Capacity Building Specialist for Accession Negotiations Horizontal Issues Including Clusters 1 (Fundamentals) and 6 (External Relations) - retainer position

Under the direct supervision of the Project Manager, the Capacity Building Specialist for Accession Negotiations horizontal issues including clusters 1 (Fundamentals) and 6 (External Relations) will provide technical expertise to the Ministry for European Affairs (MEA) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the negotiation structure and will conduct capacity building workshops with the aim to strengthen the capacities of the personnel of these institutions.

 In particular, the Specialist will undertake following activities/responsibilities:

• Design, develop and deliver capacity building workshops on horizontal issues pertaining to preparing relevant negotiating documents (negotiation positions, benchmarks, addendums etc.)

• Provide expert advice to MEA in the process of drafting all relevant documents in the area of expertise of this ToR, by the request of the beneficiary, such as road maps, analyses, negotiating positions, talking points etc.

• Design, develop and deliver capacity building workshops within cluster 1 (Fundamentals) in particular rule of law, functioning of democratic institutions, public administration reform and cluster 6 (External Relations), with emphasis on but not limited to: scope, content, documents in these areas; main challenges in the course of accession negotiations; open issues and latest developments in the EU, different rules and responsibility of MEA and MFA organisational structures.

• Provide structured guidance on how to integrate horizontal issues (e.g., public administration reform, rule of law, anti-corruption, democratic institutions) across other negotiation clusters.

• Ensure that cross-cutting themes are consistently mainstreamed in negotiation positions and sector documents.

• Advanced University Degree preferably in Law, EU integration, International Relations, Public Administration, Management, Developments Studies, Sociology, Political Sciences, Human Rights, Social Sciences or other relevant discipline is required. 
• University Degree (Bachelor’s degree / first level) with two additional years of relevant professional experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

• Minimum five years of experience in working for/with an EU institution and/or working for/with the beneficiary countries on EU accession related elements is required. 
• Experience in capacity building activities in one or more areas covered by cluster 1 and 6 is required
• Experience in EU accession process in one or more Western Balkans countries will be considered an asset

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

Contract type: Individual Contractor Agreement (ICA) - retainer*
Contract level: IICA 2 (ICS 10)
Contract duration: Up to 60 working days during a period of one year

*If the selected candidate is based in a duty station where there is a national scale, s/he may be offered the local equivalent position. 

• Please note that UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes.

• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.

• Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments.

• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures,  languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. UNOPS seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. 

• Qualified women and candidates from groups which are underrepresented in the UNOPS workforce are encouraged to apply. These include in particular candidates from racialized and/or indigenous groups, members of minority gender identities and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities.

• We would like to ensure all candidates perform at their best during the assessment process.  If you are shortlisted and require additional assistance to complete any assessment, including reasonable accommodation, please inform our human resources team when you receive an invitation.

Terms and Conditions 

• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post. 

• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few mandatory courses ( they take around 4 hours to complete)  in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract. Please note that you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers. For more information on a retainer contract here.

• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda.

• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.