Police Affairs Officer, Adviser on Community Policing (S)

Background:

This position is open for secondment only and participating States are kindly reminded that all costs in relation to an assignment at the Secretariat must be borne by their authorities.
 
Candidates should, prior to applying, verify with their respective nominating authority to which extent financial remuneration and/or benefit packages will be offered. Seconded staff members in the OSCE Secretariat and Institutions are not entitled to a Board and Lodging Allowance payable by the Organization.

The OSCE has a comprehensive approach to security that encompasses politico-military, economic and environmental, and human aspects. It therefore addresses a wide range of security-related concerns, including arms control, confidence- and security-building measures, human rights, combating human trafficking, national minorities, democratization, policing strategies, counter-terrorism and economic and environmental activities. All 57 participating States enjoy equal status, and decisions are taken by consensus on a politically, but not legally binding basis.

The Transnational Threats Department (TNTD) plays a key role as the focal point of OSCE-wide programmatic activities aiming at countering transnational threats and ensuring co-ordination and coherence of action across all three OSCE dimensions among all executive structures, while respecting their mandates. TNTD is responsible for supporting the OSCE Chairmanship-in-Office (CiO) and the Secretary General (SG) in implementing missions and tasks accordingly.

The Strategic Police Matters Unit (SPMU) at the Secretariat responds to requests from participating States for specific expert advice on policing and police-related activities. Good policing has played a vital role in preventing conflict (particularly secondary conflicts), in preserving social stability during political crises, as well as in supporting the rehabilitation period following the end of conflict. Equally apparent is that without effective law enforcement and genuine respect for the rule of law and the institutions responsible for upholding it, there can be little likelihood of social, political or economic stability. The SPMU serves as the organization’s main focal point for all OSCE police-related activities. 

The SPMU is composed of the following team members: Head of Unit, Deputy Head, six Police Affairs Officers (PAOs) and one Administrative Assistant.

Tasks and Responsibilities:

The incumbent will be one of the six PAOs. Under the supervision of the Head and when required in close collaboration with the Deputy Head of the SPMU, he/she will perform the role of PAO with special responsibility for addressing community policing. The general role of the incumbent is to strengthen the capacity of the participating States (pS) in implementing the concept of community policing as a tool for enhancing police-public partnerships, building confidence between different ethnic communities, promoting principles of democratic policing, human rights and fundamental freedoms, gender-responsive policing and preventing crime effectively. More specifically, the successful candidate will be tasked with the following duties:

1. Designing, proposing, drafting and developing OSCE’s activities/projects in the field of community policing, in close co-operation with other POAs of the SPMU, as required;
2. Analyzing data and formulating police-related proposals jointly with national counterparts of participating States and/or field operations (FOs) and relevant OSCE executive structures to increase the effectiveness of community policing;
3. Supporting FOs in designing, implementing and evaluation of community policing projects; Analyzing and sharing lessons learned on community policing among FOs, and relevant stakeholders and practitioners of OSCE pS and other international organizations;
4. Drafting upon request analytical papers on community policing;
5. Developing and updating OSCE guidance material on the topic of community policing in order to ensure an OSCE-coherent approach to community policing;
6. Supporting FOs and participating States in developing and reviewing community policing-related training curricula; Facilitating and delivering community policing-related training courses;
7. Working in close co-operation with all SPMU and any other TNTD colleagues in the design, development and implementation of projects;
8. Assisting in the organization and management of expert level police meetings as required;
9. Contributing relevant content to the relevant OSCE data management system with any input that will be requested from his/her field of expertise;
10. Co-operating with PESU in reviewing and evaluating project proposals related to policing that are submitted by the OSCE field operations;
11. Ensuring co-ordinated activities and liaison with other OSCE executive structures; Liaising with international organizations in the activities to be carried out, particularly with UNODC, UNDPKO, INTERPOL, Europol and the Council of Europe among others; Participating in meetings related to his/her expertise and/or areas or responsibility, by initiative and/or upon request.
12. Respond at short notice to requests from FOs or pS for advice or assistance with community policing-related issues in a given pS and/or geographical area.
13. Performing other duties as assigned.

For more detailed information on the structure and work of the Transnational Threats Department (TNTD), please see: https://www.osce.org/secretariat/policing.

Necessary Qualifications:

• Second-level university degree in law or graduate of a recognized police academy, equivalent to an advanced university degree;
• A minimum of 8 years of diversified and progressively responsible professional police experience and minimum of five years of international experience in the police co-operation field, Security Sector Reform and criminal justice sector reform, with a focus on community policing. Proven and successful experience in a recent and similar position of community policing adviser;
• Thorough understanding of the principles and good practices of democratic policing;
• Sound knowledge of other Police related disciplines including the field of conflict resolution is an asset;
• Experience in delivering community policing training and developing training curricula;
• Experience in establishing and mentoring police-public partnership forums;
• Experience in project management;
• Budgetary experience and experience with performance-based management desirable;
• Strong drafting skills, with proven experience;
• Analytical skills; ability to identify needs and propose appropriate solutions;
• Strong communication skills including ability to present ideas clearly and defend and explain difficult issues and positions to staff including senior officials;
• Professional fluency in English with excellent communication (both oral and written) skills;
• 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;
• Computer literate with practical experience using Microsoft applications.

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 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.

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 the nomination of qualified female and male candidates from all religious, ethnic and social backgrounds.

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.

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

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.