Associate Programme and Project Support Officer (P1)

Background

The OSCE Secretariat's Support Programme for Ukraine (SPU) has been established in order to continue to support the Ukrainian Government’s reform efforts and to mitigate the increased risks to civilians caused by the war against the country. The objective of SPU - and therefore of all its projects - is to support Ukraine across all three OSCE dimensions on the government’s reform efforts and on the evolving risks to civilians caused by the war, thus ensuring that the OSCE’s work conducted over the past three decades and in the future, continues to impact positively on the institutions and people of Ukraine and that Ukraine’s comprehensive security is enhanced in line with OSCE commitments.

The incumbent works within the extra-budgetary (ExB) SPU Management Support: Programme Implementation Unit (PIU) under the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre (CPC) at the Secretariat (SEC) and ensures timely and quality standards in delivery of components’ projects, in line with the programmatic priorities, OSCE’s Common Regulatory Management System (CRMS) and Project Management standards.

The SPU is planned to run until 31 July 2025. The post extension is subject to the availability of funds, as well as an extension of the project duration.

Please note that this post is located in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Tasks and Responsibilities

The incumbent works under the direct supervision of the Chief of Operations and secondary supervision of the Senior Adviser and performs the following duties:

1. Assessing projects (proposals and reports) and reviewing them in terms of project implementation strategy, including the narrative and financial part of the proposals: a) ensuring that the projects fall within the Programme strategy, complying with the CRMS and Programme’s priorities, and OSCE project management standards; when necessary, proposing changes to draft project documentation; b) providing advice to Associate Co-ordination Officers, and providing regular briefing to the Programme staff on maintaining OSCE project management standards during implementation, reporting and evaluation phases; c) maintaining the system of projects-related templates and uploading it in the OSCE Jarvis archiving system;
2. Proposing and elaborating mechanisms for centralized flow of information to ensure efficient coordination between the project teams and the OSCE departments and institutions so that the Programme plans its project activities in line with the existing/emerging priorities, responding to the changing operational environment and needs;
3. Liaising with relevant OSCE Units/Departments and Ukrainian stakeholder institutions, on issues related to projects approvals and changes; constantly staying up-to-date with on-going social and political processes of the country, especially those that may affect current or planned Programme activities;
4. Maintaining the operational framework for the engagement of Implementing Partners (IPs), including the procedures for competitive selection of IPs and maintenance of the IP Roster, in line with Financial Administrative Instruction 15; reviewing submissions and financial statements from implementing partners; ensuring upload and maintenance of IP-related documentation in the DocIn;
5. When and if required, performing functions as alternate for the Chief of Operations in the latter’s absence;
6. Performing other related duties as required.

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

Necessary Qualifications

• First-level university degree in International Relations, Public Administration or other relevant university degree; certified courses in Project Management;
• A minimum of two years (one with an advanced degree) of professional experience in managing a result-based programme, overseeing project cycle management and evaluation methodology and practices, preferably in an international organization;
• Proven expertise in operations research, management information systems, reporting, data quality assessments, data analysis and presentation;
• Demonstrated experience in delivering training sessions on performance/result-based management and project management methodology;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English; knowledge of Ukrainian is an asset;
• Knowledge of latest political and social developments as well as priority issues on the reform agenda in Ukraine;
• Demonstrated gender awareness and sensitivity, and an ability to integrate a gender perspective into tasks and activities;
• Ability and willingness to work as a member of team, with people of different cultural, and religious backgrounds, different gender, and diverse political views, while maintaining impartiality and objectivity;
• Digital literacy and proficient use of Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint), internet.

Remuneration Package

Monthly remuneration is around EUR 4,450, with the actual monthly salary depending on post adjustment and family status. Social benefits will include possibility of participation in the Cigna medical insurance scheme and the OSCE Provident Fund. Other allowances and benefits are similar to those offered under the United Nations Common System.

Please note that appointments are normally made at step 1 of the applicable OSCE salary scale.

If you wish to apply for this position, please use the OSCE's online application link found under https://vacancies.osce.org/. 

The OSCE retains the discretion to re-advertise/re-post the vacancy, to cancel the recruitment, to offer an appointment at a lower grade or 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, should a suitable opportunity arise.

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 qualified female and male candidates from all religious, ethnic and social backgrounds to apply to become a part of the Organization. 

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.

The OSCE is a non-career organization committed to the principle of staff rotation, therefore the maximum period of service in this post is 7 years.

The mandatory retirement age at the OSCE is 65 years for contracted positions at the general service, professional and director level. To be eligible for appointment, candidates for this post should have at least 30 months left at the time of application before they reach their maximum period of service with the OSCE or the age of 65 years.

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