Stellenbeschreibung

United Nations – UN-Secretariat

Junior Professional Officer Program (JPO) Chiffre Nr. 2026-1-24

TERMS OF REFERENCE

I. General Information

Title: JPO in Political Affairs (Peacekeeping)

Sector of Assignment: Political Affairs

Organization/Office: United Nations / DPO (Department of Peace Operations)/DPET/PBPS

Country and Duty Station: New York, USA
 

Duration of assignment: 2 years with possibility of extension for another year. The extension of appointment is subject to yearly review concerning priorities, availability of funds, and satisfactory performance

Please note that for participants of the JPO-Programme two years work experience are mandatory! Relevant work experience can be counted. In order to assess the eligibility of the candidates, we review the relevant experience acquired after obtaining the first university degree (usually bachelor’s degree).

II. Supervision

Title of Supervisor:

Coordination Officer

Content and methodology of supervision:

The JPO will work on strengthening lessons learning in political and operational aspects of peacekeeping, including to improve the security of peacekeepers. Peacekeeping missions continue to be deployed in contexts with high levels of insecurity and threats. The JPO will support workstreams aiming to systematize the way security incidents in UN peacekeeping are captured, trends are analyzed, lessons are fed into policy, and training and practices are subsequently improved. Expected outcomes are that Troop and Policy- Contributing Countries are better prepared to respond to security incidents, a culture is established where peacekeepers can discuss success and failure with the objective to learn and improve, missions conduct regular after- action reviews and UN Headquarters effectively support lessons learning and ensures follow-up to recommendations. In addition, the JPO is expected to support learning exercises concerning the political impact of peacekeeping operations, including through their support to political processes, and to contribute to the development and dissemination of relevant policy and guidance.

Establishment of a Work Plan: During the first month of the assignment, the Junior Professional Officer (JPO) will work jointly with his/her direct supervisor to finalize an agreed upon work plan. The final work plan will be discussed and mutually agreed to by the JPO and his/her supervisor.

Evaluation: The United Nations Performance Evaluation System (e-performance) will serve as a primary platform to evaluate of the JPO’s performance.

In addition to working closely and on an ongoing basis with the supervisor, the JPO will have weekly meetings to discuss progress made on the workplan as well as specific tasks.

III. Duties, Responsibilities and Output Expectations

Within delegated authority, the Junior Professional Officer will be responsible for the following duties:

• Assist in the drafting, revision and development of guidance, lessons learned and best practice material in support of UN peacekeeping operations, particularly concerning the security of peacekeepers;
• Keeps abreast of latest trends and developments related to best practices and knowledge management issues and provides inputs to senior officials and colleagues in missions and elsewhere in the Secretariat;
• Identifies and provides analysis on cross cutting and emerging peacekeeping policy issues and contributes to the development of forward-looking policy planning for DPO;
• Maintaining close relations with UN System and external partners on emerging policy issues, including academia and research institutes specializing in peace and security issues;
• Monitors national and regional level political developments and provides advice to field missions, particularly on organizational learning around security of peacekeepers, political processes, and other priority substantive areas of the unit;
• Provides technical and substantive back up in the implementation of mandates of the office, branch or unit;
• Maintains contacts with other sectors of the UN, other international organizations and governments on coordination and policy matters, including through team(s) supporting the implementation of the Action Plan to improve the security of peacekeepers;
• Assist in the promotion of knowledge sharing culture in the peace and security pillar and ensure transfer of guidance and replicable lessons using a variety of communication mediums;
• Participates in fact-finding and other missions to countries within assigned area of responsibility;
• Performs other related duties as required.

IV. Qualifications and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree in political science, international relations, economics, law, public administration, business administration, data science, or related area is required.

Work experience:

A minimum of 2 years of relevant work experience in political science, international relations, law, disarmament, security, development management, conflict resolution, business administration, strategic planning, organizational learning, or related area is required.

Experience in a UN peacekeeping operation or similar field setting is desirable.

Experience in data analytics or related area is desirable.

Languages:

English and French are the working languages of the UN Secretariat. For this position, fluency in English is required. Fluency in French is desirable. Knowledge of another UN official language is an advantage.

UN competencies:

PROFESSIONALISM: Shows pride in work and in achievements; Demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; Is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; Is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; Shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; Remains calm in stressful situations; Able to analyze and interpret data in support of decision-making and convey resulting information to management.

COMMUNICATION: Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; Listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; Asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; Tailors language, tone, style and format to match the audience; Demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.

PLANNING & ORGANIZING: Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; Identifies priority activities and assignments; adjusts priorities as required; Allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work; Foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning; Monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary; Uses time efficiently.

CREATIVITY: Actively seeks to improve programmes or services; Offers new and different options to solve problems or meet client needs; Promotes and persuades others to consider new ideas; Takes calculated risks on new and unusual ideas; thinks “outside the box”; Takes an interest in new ideas and new ways of doing things; Is not bound by current thinking or traditional approaches.

TECHNOLOGICAL AWARENESS: Keeps abreast of available technology; Understands applicability and limitations of technology to the work of the office; Actively seeks to apply technology to appropriate tasks; Shows willingness to learn new technology.
 

Workforce Diversity

The United Nations believes that an inclusive culture attracts the best talent and encourages all qualified applicants, regardless of gender, disability, sexual orientation, cultural or religious backgrounds, to apply.

V. Learning Elements

On completion of the assignment, the JPO will have contributed to the establishment and improvement of processes for identifying, validating, and disseminating lessons from security incidents. The JPO will have gained, and leveraged, an understanding of how peacekeeping operations learn from security incidents and how such lessons could be used to contribute more systematically to organizational learning. The JPO will have contributed to strengthening coordination among Headquarters and field entities in learning to improve the security of peacekeepers, and will have supported engagement with troop- and police-contributing countries in this regard. The JPO will have had the opportunity to participate in policy, guidance, and learning processes, particularly surrounding the security of peacekeepers, political impact of peacekeeping operations, and other priority substantive areas that may emerge in UN peacekeeping and organizational learning. The JPO will have drafted talking points, background notes, options papers, concept notes, code cables, and results frameworks, as relevant. The JPO will have leveraged digital technologies to support organizational learning, and contributed to their adoption within both existing and novel programs/initiatives of the team.

VI. Background Information

The Division of Policy, Evaluation and Training Division (DPET) of the Department of Peace Operations develops and disseminates policy and doctrine guiding the work of peacekeeping operations. The division also evaluates how those policies are being applied, gathers lessons learned and best practices, and use that information to guide the development, coordination and delivery of standardized training, so as to complete the learning cycle. DPET is also responsible for developing and maintaining strategic cooperation with various UN and external partners.

Within DPET, the Policy and Best Practices Service (PBPS) helps to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of peacekeeping operations through the exchange of good practices between missions, the development of guidance materials and provides thematic policy support in the areas of protection of civilians, civil affairs, conflict-related sexual violence and child protection. PBPS explores policy implications of emerging strategic challenges and opportunities facing UN operations, and prepares policy options based on consultations with UN and non-UN partners. PBPS is the lead for peacekeeping reform processes, and as developed the Action for Peacekeeping (A4P) initiative, the digital transformation strategy for UN peacekeeping, and manages strategic force generation and capacity planning in partnership with the Office of Military Affairs and the Police Division.

The Knowledge Management and Guidance Team within PBPS maintains tool and provides services to strengthen organizational learning in UN Peacekeeping. It supports a network of Policy and Best Practices Officers within peacekeeping missions, acts as the Secretariat for the Guidance Focal Points Groups, and supports the Guidance Development and Learning Steering Committee, the Policy and Practice Database, UN Resource Hub and selected Communities of Practice. The team also leads on select after-action reviews and/or lessons learned studies for the Departments of Peace Operations and Operational Support.

Bitte senden Sie Ihre JPO-Bewerbung direkt an das Büro Führungskräfte zu Internationalen Organisationen (BFIO) unter Angabe der Chiffre Nr. 2026-1-24 auf dem Bewerbungsbogen

Alle Informationen finden Sie unter www.bfio.de