Chief of Office (P-5)

23559 | Registry 

Deadline for Applications:	01/08/2024
Organizational Unit:	Immediate Office of the Registrar, Registry
Duty Station:	The Hague - NL
Type of Appointment:	Fixed-Term Appointment
Post Number:	TBC
Minimum Net Annual Salary (Single Rate):	€131,895.00
Contract Duration:	For initial appointments, the Court offers a two-year appointment with the possibility of extension (six month probationary period).

A roster of suitable candidates may be established for this post as a result of this selection process for both fixed-term established and general temporary assistance posts.

Organizational Context
The Registry, headed by the Registrar, is responsible for the non-judicial aspects of the administration and servicing of the Court, without prejudice to the functions and powers of the Prosecutor. This includes providing management and judicial support services to the Court, as well as those aspects of external relations and field operations falling within the purview of the Registry. In practice, this translates into dealing with an extremely broad range of issues such as budget, human resources, security, information management, language services, detention, defence and victims-related issues, witness protection, public information, outreach, and cooperation with States.

Accordingly, the Registry is composed of three Divisions: 1) Division of Management Services, 2) Division of Judicial Services, and 3) Division of External Operations. Each division is headed by a Director, and the three Directors support the Registrar through the Registry Management Team (RMT) in ensuring that the Registry fulfils its tasks effectively and efficiently. The Registry’s Legal Office (RLO) is directly under the authority of the Registrar.

The Immediate Office of the Registrar (IOR) supports the Registrar in setting the Registry’s strategic objectives, overseeing inter-organ relations as well as enhancing internal communication, and driving the development of Court-wide policies. The IOR is responsible for coordinating, and where required taking the lead in, the engagement with the Presidency, the OTP, the secretariats, and the independent offices on matters of strategy and policy. The IOR also acts as the operational focal point for the Registry’s Divisions, providing practical support to the Registrar with a view to ensuring, in a coordinated and effective manner, the overall managerial oversight and control of the Registry.

Given that the Registry is the largest and, in terms of its functions, most diverse organ of the Court, managerial and oversight functions present one of the main challenges. In this regard, the IOR plays a key role in a number of areas, including the preparation of the Court’s budget, addressing staff-related issues, facilitating the conclusion of witness relocation agreements, and indeed in virtually all other fields of the Registry’s operations. At the same time, through the Registrar’s representational role, the IOR aims to widen the support for and the understanding of the mandate of the Registry and of the Court in the international arena.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Registrar, the incumbent will be the trusted adviser to the Registrar, with extensive executive responsibility in specific areas affecting the Registry and the Court at large, namely, internal and external governance, engagement with ASP, external relations activities and management of the IOR.

The incumbent will be responsible for the following:

Provide the strategic oversight and coordination of internal governance:

• Ensuring that the Registry interacts with internal stakeholders in a coordinated manner and represents the Registrar in relevant meetings.

• Ensuring proactive engagement with the Presidency, the Office of the Prosecutor, the Secretariat of the Trust Fund for Victims, and other relevant entities on all matters with a view to ensuring the effective discharge of the Registrar’s responsibilities as the chief administrative officer for the organisation and as whole and in particularly to give effect to the Registrar’s administrative functions over the independent offices.  In particular, leading to building a closer relationship and effective partnership with the Secretariat of the Trust Fund for Victims.

• Assumes leading operational responsibility for matters of internal governance (e.g. coordinating engagement with the Presidency, the OTP, the secretariats, and the independent offices on matters of strategy and policy). Member of the Registry Management Team. 

Provide the strategic oversight and coordination of external governance processes:

• Ensuring that the Registry interacts with external stakeholders in a coordinated manner and represents the Registrar in relevant meetings.

• Acts as the main focal point and centralized interlocutor on all matters concerning external governance (e.g. external operations; organization’s budget; defence and victims-related matters).

Provide the strategic oversight and coordination of the Registry’s engagement with the Assembly of the States Parties (ASP):

• Acting as the main focal point for all matters relating to the work of the ASP and its subsidiary bodies and working groups, ensuring cohesion and strategic direction throughout the Registry.

Coordinate and ensure coherence of the Registry’s external relations activities:

• Developing, updating, and coordinating the implementation of the Registry’s external relations strategy.

• Managing the information management for external relations purposes in the Registry.

Manages and supervises the staff and non-staff resources of the IOR:

• Maintains an overview of the of the IOR’s work.

Essential Qualifications
Education:
Advanced university degree in management, public administration, international law, international relations, business administration or another relevant field is required. A first-level university degree, in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience, is accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:
A minimum of ten years of relevant professional experience (twelve years with a first-level university degree) in areas of international law and international diplomacy is required.

Required experience in:

• external relations and direct interaction with a senior public official within an international or public organization;

• management and administration;

• provision of specialist advice to executive management, including facilitation, analysis, and reporting.

• Design and development of strategies, policies, operating procedures, standard forms, and work plans.

Skills and abilities:

• Leadership skills

• Coordination and organizational skills

• Strategic planning skills

• Written and oral communication and interpersonal skills

• Diplomatic skills

• Analytical skills

• Problem-solving skills

• Absolute discretion and loyalty especially with regard to sensitive information.

• Tact, diplomacy, and discretion

• Strong negotiation and mediation skills

• Expertise in analysis techniques

• Respect for GRGB and (cultural) diversity

Knowledge of Languages:
Proficiency in both of the working languages of the Court, English and French, is required. Knowledge of another official language of the Court (Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, and Russian) would be considered an asset.