Background Information – Job-specific
UNOPS supports partners to build a better future by providing services that increase the efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of peace-building, humanitarian and development projects. Mandated as a central resource of the United Nations, UNOPS provides sustainable project management, procurement and infrastructure services to a wide range of governments, donors and United Nations organizations.
New York Portfolios Office (NYPO) supports the United Nations Secretariat, as well as other New York-based United Nations organizations, and bilateral and multilateral partners in the delivery of UNOPS mandate in project management, infrastructure management, and procurement management.
Sustainable Development Cluster (SDC) supports diverse partners with their peacebuilding, humanitarian and development operations. It was formed by combining the following portfolios: Grants Management Services (GMS), UN Technology Support Services (UNTSS), and Development and Special Initiatives Portfolio (DSIP) It provides Services to partners’ programmes that are designed, structured, and managed with a global perspective and primarily serving partners that are headquartered in New York. The SDC has a footprint of approximately 125 countries.
UNOPS has signed an agreement with the United Nations Office for Counter Terrorism (UNOCT) to implement the activities of the EU-UN Global-Terrorism Threats Facility.
UNOCT was established by the General Assembly in June 2017. The Office has five main functions: (a) provide leadership on the General Assembly counter-terrorism mandate across the United Nations System; (b) enhance coordination and coherence across the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact entities to ensure the balanced implementation of the four pillars of the Strategy; (c) strengthen the delivery of United Nations counter-terrorism capacity-building assistance to Member States; (d) improve visibility, advocacy and resource mobilization for United Nations counter-terrorism efforts; and ensure that due priority is given to counter-terrorism across the United Nations System and that the important work on preventing violent extremism is firmly rooted in the Strategy.
In April 2022, UNOCT and the European Union launched the EU-UN Global Terrorism Threats Facility (the Facility), with the overall objective to provide rapid and flexible support to Member States in building their capacities to detect, prevent, counter, investigate and respond to evolving terrorist threat, while ensuring respect for international law, including international human rights law, international humanitarian law and refugee law as well as the rule of law. The Facility delivers three types of activities: a) advisory and mentoring support through the deployment of experts in a number of thematic areas determined by Member States’ requests; b) training activities or workshops; and c) limited provision of light, non-lethal equipment. It operates according to the following principles: 1) it is demand-driven, based on official requests from a Member State; and 2) it is complementary to other UN and EU support. Support delivered by the Facility takes in consideration the recommendations from the assessment visits conducted by the Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee, through its Executive Directorate (CTED).
To support the Facility, UNOPS is developing a roster of specialists (the Roster), members of which will deliver assistance across the four pillars of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, depending on the specific need and context of the requesting Member States or regional organizations. Duration of the assignment depends on the tasks and deliverables assigned.
These are positions in UNOPS for supporting activities of the Facility. The incumbents of these positions will be personnel of UNOPS under its full responsibility. The incumbents will become members of the Roster for the duration of the Facility, under a retainer contract. He or she will be offered short-term assignments, with possible field deployments, depending on the needs of the Facility or of the requesting Member States.
The incumbent of this position will be a personnel of UNOPS under its full responsibility.
Functional Responsibilities
Under the supervision of the Cluster Head and in coordination with the senior programme manager of the EU-UN Global Terrorism Threats Facility, the Senior Programme Manager [Terrorism financing investigations expert] will be expected to deliver high-level technical expertise to support Member States in strengthening their capacities to conduct effective, rule of law-based and human rights-compliant investigations of terrorism financing cases, including:
- Undertake missions and conduct in-depth consultations with Member States requesting assistance to support the assessment of the capacity-building needs of concerned national entities with respect to the investigation of terrorism financing cases;
- Conceptualize, design, and support the delivery of technical assistance activities to member States, including capacity-building activities and evaluation of technical assistance needs in the field of financial investigations on terrorism (financing)-related cases for the benefit of criminal justice actors (Counter-Terrorism investigators and prosecutors), with focus on domestic information sharing with Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) and other relevant stakeholders, and international cooperation.
- Provide technical advice to build fictitious cases and conduct real-life or table-top exercises aiming at ensuring rule of law-based and human rights-compliant investigations of terrorism financing cases in the respective jurisdiction of Member States requesting assistance;
- Provide high-level advisory and/or mentorship services to national entities in charge of investigating terrorism financing cases in requesting Member States to strengthen their management, operational capabilities, and inter-agency coordination;
- Develop recommendations to improve case management procedures, inter-agency coordination, and legal or legislative texts to ensure effective, rule of law-based and human rights-compliant investigations of terrorism financing cases;
- Prepare a variety of high-quality, written substantive outputs, including analyses, presentations, training materials, and summary reports, related to their assignments;
- Ensure human rights issues and gender perspectives are integrated in their work.
Education/Experience/Language requirements
*FEMALE CANDIDATES ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY”
*CANDIDATES WITH NO UNITED NATIONS OR UNOPS EXPERIENCE ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY
Education:
- Advanced University Degree (Master’s Degree or equivalent), preferably in International Law, Law, Public Affairs/Public Administration, or any related field, with ten (10) years of relevant experience is required; Or
- First-Level University Degree (Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent) with twelve (12) years of relevant experience is required.
Work Experience
Required experience:
- Relevant experience is defined as experience in law enforcement, investigating terrorism-related cases;
- Experience in investigating digital payments, including virtual assets and mobile payments;
- Experience in the delivery of capacity-building activities or courses on the rule of law-based, human rights-compliant criminal investigation, preferably related to terrorism and terrorism financing but may include other complex, transnational crimes.
Desirable experience (the following experience is optional candidates who do not have it are welcome to apply):
- Experience in investigating transnational crimes;
- Experience working internationally with other law enforcement/security organizations;
- Experience in designing and providing technical assistance to a range of audiences, including senior government officials;
- Experience working in diverse country contexts.
Languages:
- Fluency in English (both oral and written), is a requirement;
- Fluency in French, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese or Russian is desirable.
Contract type, level and duration
Contract type: International Individual Contractor Agreement (IICA) – Retainer modality
Contract level: IICA-4 – ICS-12
Even though the level of the position is indicated as IICA-4, depending on the incumbent’s personal situation ( candidate with national ID or resident permit), a local fee scale (LICA-12) might be applied in determining the contractor’s fee.
*Contract duration: The contract for this position is set for a duration until 31 December 2025 (renewable subject to funds availability and satisfactory performance)
Duty station: Home based, with deployments to the field
A retainer contract is issued for a period of time during which the services of the individual contractor are required intermittently. The individual contractor agreement on retainer basis will specify a “unit price” per day worked. For budgetary purposes, a monetary cap will be determined when the contract is awarded and issued. Please note that the retainer contract will not provide for a minimum, and payment will be made only after completion of work For more details about the ICA contractual modality, please follow this link:
https://www.unops.org/english/Opportunities/job-opportunities/what-we-offer/Pages/Individual-Contractor-Agreements.aspx
How to apply
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