Senior Policy and Planning Officer

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

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

• Second-level university degree in international studies, public policy, political science or law or related fields
• 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

Furthermore, this level of responsibility requires the following:

Education:

Second-level university degree/certified training course in a relevant field desirable

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

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 methods;
• Proven diplomatic skills and experience in political liaison;
• Ability to operate windows applications, especially an MS Office environment. Experience with Oracle and EDMS are an advantage;
• Professional fluency in the English language with excellent oral and written communication skills;
• 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;
• Cultural sensitivity and judgement;
• Excellent interpersonal and communication 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 and programme management;
• Knowledge of a local language or a lingua franca spoken in the Mission area.

Under the direct supervision of Head of Mission (HoM) and Deputy Head of Mission (DHoM), the Senior Policy and Planning Officer will be:

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 cooperation 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. Liaising with representatives of the OSCE participating States and other international actors;
7. Preparing and reviewing background documents, briefings, talking points and travel packages for HoM on behalf of the Office of the HoM;
8. Formulating, collating and/or providing relevant materials for HoMs official presentations of the Missions activities including those at high level meetings. Upon request, accompaning HoM to meetings to provide assistance on programmatic or policy/ planning issues;
9. Supporting Senior Management in developing management and organisational measures with the objective of systematically improving the productivity, efficiency and efficacy of the Mission;
10. Coordinating regular exchange with relevant Mission departments and functions for optimised coordination and synergy;
11. Serving as Missions Focal point with the Programming Evaluation Support Unit and the Policy Support Officer within the Secretariats Conflict Prevention Centre;
12. Providing strategic guidance and overall coordination to the Missions Extra Budgetary Projects;
13. Supervising one Senior Project Assistant;
14. Performing other duties as assigned by HoM or DHoM.

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

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.