Employment opportunities that make a difference and create a lasting impact

With 57 participating States in North America, Europe and Asia, the OSCE is the world’s largest regional security organization, working to ensure peace, democracy and stability for more than a billion people. The OSCE has a comprehensive approach to security that encompasses politico-military, economic and environmental, and human aspects. In addition to work in these programmatic areas, opportunities exist in other fields such as administration, finance, human resources, project management and information technology. Currently, over 3,250 people work for the OSCE in more than 19 different duty stations.

Why work for the OSCE?

Be a positive force for change

There are many reasons to come and work for us, but the most important is because what we do matters. Nothing beats the individual sense of accomplishment in knowing you are making a difference to the world. And it is not just colleagues on the front line– our Organization is filled with “behind the scenes” people, whose administrative and managerial work is essential to making sure we deliver the OSCE’s mission.

A wide range of opportunities

Our work covers many spheres, from political and military, economic and environmental to human rights; offering both work for specialists in those areas and the very important tasks of administrative, finance, human resources and information technology that allows us to work efficiently and effectively day by day.

What we offer

We are a non-career organization, and offer limited periods of service, but with the possibility to move within the organization. We recruit fixed-term professional and general service staff, seconded professionals from participating states, and temporary staff. We also hire consultants where specialized programmatic and administrative expertise is needed, and offers development programmes including Internships and a Junior Professional Officer Programme

Types of Employment

Fields of expertise

Positions are available in the following areas of work: 

• Administration and support (including finance, transportation, supply and logistics, IT, human resources, audit, security, conference and language services)
• Civilian police
• Democratization
• Economic and environmental affairs
• Education
• Elections
• General staff/monitoring functions
• Human rights (including combating trafficking in human beings & gender issues)
• Media affairs
• Military affairs (including anti-terrorism, arms control & border management)
• Political affairs
• Rule of law

Seconded Positions

The majority of all international positions in OSCE field operations are filled by secondment (S): individuals are nominated by their respective OSCE participating State. Secondments are generally for an initial period of twelve months, with possibility of extension. The OSCE pays a board and lodging allowance to cover living expenses for positions located in a field duty station. A number of positions at the Secretariat and Institutions are also filled by secondment. For these posts, all costs (both salary and living expenses) must be borne by the seconding authority. Vacancy notices for seconded positions are published on the OSCE website.

Contracted Positions

Applicants for positions at the Professional (P) category are required to have a university degree and several years of experience at national and/or international level in a relevant field of expertise. In addition, post-graduate specialization and management experience is necessary for a number of senior P and Director (D) positions. Applicants for positions in the National Professional (NP) category in the field operations are required to have a university degree and the relevant number of years of working experience. Applicants for positions in the General Service (GS) category are required to have completed secondary education, supplementary courses related to the functions of the position and the relevant number of years of working experience.

Levels of professional competency

• Heads and Deputy Heads of Mission
• Senior Management (e.g. Heads of Departments)
• Middle Management (e.g. Section Chiefs, Team Leaders)
• Senior professional
• Professional

Junior Professional Officer Programme

The OSCE’s Junior Professional Officer (JPO) programme offers young professionals, below the age of 30 who have recently completed their university degrees, the opportunity to gain a comprehensive overview of the Organization. The programme has two intakes per year, with placements for a total period of nine-twelve months at both the Secretariat and in the field operations. Vacancy notices for this programme are issued twice a year on the OSCE website and candidates selected via a rigorous and competitive recruitment process.

Interested applicants are encouraged to apply through their respective national authorities by completing the online application form

Internships

Since 2008, about 40 interns per year have been recruited for placements with different sections/units in the OSCE Secretariat in Vienna and Prague. Interns are also accepted by the OSCE Institutions and some field operations to support their activities. Interested young professionals who have recently completed or are in the final year of their university degree are encouraged to apply for internship vacancy notices.

Consultants

The OSCE recruits consultants to provide advisory services and expert assistance on a short-term and ad-hoc basis to complement the work of regular staff members or for specific projects. Interested individuals with at least six years of specialized expertise are encouraged to browse the OSCE website for

opportunities.

Short-term Assignments

The OSCE offers short-term positions on an ad-hoc basis. More information is available on the OSCE website.

Interested? How to apply?

Employment opportunities are advertised on the OSCE website under:

www.osce.org/employment/. Applicants are expected to have proficiency in the English language. Knowledge of other OSCE working languages is an asset. The OSCE is committed to achieving a better balance of women and men within the Organization. The OSCE is a non-career organization committed to the principle of staff rotation. Certain limitations exist on the periods of service for professional staff in a given post, and the overall period of service with the OSCE may not exceed ten years.

Recruitment and Selection Process

Recruitment staff, in co-operation with the hiring department, review all applications received and draw up a short list of 4-6 qualified candidates for competency-based interview either in person or by video conference/telephone with a panel of 3-4 board members from various departments of the OSCE. In addition, candidates can expect to take a written test with questions specific to the position. Selection is based on both the results of the interview and the test. All candidates will be informed of the outcome of the selection process in due course.

Further details, including information about the OSCE Competency Model, are available under http://www.osce.org/employment/108718

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