Associate HR Innovation Officer (S)

Background:

This position is open for secondment only and participating States are kindly reminded that all costs in relation to an assignment at the Secretariat must be borne by their authorities.
 

The duties and requirements of this seconded (S) position correspond to a P2-level role in the UN common system. Candidates should, prior to applying, verify with their respective nominating authority to which extent financial remuneration and/or benefit packages will be offered. Seconded staff members in the OSCE Secretariat and Institutions are not entitled to a Board and Lodging Allowance payable by the Organization.

The OSCE has a comprehensive approach to security that encompasses politico-military, economic and environmental, and human aspects. It therefore addresses a wide range of security-related concerns, including arms control, confidence- and security-building measures, human rights, combating human trafficking, national minorities, democratization, policing strategies, counter-terrorism and economic and environmental activities. All 57 participating States enjoy equal status, and decisions are taken by consensus on a politically, but not legally binding basis.  

The OSCE Secretariat in Vienna assists the Chairpersonship in its activities, and provides operational and administrative support to the field operations, and, as appropriate, to other institutions. 

The post is located in the HR Analytics, Systems and Payroll Unit within the OSCE Secretariat's Department of Human Resources (DHR), and reports directly to Chief, HR Analytics, Systems and Payroll.

DHR provides organizational structure and support to meet business needs by effectively managing the employee lifecycle. Human resources play an essential role in supporting, developing, and co-creating a positive culture in the workplace. Within this context, the HR Analytics, Systems and Payroll Unit develops and delivers timely, client focused and innovative approaches on people analytics and systems, and ensures the smooth and accurate centralized runs of all payrolls for the OSCE in accordance with the established regulatory framework.

Tasks and Responsibilities:
 

The Associate HR Digital Innovation Officer drives digital adoption and optimization by modernizing HR service delivery - identifying process automation opportunities, safeguarding data governance at the input stage, and leading comprehensive change management and stakeholder support initiatives to ensure high user adoption across the Secretariat and field operations.

The incumbent also bridges client needs and technical execution, serving as the primary functional translator between internal clients, external executive structures, and technical teams (HR Systems and ICTS), by synthesizing operational demands into structured technical specifications for HR workflows, systems, and data tools.

Under the supervision of the Chief, HR Analytics, Systems and Payroll, the Associate HR Digital Innovation Officer will be responsible for the following duties:

1. Synthesizing Client Requirements: Acting as the primary focal point for internal clients and external executive structures to map, analyze, and synthesize operational demands regarding HR workflows, data structures, and system changes;

2. Translating to Technical Specifications: Converting non-technical client business needs into structured Business Requirement Documents (BRDs) and functional specifications easily understood by the technical HR Systems team and ICTS;

3. Optimizing Workflows: Analyzing cross-functional HR workflows across the Secretariat and field operations to eliminate redundancies, proposing digital automation or self-service solutions to improve process efficiency and user experience;

4. Managing Change and Adoption: Designing and executing comprehensive change management plans, user guides, and tailored training modules to guide diverse stakeholders through the adoption of new systems and workflows;

5. Leading Testing: Co-ordinating User Acceptance Testing (UAT) scenarios with clients to validate deliverables against original specs, and providing intensive post-launch support to minimize operational disruption;

6. Safeguarding Data Governance: Partnering with clients during initial design phases to establish data governance standards, ensuring new system inputs yield clean, structured data that seamlessly feeds the unit's central analytics engine;

7. Liaising Cross-Functionally: Serving as the functional liaison in cross-departmental project working groups involving ICTS, Finance, and HR counterparts to ensure cohesive, aligned project execution;

8. Maintaining Architecture Alignment: Ensuring all proposed system modifications align with the unit’s broader technology roadmap and data models, as well as with the ICTS roadmap and strategy;

9. Measuring Adoption Success: Tracking and evaluating post-implementation metrics, focusing on system adoption rates, specification accuracy (minimizing development rework), and measurable process cycle-time reductions across client structures.
    

For more detailed information on the structure and work of the OSCE Secretariat, please see https://www.osce.org/secretariat 

Necessary Qualifications:

• A first-level university degree either in Human Resources, Business/Public Administration, or technology with specialization in data science, computer science, applied mathematics or statistics, finance, economics, psychology and/or management information systems, or similar;
• A minimum of four years (two years with a relevant second-level degree) of professional-level experience in human resources, HR systems, business analysis, digital transformation, or related field;
• A demonstrated track record of leading change management initiatives, including designing user acceptance testing (UAT), authoring user guides, and delivering hands-on training to diverse stakeholder groups;
• Proven experience mapping business processes, gathering user requirements, and translating them into technical specifications for IT projects;
• Experience working within an international organization, public sector institution, or a highly matrixed environment with decentralized field operations is highly desirable;
• Desirable knowledge of HR IT systems (Core HR, talent management, payroll) and HR processes, and/or HRIS platforms (e.g., Oracle EBS, Taleo, SuccessFactors, or equivalent cloud systems);
• Experience in advising on systems, policy issues, and priorities, as well as formulating policy, plans, and procedures;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English;
• Knowledge of other languages from the OSCE region is considered an asset;
• Excellent communication, collaboration, planning, and organizational skills, combined with a strong customer service orientation;
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills;
• Demonstrated gender awareness and sensitivity, and an ability to integrate a gender perspective into tasks and activities;
• The ability and willingness to work as a member of a team with people of different cultural, ethnic, and religious backgrounds, different genders, and diverse political views, while maintaining impartiality and objectivity.
   

If you wish to apply for this position, please use the OSCE's online application link found under https://vacancies.osce.org/. If your participating State does not provide the option to apply online for seconded positions, you are kindly requested to submit your offline application form available at  https://jobs.osce.org/resources/document/offline-application-form to the respective OSCE delegation whose address can be found at https://www.osce.org/contacts/delegations.

The OSCE retains the discretion to re-advertise/re-post the vacancy, to cancel the recruitment, to offer an appointment with a modified job description or for a different duration.

 
Only those candidates who are selected to participate in the subsequent stages of recruitment will be contacted.

Candidates interviewed and found suitable in the recruitment process for this vacancy notice will be placed on a roster of suitable candidates (valid for three years) for fixed-term posts open for secondment, should a suitable opportunity arise. The placement on a roster does not guarantee a future appointment or assignment.

Please note that vacancies in the OSCE are open for competition only amongst nationals of participating States, please see https://www.osce.org/participating-states.

The OSCE is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages the nomination of qualified female and male candidates from all religious, ethnic and social backgrounds.

The OSCE is a non-career organization committed to the principle of staff rotation; therefore, the maximum period of service in this post is 10 years.

Candidates should be aware that OSCE officials shall conduct themselves at all times in a manner befitting the status of an international civil servant. This includes avoiding any action which may adversely reflect on the integrity, independence and impartiality of their position and function as officials of the OSCE. The OSCE is committed to applying the highest ethical standards in carrying out its mandate. For more information on the values set out in OSCE Competency Model, please see https://jobs.osce.org/resources/document/our-competency-model.

Please apply to your relevant authorities well in advance of the deadline expiration to ensure timely processing of your application. Delayed nominations will not be considered. The OSCE can only process Secondment applications that have been nominated by participating States. For queries relating to your application, please refer to the respective delegation as listed here: https://www.osce.org/contacts/delegations. 

Please be aware that OSCE appointments are subject to medical clearance. 

Please be aware that the OSCE does not request payment at any stage of the application and review process.