Short-term Associate Employee Relations and Duty of Care Officer (S)

Background:

This is a temporary position with the start date of as soon as possible and the initial duration of 5 months and 29 days with
possibility of an extension.

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 OSCE Secretariat in Vienna assists the Chairpersonship in its activities, and provides operational and administrative support to the field operations, and, as appropriate, to other institutions. The OSCE is committed to gender equality. 

The Department of Human Resources, and is responsible for planning, execution and control of human resources management programmes at the OSCE, such as implementation of Staff Regulations, Rules and Instructions, compensation schemes, entitlements and benefits, job classification scheme, performance evaluation system, social security packages and development of staff/management relations. It provides the full range of HR support services to Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe management and staff at OSCE, including the development, formulation and/or adaptation of OSCE HR policies, rules and procedures, and management and administration of entitlements, including participation in social security coverage.

Tasks and Responsibilities:
Under the direct supervision of the Chief, HR Policy and Employee Relations (P3*), the successful candidate will be tasked with the following duties:

1. Conducting research into the jurisprudence and precedents of international administrative labour tribunals, preparing briefs for the management of the Department of Human Resources (DHR) and Office of Legal Affairs (OLA), and providing advice on the course of action in the assigned staff cases by drafting papers and concepts of a procedural or technical nature;
2. Managing the assigned staff cases, which may involve grievance or disciplinary procedures, by reviewing submissions from the parties, preparing the analysis for DHR management, in consultation with OLA, and drafting the determination for the Secretary General’s consideration; 
3. Advising staff and managers at the OSCE Secretariat, Institutions and/or Field Operations, preparing presentations, capacity-building and facilitation activities concerning the OSCE’s employee relations and duty of care policies, including on professional working environment and disciplinary procedures, to staff and management;
4. Through collaboration with relevant stakeholders, conducting research, participating in inter-agency meetings and/or working groups, to develop and interpret the OSCE’s duty of care framework; identifying trends and issues in this field within the context of HR management across the OSCE, and developing and proposing strategies and feasible solutions to address and mitigating identified risk exposures, taking due account of gender equality and other institutional values;
5. Co-ordinating duty of care related elements of HR strategies and work plans, liaising with the staff representatives on duty of care, and working in close partnership with the staff representatives in the development of necessary solutions;
6. Developing relevant policy databases with references and cross-references;
7. Performing other related duties as assigned.

For more detailed information on the structure and work of the OSCE Secretariat, please see: http://www.osce.org/ secretariat

Necessary Qualifications:

• First-level university degree in law or in human resource management or a closely related field with courses in employment or administrative law;
• A minimum of 4 (four) years of professional-level experience in labour/administrative law or in employee relations aspects of human resource management, such as dealing with staff grievances or disciplinary procedures, preferably in the context of international organizations;
• Legal or paralegal experience in drafting and analyzing documents of a procedural and technical issues;
• Knowledge of the duty of care principles and context in an international context is an asset;
• 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.