Job Opportunity at the UN in Turkey: Humanitarian Affairs Officer

The United Nations is offering a job opportunity as a Humanitarian Affairs Officer to join the team in Istanbul, Turkey. 

1. Monitors, analyzes and reports on humanitarian developments, disaster relief/management or emergency situations in assigned country/area; serves as operations, training officer, and/or focal point as part of OCHA's overall humanitarian coordination mandate.
2. Organizes and prepares studies on humanitarian, emergency relief and related issues; organizes follow-up work, including interagency technical review meetings to support policy development work and decision-making on important issues; Supports and delivers training programmes on issues related to safeguarding humanitarian principles and ensuring the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance and the linkages with other related areas (e.g. protection).
3. Participates in and/or support large, complex projects, to include disaster assessment or other missions; deploys and undertakes scheduled field missions, often at short notice.
4. Partners with other humanitarian agencies to plan and evaluate humanitarian and emergency assistance programmes and help ensure that latest findings, lessons learned, policy guidelines, etc. are incorporated into these activities, including gender-related considerations.
5. Prepares or contributes to coordination of activities and/or drafting and the preparation of various written reports, documents and communications, e.g. drafts sections of studies, background papers, policy guidelines, parliamentary documents, briefings, case studies, presentations, correspondence, etc related to disaster response in complex and natural disaster emergencies.
6. Serves as the primary focal point on specific topics or policy-related issues; keeps abreast of latest developments, liaises with other humanitarian organizations, donors, etc., ensures appropriate monitoring and reporting mechanisms; provides information and advice on a range of related issues.
7. Reviews and provides advice on policy issues related to safeguarding humanitarian principles and ensuring the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance.
8. Organizes and participates in work groups, meetings, conferences, consultations with other agencies and partners on humanitarian and emergency relief-related matters.
9. Provides guidance to, and may supervise, new/junior staff.
10. Performs other duties as required.

Professionalism:

• Knowledge of a range of humanitarian assistance, emergency relief and related human rights issues, including approaches and techniques to address difficult problems.
• Analytical capacity and in particular the ability to analyze and articulate the humanitarian dimension of issues which require a coordinated UN response.
• Ability to identify issues and judgment in applying technical expertise to resolve a wide range of problems.
• Ability to conduct research, including ability to evaluate and integrate information from a variety of sources and assess impact on the humanitarian rights situation in assigned country/area.
• Ability to work under extreme pressure, on occasion in a highly stressful environment (e.g. civil strife, natural disasters and human misery); ability to provide guidance to new/junior staff.
• Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations.
• Takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work.

Communication:

• Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication.
• Tailors language, tone, style and format to match audience; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.

Planning & Organizing:

• Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; identifies priority activities and assignments; adjusts priorities as required.
• Allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work; foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning; monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary; uses time efficiently.

Education:

Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in political science, social science, public administration, international studies, economics, engineering, earth sciences or a related field is required. A first-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Work Experience:

• A minimum of five years of progressively responsible experience in humanitarian affairs, emergency preparedness, crisis/emergency relief management, rehabilitation, development, or other related area is required.
• Experience in delivering training sessions to adult learners is required.
• A minimum of two years in the last five years of recent international field experience within a humanitarian setting in relation to knowledge in protection programming and the wider cluster system is required.
• Experience in creating and/or contributing to databases to coordinate humanitarian assistance is desirable.
• Experience in incorporating educational and/or climate considerations into humanitarian and emergency assistance programs is desirable.
• Experience in coordinating emergency response mechanisms and/or disaster risk reduction activities in the Middle East and/or Africa is desirable.

Languages:

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations. Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another UN official language is desirable.

About the UN:

The United Nations (UN), was established in 1945, is an intergovernmental organization responsible for maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations, achieving international cooperation, and being a center for harmonizing the actions of nations. It is the largest, most familiar, most internationally represented and most powerful intergovernmental organization in the world.

See more available opportunities for travel abroad on For9a

See more available online courses on For9a