Political Affairs Officer

The Political Affairs Officer is responsible for leading and organizing operational activities related to the work of the Aden office, providing strategic political advice, managing a political team, and supporting the mission leadership in Yemen. The role involves coordination, representation, and political analysis within the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General to Yemen.

Responsibilities

• Leads and organizes operational activities related to the work of the Aden office.
• Pursues an integrated approach that includes a rights-based dimension, conflict prevention sensitivity, and a gender perspective into the policy, planning and operational activities of the Aden team.
• Prepares and reviews briefing notes and talking points for the Mission leadership.
• Provides guidance and advice on assigned issues to the Mission leadership, concerning assigned areas of work, status of negotiations, and the approach to various issues including interpretation of rules of procedure.
• Prepares responses to comments, statements, and queries of parties and manages operations including visits from the Special Envoy and other visiting delegations.
• Develops and maintains relations with government officials and political parties at the working levels and advises them on issues and policies of mutual concern.
• Leads a team which deals with a variety of political issues in the areas of Yemen controlled by the Government of Yemen.
• Attends meetings to identify the scope of the project, considers methodologies, and leads or actively participates in developing guidelines, terms of reference and operational plans and time frames for new assignments.
• Assists in planning, coordinating and supporting programmes, projects and activities requiring mission and/or interagency involvement and participation.
• Represents OSESGY at meetings of the UN Country Team and other Aden based meetings, and provides political briefings and regular updates on the work of the Special Envoy.
• Provides substantive support to the Principal Political Affairs Officer in the formulation of the programme of work, budget and medium-term plan of the unit by actively participating in or leading meetings, drafting major components and compiling or researching issues related to the mission.
• Manages the Aden-based political team.
• Performs other related duties as required.

Requirements

• Advanced university degree (master's degree or equivalent) in Political Science, Management or Development, or a related field.
• A first level university degree with a combination of two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• A minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience in political affairs, international relations, law, disarmament, security, development management, conflict resolution or related area is required.
• A minimum of (2) years of professional experience in Yemen in an international context is required.
• A minimum of two (2) years of managing staff, preferably within the United Nations system, is required.
• A minimum of two （2） years in project management is desirable.
• English is required at UN Level III for reading, writing, listening and speaking.
• Arabic is required at UN Level III for reading, writing, listening and speaking.

Skills

• Political Affairs
• International Relations
• Conflict Resolution
• Security Analysis
• Development Management
• Disarmament
• Project Management
• Staff Management
• Political Analysis
• Strategic Advice
• Coordination
• Representation
• Team Leadership
• UN System Experience
• Arabic Language
• English Language

Languages

English, Arabic