Community Outreach Officer (S1)

General Minimum Requirements

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 

Field of Expertise Requirements

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

• Demonstrable organisational skills
• Proven ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing
• Demonstrable interpersonal skills and documented experience in negotiations
• Depending on the field activity’s mandate, significant prior experience in relevant fields such as international customs practices and procedures, law enforcement, and military observations and arms control may also be required
• Negotiating experience, preferably in the area of monitoring operations and/or related activities

Level of Professional Competence Requirements

Furthermore, this level of responsibility requires the following:

Education:

First-level university degree or equivalent experience.

Experience:

Minimum 2 years of relevant professional experience including minimum 1 year in a relevant field strongly preferred.

Mission Specific Requirements

Additionally, this particular post has specific requirements:

Mandatory:

• University degree in law, human rights, political science, international relations or similar;
• Prior experience in relevant fields such as human rights, minority or community issues, monitoring, and/or political and security analysis and reporting;
• Knowledge and experience with data collection on a variety of thematic issues dealing with community relations, human rights, mediation/dialogue facilitation, and community safety and security;
• Knowledge of the history of the political situation and recent developments in the mission area and the region;
• Ability and experience with establishing contact and constructive relations with local communities and officials;
• Proficiency with drafting reports and analytical products;
• Demonstrated ability and willingness to work as a member of a team, with people of different cultural and religious backgrounds, different gender, and diverse political views, while maintaining impartiality and objectivity;
• Cultural sensitivity and judgment;
• Flexibility and ability to work under pressure and within limited time frames, including the willingness and ability to work extended hours, outside of normal working hours;
• Professional fluency in English, both oral and written;
• Computer literate with practical experience using Microsoft applications.

Desirable:

• Good organizational and interpersonal skills;
• Familiarity with international human rights standards and their application in the host country;
• Good understanding of project cycle management, including monitoring and evaluation;
• Knowledge of the local language or the most common lingua franca spoken in the mission area.

Tasks and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance and direct supervision of the Chief of the Community Outreach and/or the Senior Community Outreach Officer, the Community Outreach Officer is responsible for:

1. Monitoring of institutions at all levels; Identifying community issues, analyzing their implications and providing advice, recommendations and timely follow up on actions to be taken; contributing to the formulation of strategic planning by proposing policy directives and planning of actions for immediate and long-term solutions;
2. Maintaining situational awareness and up-to-date knowledge of the community rights both in the host country and specifically in the region, and reporting regularly on relevant events and developments with potential to affect social cohesion;
3. Facilitating dialogue and negotiated solutions between community representatives and government actors;
4. Following up on the implementation of recommendations and decisions adopted in OSCE Mission to Skopje reports and other leading actors’ reports;
5. Participating in the drafting of thematic reports on community issues;
6. Participating in the drafting, implementation and evaluation of projects on community issues;
7. Organising roundtables, seminars and conferences on specific communities-related issues;
8. Establishing and maintaining constructive contact and relations with all communities and relevant Host Country institutions in the AOR in respect of community policies and community rights, liaising with other international organizations operating in the region, and interacting with relevant interlocutors in government and civil society;
9. When necessary and appropriate, serving as an intermediary/mediator between various parties;
10. Supporting the efforts of the various other departments (Criminal Justice and Police Reform Unit, as well as with the Office of Political Affairs and Communications (OPAC) and relevant HDD units) on programmatic priorities outreach activities within the AoR;
11. Cooperating with the Mission’s gender team to integrate gender issues into monitoring, reporting, activity development, and implementation;
12. Performing other duties as assigned.

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.

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 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.

Candidates should, prior to applying, verify with their respective nominating authority to which extent financial remuneration and/or benefit packages will be offered. 

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.

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.