Capacity Building Specialist (retainer position)

Nordic Support for Progress of North Macedonia

The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency has decided to fund a project “Nordic Support for Progress of North Macedonia” to be implemented by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). The objective of the project supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) is to support the enhancement of the EU integration capacity of the Republic of North Macedonia by providing technical assistance to government institutions during the accession period.

SIDA has allocated funding for the implementation of the project in Macedonia during 24 months.

The Overall Objective of the SIDA support is to contribute to, and effectively communicate to the public, the implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, accession negotiations and government reform priorities in the Republic of North Macedonia.

Project interventions are aimed towards communicating the benefits of the EU accession process to the general population, as well as to involve the civil society and media throughout the accession phases. All project activities will be undertaken in partnership with the Government of Macedonia, in cooperation with the national institutions, with the aim of allowing them to adopt/adapt the legal requirements and, where relevant, EU accession criteria.

This will ensure national ownership and support the development of national capacities.

Background Information – relevant for the assignment

The purpose of Result 1 “Supporting the government reform agenda in the accession process” is to provide support to relevant national is to contribute to further building of capacities of the central coordination structures for the accession process and relevant national authorities.

Within the framework of the political and reform processes, Macedonian government commenced with preparations for accession negotiations, and activated its coordination structures for EU integration.

In July 2018, the Government announced the concept of the Negotiation Platform (NP), and appointed Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European Affairs as Chief Political Negotiator and Head of State Delegation for Negotiations with the EU, and the Special Advisor for Euro-Atlantic integrations in the Office of the Prime Minister as Chief Technical Negotiator and Head of the Technical Negotiations Team. Consultations on establishment of the negotiation platform and structures are on-going.

The key actors in the accession process are:

• Cabinet of the Deputy Prime Minister for EU Affairs, head of  Secretariat for European Affairs (SEA);
• Special Advisor for Euro-Atlantic integrations in the Office of the Prime Minister as Chief Technical Negotiator;
• Secretariat for European Affairs (SEA);
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA);
• Parliamentary Committee for European Affairs (CEA).

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) via its Directorate for EU, coordinates the external dimension of the EU accession negotiations. The MFA, through the Mission of the country to the EU, is responsible for the political part of the accession negotiation process, and proper representing of country’s position in international dimension. MFA supports foreign policy aspect of the accession negotiations, with regards to the political dialogue, regional cooperation, contractual arrangements with the EU and the member states and candidate countries.

The project will provide consultancy support in conducting the needs assessment of MFA, through outsourced expertise/consultancy. Based on the assessment findings and recommendations, the project team will design and implement a tailor-made training curriculum/capacity building project that will be provided to the MFA by the consultancy, and will be aimed at bridging the recorded gaps, and further developing existing competencies and knowledge for accession process.

Under the direct supervision of the Project Manager, the Capacity Building Specialist will provide technical expertise to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Directorate for EU, and will conduct Training Needs Assessment and Strengthening the Administrative Capacities. 

Responsibilities/ activities

Assessment and development of short-term Plan for strengthening of administrative capacity of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, providing following in particular:

• Design of the Training Needs Assessment (TNA) Questionnaire(s);
• Disseminate the Questionnaire(s) to relevant beneficiary staff;
• As necessary, organise focus groups for further clarification of received answers to the Questionnaire(s);
• Collect and process/analyse Questionnaires;
• Develop the Draft-Report on TNA;
• Develop the Draft-Plan for strengthening the administrative capacity in identified areas;
• Facilitate a Workshop to present the findings of the plan.

Education

• Advanced University Degree preferably in Law, public administration, management, development studies or other relevant discipline is required. University Degree (Bachelor’s degree / first level) with a combination of two additional years of relevant professional experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree

Work Experience

• Five years with master’s degree or seven years with bachelor’s degree of direct experience in working with/for operational structures for European integrations, particularly in Ministries of Foreign Affairs in EU countries and/or candidate country is required;
• Experience in Training Needs Assessments (TNA) and training implementation is required;
• Experience in the coordinative structures for supporting the negotiations for EU accession is strongly desirable;
• Experience in preparation of intergovernmental conferences will be an asset;
• Knowledge of the legislative process, screening acquis, and law approximation would be an asset.

• Fluency in English (speaking, reading and writing) is required

ALL CANDIDATES ARE REQUESTED TO SUBMIT A CV AND COVER LETTER ALONG WITH THEIR APPLICATION

Contract type: ICA
Contract level: I-ICA 2
Contract duration: Up to 15 working days, in period of four months 

For more details about the ICA contractual modality, please follow this link:

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• Work life harmonization - UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types
• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns.
Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.

UNOPS is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development.

UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources.

Working with us

UNOPS offers short- and long-term work opportunities in diverse and challenging environments across the globe. We are looking for creative, results-focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines.

Diversity

With over 4,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of UNOPS partners spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a wide range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced, diverse workforce — a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs, and continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates.

Work life harmonization

UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands.