View Vacancy - Senior Policy Adviser

Main purpose of job:

The UK Mission to the United Nations in New York is looking for a Senior Policy Officer to work on multiple projects within the high-performing Management Reform and Finance (MRF) Team in the UK Mission, and with the UK Foreign Office’s Multilateral Appointments and Elections Team (MAET) in London and Geneva. The seven-person MRF team lead in the UK Mission on the UN Regular and Peacekeeping Budgets, UN management reform, governance and oversight, international elections and senior international appointments. The focus of this position will be on senior international appointments and international elections but there will be opportunities to cover issues on the wider team’s portfolio.

This is a challenging role with the opportunity to lead on some of the UK’s priority areas of work, including ones attracting interest from British Ministers. The portfolio will grow as the jobholder gains experience in the role and the wider team’s work. You will work in a fast-paced and changing environment and must be willing to support other team members and priorities, as needed.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

• Build and maintain a network of contacts within the UN system and other Member States and FCO posts;
• Support delivery of the UK Government’s International Appointments Strategy, working with colleagues in the UK Mission, and across UK Government departments in London, providing policy advice, both written and oral, including to senior officials and for Ministerial advice/ briefing;
• Lead work on developing and implementing a strategy for ensuring British representation and overall gender parity at senior levels at the UN, including work to design and deliver UK-funded projects from a budget of over $1mn;
• Monitor and identify upcoming UK priority positions in the UN system as well as suitable candidates to fill them, including secondment opportunities;
• Support the promotion of British Nationals already working in the UN system;
• Monitor and support the development and implementation of UN initiatives to increase women’s leadership in the UN, including those funded by the UK from a budget of over $1mn;
• Support British candidates applying for senior level jobs at the UN;
• Arrange activities and events to build a network of British Nationals in the UN system;
• To lead on policy in the UK Mission relating to Sexual Harassment, and support on policy on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA), in the UN system;
• To negotiate on behalf of the UK, among EU Member States and the UN, on issues relating to the UN Fifth (budgetary) Committee;
• To support delivery of work on the UK’s priority international elections, with the UK Mission’s Elections Officer.

Key Requirements

The ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate their abilities in working with others, customer focus, delivering results, communicating and influencing, strategic awareness and problem solving and judgement. Specifically:

• Bachelor’s degree with at least 5 years of relevant work experience;
• Excellent multilateral negotiation, communication, and team working skills, including working with a remote team;
• Strong organisational, analytical, and time management skills, with very good attention to detail;
• Excellent networking skills with the ability to develop and maintain long-lasting relationships with UN and other Member State officials at all levels;
• Flexible, resilient under pressure, and decisive, with a proven track record of delivering results to a high standard within tight deadlines;
• Proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office;
• Fluent in spoken and written English;
• Willingness to work additional hours as necessary, especially during Fifth Committee peak periods in March, May and December, and working flexibly across the team to provide wider cover for other colleagues where necessary.