR, HCR Resettlement Learning Program - UNHCR

Competencies

Accountability, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Empowering & building trust, Judgement & decision making, Managing resource, Organizational awareness, Planning & organizing, Policy research & development, Political awareness, Teamwork & collaboration

https://icsc.un.org/Home/SalaryScales

Compendium

Add. 1 to Bi-annual Compendium 2023 - Part B

Additional Information

This position doesn't require a functional clearance

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