Political Affairs jobs at United Nations, New York

Position: Senior Political Affairs Officer at the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs-Department of Peace Operations-Shared Structure

Main responsibilities

The Senior Political Affairs Officer serves as a team leader for Eastern Europe and will report to the Deputy Director and Director of the Division. In particular, political affairs will do the following jobs

• Manages and provides daily substantive guidance to a team of professional staff members, particularly in preparing briefing material, analytical papers, strategies and policy proposals for consideration by the Director of the Division, the ASG for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, the USGs for Peacebuilding and Political Affairs and for Peace Operations, and the Secretary-General.
• Monitors and assesses political developments in Eastern European countries, in order to provide the Secretary-General and senior UN officials with analysis and policy options on relevant issues.
• Participates in fact-finding, preventive diplomacy or peace-making missions, as required.
• Drafts reports of the Secretary-General to the Security Council and General Assembly; covers the substantive aspects of the work of those bodies on issues assigned.
• Prepares briefing papers, tailors points and draft communications for the Secretary-General and senior Secretariat officials.
• Liaises with Permanent Missions to the UN of assigned countries, other UN departments, agencies and programmes.
• Assists in strengthening the relations between the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations and relevant international/regional arrangements active in Eastern Europe.
• Overseas the backstopping of relevant SPMs and other field presences under the purview of the Division, as well as the strategic and policy work undertaken in that context.

Requirements

The ideal candidate will have the following duties

• Master’s degree in political science, international relations, international economics, law, public administration, or related area. However, candidates with a bachelor’s degree with two additional years of qualifying work experience can also apply.
• Minimum of ten years of progressively responsible experience in political science, international relations, law, disarmament, security, conflict resolution or related area.
• In addition to that, at least three years of experience supervising and managing staff in an international setting.
• Experience in backstopping a field operation of an international organization is desirable. Similarly, experience in dealing with sensitive issues in Europe and with European multilateral institutions is desirable.
• Fluency of English is necessary for the post. In addition to that, additional knowledge of French or any other UN official language preferred.