Communications Senior Officer - Translation

Peace and Security Cluster

Background - UNMAS

United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) is a division of the Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions (OROLSI) in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO). UNMAS is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly (RES/68/72) to ensure an effective, proactive and coordinated response to the problem posed by a wide range of explosive hazards. Legislative mandates also recognize UNMAS technical expertise in responding to threats posed by unsecured and unsafe conventional weapons and ammunition stockpiles. As an office within DPKO, UNMAS supports peacekeeping and special political missions in accordance with Security Council mandates. 

Background – UNMAS Iraq

The UNMAS Iraq programme was formally established in June 2015, at the request of the UN Under-Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Iraq, to lead the UN efforts to mitigate explosive threats in the country, as well as to support the enhancement of national and regional mine action capacities.

UNMAS is supporting multiple layers of operations under the UNMAS Iraq Strategic Plan which focusses on three main components:

1. Explosive Hazard Management
2. Capacity Enhancement
3. Risk Education 

Under the overall supervision of the Explosive Hazard Management Team Lead (EHM TL), the incumbent will be responsible to:

• Produce timely, high quality, professional written English-Arabic and Arabic-English translation of official correspondence for UNMAS Iraq Explosive Hazards Management (EHM) counterparts, implementing partners, and other stakeholders;
• Translate documents for high-level official government correspondence including Mine Action technical documents, partner’s implementation plans, weekly (EHM) reports, and letters;
• Produce timely, high quality, professional written English-Arabic and Arabic-English translation of the National Mine Action Standards (NMAS), the National Authorities’ Internal / Standard Working Procedures, Process Charts and other official documentation as part of her/his support to the UNMAS-Iraq Technical Advisory Panel (TAP);
• Produce high quality, professional written translation from English to Arabic of the Deputy Minister of Health and Environment (DMoHE)/DMA (Directorate of Mine Action) bi-weekly reports and the EHM Weekly Work plans shared with governorate offices, JCMC and DMA;
• Work closely with the EHM TL and the Information Management TL to produce translation work of EHM written products;
• Develop effective filing systems to file incoming/outgoing UNMAS correspondence on a regular basis; as well as a management system to track when correspondence is received, who is responsible for formulating responses and by when, and when those responses are sent;
• Draft and review the compilation of all translated materials related to EHM i.e. Standards Working Practices (SWPs) and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs);
• Preform any translation tasks required by the EHM TL, IM TL, Head of Projects Office as required;
• Travel with the EHM TL to Baghdad and/or fields locations to support field missions based out of Erbil for Arabic/English interpretation;
• Provide accurate simultaneous interpretation during meetings, trainings, workshops, conferences and other relevant activities and events. In particular, high level meetings such as, the Coordination meetings for Mine Action Actors in Iraq (CMMAI) and the Technical Working Group (TWG) including supporting UNMAS Senior Programme Manager (SPM) with donor visits upon request;
• Provision administrative and operational support to EHM Team associated to leave planner management, on-boarding of new EHM personal and other administrative tasks as required;

• Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) with two years of relevant experience; OR
• First-level university degree (Bachelor’s degree or equivalent) with four years of relevant experience is required.

• Relevant experience is defined as experience in translation/interpretation from English to Arabic language or vice versa.

• Fluency in English (Speaking, writing, reading) is required.
• Fluency in Arabic (Speaking, writing, reading) is required.

1. Contract type : Local Individual Contractor Agreement (LICA)
2. Contract level : LICA-9 (ICS-9)
3. Contract duration : Open-ended, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance

• This is a non-family duty station
• This is a local position, therefore only national of the duty station or applicants with a valid residence permit will be considered
• 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
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• 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.