Head of Politico-Military Department (S3)

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: 

• A minimum of five (5) years of relevant project management experience;

• Proven experience in preparing analytical and project reports;

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills;

• Good knowledge of regional political history and current developments;

• Demonstrated diplomatic and negotiation skills;

• Good knowledge of OSCE principles and commitments is considered an asset.

Level of Professional Competence Requirements

Furthermore, this level of responsibility requires the following:

Education:

• Advanced (second-level) university degree in international politics, security studies, law enforcement, or other relevant field and/or professional qualifications from certified award-granting bodies and/or from military or police educational institutions may be accepted in lieu of a university degree. A first-level university degree in combination with two years of additional qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the second-level university degree.

Experience:

• A minimum of six (6) years (eight (8) years with a professional qualification or a bachelor's degree) of relevant, diversified and progressively responsible professional experience, including at least three (3) years at the management level relevant to the actual position.

Mission Specific Requirements

Additionally, this particular post has specific requirements:

• International mission members in the OSCE are internationally recruited. For the purposes of OSCE Missions (Field Operations) this means that they are hired to work in a duty station outside of their home country or country of permanent residence. As a result, nationals and permanent residents of the duty station are not eligible for international mission member positions. In the case of individuals with multiple nationalities, candidates are still ineligible for consideration even if using another citizenship for application while simultaneously maintaining the citizenship or permanent residence status of the country where the duty station is located;

• Extensive experience in political reform, law enforcement reforms, support to political parties, early warning, conflict prevention mechanisms and/or combating transnational threats;

• Proven management, in particular project management and supervisory experience, including strong leadership skills;

• Working experience in international organizations, relevant state institutions and/or experience in OSCE field operations in the field of politico-military activities;

• Excellent drafting, analytical and communication skills;

• Experience in liaising with governmental and non-governmental organizations;

• Experience in identifying potential relevant programmes and projects and their subsequent implementation, monitoring and reporting;

• Strong analytical, organizational, communication and interpersonal skills; ability to compile and analyse relevant information;

• Previous international work experience, preferably within field operations in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), especially in the Central Asia region;

• Flexibility and ability to work under pressure and with limited time frames;

• Cultural sensitivity and sound judgement;

• Demonstrated ability and willingness to work as a member of a team with people of different cultural and religious backgrounds, different genders and diverse political views, while maintaining impartiality and objectivity;

• Professional fluency in English, both oral and written; Working knowledge of the Russian language;

• Ability to operate Windows-based applications and use the Microsoft Office package;

• Demonstrated gender awareness and sensitivity, and an ability to integrate a gender perspective into tasks and activities.

   

Tasks and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Deputy Head of Programme Office (D/HoPO), the incumbent will be performing the following functions:

1. Defining the strategic direction of the Politico-Military Department (PMD), allocating, monitoring and providing timely accurate information on the implementation of the necessary resources for the Politico-Military programme through the programme planning and budgeting process;

2. Ensuring the relevance of the PMD programme, with a focus on transnational threats and law enforcement co-operation, emphasizing security sector governance, counter-terrorism and preventing/countering violent extremism (VERLT), as well as combating organized crime and drug trafficking;

3. Keeping abreast of relevant political, security, and programmatic developments pertinent to the mandate of the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek (POiB);

4. Taking the lead, with the support of other PMD officers, in the development, co-ordination, and implementation of POiB activities related to counter-terrorism, preventing and countering violent extremism (VERLT), organized crime, drug trafficking, cybersecurity, disarmament and non-proliferation, border security and management, economic connectivity and cross-border trade facilitation, democratic governance, and youth mainstreaming;

5. Ensuring the full implementation of the Politico-Military programme in compliance with the OSCE Common Regulatory Management System (CRMS);

6. Ensuring coherence and quality of all PMD projects addressing transnational threats and law enforcement co-operation, with particular emphasis on security sector governance, counter-terrorism, VERLT, organized crime, and drug trafficking;

7. Supervising National Officers responsible for the thematic sub-units within PMD;

8. Ensuring close co-operation with relevant departments on matters related to project development, programme co-ordination, budgeting, reporting, and compliance with OSCE rules and regulations;

9. Co-ordinating with other Programme Managers to ensure alignment of their respective programmes with the POiB mandate in the field of politico-military activities;

10. Identifying and maintaining regular communication with relevant local and international stakeholders to support effective programme implementation;

11. Co-ordinating the preparation of outreach and communication materials describing PMD activities and achievements;

12. Ensuring timely and accurate reporting on programme implementation in the above-mentioned areas, with substantive input from National Officers supervising the respective sub-units;

13. Representing the POiB, as requested by the DHoPO or Head of Programme Office (HoPO), and in co-ordination with the Senior Political Adviser, at international donor co-ordination meetings related to OSCE commitments in the politico-military dimension;

14. Performing other duties as required.

        

For more detailed information on the structure and work of the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek, please see: OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek

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.

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

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.