occupied Palestinian territory: Operations Support Officer, P-2/P-3 Gaza

Vacancy Announcement

Operations Support Officer,P-2/P-3

Gaza

Deadline for Applications

16 May 2017

(2 May 2017 for internal applicants)

Duration

1 year, with the possibility of further extension, subject to the availability of funds, satisfactory performance and continuing need.

Vacancy Announcement Number

17-FO-GA-20

Note: This recruitment will be used to establish a roster for similar posts Agency-wide.

UNRWA encourages applications from qualified women and welcomes applications from qualified candidates with disabilities.

UNRWA, the largest United Nations operation in the Middle East with over 30,000 staff working across five areas of operation, is looking for professionals like you.

Palestine refugees in Gaza

The Gaza Strip is home to a population of approximately 1.9 million people, including 1.3 million Palestine refugees. It has one of the highest population densities in the world. Recurrent conflict, restrictions on the movement of people and goods, political uncertainty, and dilapidated public infrastructure constitute the backdrop of a steadily declining socioeconomic situation. Over the last 10 years the population has become increasingly reliant on international assistance. Operating nearly 300 facilities and premises across the Gaza Strip, and through the work of approximately 12,500 staff, the great majority of whom are themselves refugees, UNRWA delivers education, health and mental health care, relief and social services, microcredit and emergency assistance to registered Palestine refugees.

Do you want to make a lasting difference?

If you are passionate about making a lasting difference for Palestinian refugees in Gaza, this role will give you the opportunity to promote awareness of humanitarian principles by all staff, and monitor adherence to neutrality in the Agency’s premises and facilities. The Operations Support Officer (OSO) also assists in the operationalization of UNRWA’s protection strategy and the mainstreaming of protection across the programmes.

The main responsibilitiesinclude:

· Undertake regular neutrality inspections of UNRWA installations and premises;

· Document and report violations of neutrality in UNRWA installations and premises and undertakes necessary follow-up;

· Provide awareness and briefing about UNRWA neutrality and its significance to the Agency operations and service delivery, including training sessions on humanitarian principles and in particular neutrality for UNRWA staff;

· Support neutrality and protection activities through undertaking regular field visits in coordination with other programmes;

· Monitor and report on the general humanitarian situation, the living conditions of Palestine refugees, threats to their well-being and access to UNRWA services; identify issues of concern and facilitate appropriate response by the programmes; ;

· Promote and reinforce mainstreaming of protection principles and good practices across the programmes; assist in the operationalization of UNRWA protection strategies in Gaza Field Office; provide technical assistance to programme staff in the implementation of the protection referral system;

· Monitor the protection environment, including trends on violations of international law; collect data and information useful for UNRWA advocacy work and the definition of protection strategies; contribute to GFO-OSO input and feedback to advocacy papers and protection-related documents;

· Contribute to effective liaison and coordination with other humanitarian actors, including through attendance of inter-agency meetings, as requested;

· Contribute to emergency response preparedness efforts, and participate in the implementation of the emergency response, if needed;

· Supervise one or two national staff, if required;

· Provide other operational support as needed.

Conditions of service

UNRWA offers an attractive and competitive compensation package including annual salary starting for P-2 Level: $46,026 net tax free, and for P-3 Level at: $58,583 net tax free, plus post adjustment of 53.6% for both levels (subject to change without notice). Other benefits, subject to eligibility, include:

ü Dependency allowances

ü Rental subsidy

ü Education grant for children

ü Home leave travel

ü 6 weeks (30 working days) annual leave

ü Pension fund entitlements under the

UN Joint Staff Pension Fund

ü International health insurance; optional

life insurance

ü Disability protection

Additional benefits available to staff working in Gaza:

ü Hardship allowance

ü Non-family service allowance

ü R&R leave (currently every 8 weeks)

ü Family visit travel

ü Support for settling-in of staff

members’ families in nearby locations*

* While Gaza is a non-family duty station, eligible staff members may set up a second household in a nearby location to have their family nearby. However, Gaza remains the official duty station with any travel outside the duty station being subject to management approval and in accordance to office practices to ensure international staff presence in Gaza at all times.

Additional information

This recruitment will be used to establish a roster for similar posts across UNRWA’s area of operations. For Gaza appointments, preference will be given to candidates meeting the requirements for the P-3 level.

To qualify for this position, you will need:

Education

A university degree from a recognised university-level academic institution, preferably in social science, political affairs, international relations, law or a related field;

Work

experience

For grade P-2: Four years of relevant experience of which at least one year should have been in an international organization**;**

For grade P-3: Six years of relevant experience of which at least three years should have been in an international organization;

For both levels: applicants must have two years of relevant work experience at international level outside one’s home country;

Language(s)

Excellent command of written and spoken English.

Desirable qualifications:

· Experience of designing and delivering training;

· Previous experience in the region;

· Experience of working in hardship duty stations;

· Knowledge of the Arabic language.

You will also need to demonstrate the following competencies:

· Excellent communication and interpersonal skills; able to interact properly with a wide range of actors; work experience in multi-cultural, multi-national teams;

· Problem-solving attitude, able to identify and analyse complex situation and handle them in an assertive and tactful way, including in stressful situations;

· Deep familiarity with humanitarian principles and experience in their application;

· Strong understanding of principles and practice related to protection in humanitarian action, including good understanding of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law;

· Excellent analytical and writing skills, experience of writing reports or contributing to strategic and operational documents in humanitarian/development work (e.g. needs assessment, guidelines, donor reports, advocacy papers, etc.);

· Knowledge of the Middle East context and the Palestine question;

· Commitment to United Nations principles and standards.

For guidance on how to prepare for competency-based interviews:

https://careers.un.org/lbw/home.aspx?viewtype=AYI

How to apply

To start the application process, applicants are required to register at http://jobs.unrwa.org by creating a personal profile and completing UNRWA Personal History Form. Only applications received through http://jobs.unrwa.org will be considered. Due to the large number of applications received for UNRWA vacancies, only applicants short-listed for interview will be contacted. The United Nations does not charge fees at any stage of the recruitment process. The United Nations does not concern itself with information related to bank accounts.

General information

UNRWA staff are expected to uphold the highest standards of integrity, neutrality and impartiality at all times. This includes respect for and commitment to human rights, diversity, and non-violent means of dealing with all kinds of conflict. Only persons who fully and unconditionally commit to these values should consider applying for UNRWA jobs. UNRWA is a non-smoking work environment.

The retirement age for staff entering or re-entering service in the UN Common System after 1 January 1990 is 62 and 65 after 1 January 2014. For external applicants, only those who are expected to complete a term of appointment will normally be considered.

The Agency reserves the right not to make an appointment, to make an appointment at a lower grade, or to make an appointment with a modified job description.

Date of issue: 19 April 2017/CM

To start the application process, applicants are required to register at http://jobs.unrwa.org by creating a personal profile and completing UNRWA Personal History Form. Only applications received through http://jobs.unrwa.org will be considered. Due to the large number of applications received for UNRWA vacancies, only applicants short-listed for interview will be contacted. The United Nations does not charge fees at any stage of the recruitment process. The United Nations does not concern itself with information related to bank accounts.