Associate Forensic Officer (Ukraine)

The Associate Forensic Officer supports the delivery of forensic objectives in the Ukraine situation by assisting in planning, implementation, and monitoring of forensic activities. The role involves coordination with national authorities, capacity building, technical support, and contributing to forensic research and analysis to support international criminal investigations.

Responsibilities

• Assist the planning, implementation and monitoring of forensic activities in Ukraine.
• Support the evaluation and monitoring of forensic missions, including after action reviews for continuous improvement.
• Provide guidance to the Forensic Coordinator (Ukraine) and Head of the Forensic Science Section on national government structures and forensic practices, including medico-legal death investigations, gender-based crime investigations, and forensic science practices.
• Provide guidance to the Forensic Coordinator (Ukraine) to ensure alignment of relevant forensic activities with Ukrainian law in support of complementarity initiatives.
• Perform general administrative duties to support the development and review of project proposals, ensuring technical feasibility and alignment with organizational priorities relating to the Forensic Science Section activities in Ukraine.
• Assist in the monitoring of technical quality and accuracy of project deliverables and outputs to ensure activities are implemented according to technical standards and timelines.
• Participate in field visits and provide on-site support including language support.
• Organize local training, workshops, seminars, and other capacity-building and knowledge sharing activities for partners, and national stakeholders.
• Support in the development of multi-language guidelines, manuals, and training materials.
• Contribute to the maintenance and dissemination of best practices and lessons learned to enhance forensic technical capacity and capability.
• Monitor project progress against technical indicators and targets, identifying technical challenges and opportunities.
• Support the preparation of technical reports, briefs, and presentations on project status and achievements for internal and external audiences.
• Liaise with national authorities, NGOs, and other national stakeholders to establish and maintain technical coordination and collaboration among partners to enhance implementation of forensic activities.
• Participate in the representation of the OTP at technical meetings, workshops, and other events, as required, including the provision of language assistance and support for OTP staff.
• Organise working groups, roundtables, and meetings with national counterparts, to strengthen cooperation and to advance the implement of OTP forensic activities efficiently and effectively at all levels, while ensuring proper record keeping of all such events.
• Analyse relevant multi-lingual OTP data and assets relevant to the conduct of forensic assessments.
• Contribute to forensic research and analyses to inform project planning and decision-making in line with investigative lines of inquiry set by the Unified Team.
• Stay updated on OTP technical developments and international best practices in the use of forensic evidence in the conduct of international criminal investigations.
• Perform any other duties as requested by the Forensic Coordinator (Ukraine) or Head of the Forensic Science Section.

Requirements

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree) or equivalent in forensic science, criminalistics, international criminal law, international relations or a related field is required. A first level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• A minimum of two years professional experience in a governmental or inter-governmental agency, scientific police institute, ad hoc international tribunal, international fact-finding commissions, international organization or NGO at the national level is required.
• Experience working in a conflict or post-conflict setting is required.
• Experience in working in multidisciplinary teams is required.
• Experience in the use of standard office digital productivity and collaboration tools and the ability to leverage technology to enhance productivity and efficiency is required.
• Experience working with multiple stakeholders, such as national policy makers and/or NGOs in an area of forensic science, criminal investigations, international criminal law or related field is desirable.
• Experience in managing or supporting projects and/or programmes is desirable.
• Experience in research & analysis and problem-solving is desirable.
• Experience working under ISO accredited or an equivalent quality management system is desirable.
• Excellent ability to organize complex and voluminous sets of records and facts as well as the ability to execute various forensic related tasks is desirable.
• Excellent ability to communicate effectively with police, forensic, academic, legal or other relevant networks is desirable.
• Ability to work under stressful conditions and in volatile environments is desirable.
• Ability to work in a non-discriminatory manner, with respect for diversity is essential.
• Professional and personal integrity is essential.
• Proficiency in either of the working languages of the Court, English or French, is essential. Working knowledge of the other is desirable.
• Proficiency in Ukrainian is required.
• Working knowledge of Russian is required.
• Knowledge of another official language of the Court (Arabic, Chinese and Spanish) would be considered an asset.

Skills

• Forensic Science
• Criminalistics
• International Criminal Law
• Conflict Zone Experience
• Multidisciplinary Team Collaboration
• Productivity Tools
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Project Support
• Research and Analysis
• ISO Quality Management
• Forensic Records Management
• Forensic Task Execution
• Communication with Legal Networks
• Stress Management
• Diversity and Inclusion
• Ukrainian Language
• Russian Language
• English Language
• French Language

Languages

English, French, Ukrainian, Russian