Senior Human Rights Officer

The Senior Human Rights Officer serves as Deputy Head of Mission for the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) based in Kyiv. The role involves strategic, substantive and managerial leadership, oversight of monitoring, verification, analysis, reporting and advocacy on human rights issues, and representing OHCHR at senior levels with various stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic oversight for the monitoring of the implementation of human rights and international humanitarian law and ensure follow-up on recommendations from human rights mechanisms, including treaty bodies, the Universal Periodic Review and special procedures, as well as investigative findings, to ensure compliance with human rights and advance accountability.
• Provide strategic direction and exercise institutional accountability for the collection, documentation and management of evidence-based information on civil, cultural, economic, social and/or political rights, including the right to development, enabling thorough analysis, early warning and response, and informed decision-making, ensuring data is discoverable, interoperable and shared appropriately from gender and leave-no-one-behind perspectives.
• Set the strategic framework for and provide senior-level oversight of human rights monitoring and field verification missions, including assessments and early warning exercises, ensuring adherence to UN methodology, gender indicators and victim/witness protection standards, and the quality of comprehensive reports on findings and recommendations.
• Provide strategic direction and oversight for the coordination and conduct of fact-finding or investigative missions to document violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, ensuring adherence to victim and witness protection standards and effective cross-component collaboration.
• Provide strategic oversight and final clearance for the drafting and dissemination of human rights reports, briefings and other communications, with legal analysis as appropriate, and ensure the preparation of analytical papers to inform strategies, policies, programmes, crisis management, guidance and strategic decision-making processes, with attention to gender integration and leave-no-one-behind perspectives.
• Provide strategic direction and exercise senior-level oversight of the collection, verification and analysis of multi-source information relevant to the human rights thematic and/or country-specific situation, ensuring data quality and methodological compliance, while integrating gender perspectives and leaving no one behind principles into all technical outputs.
• Provide authoritative senior-level guidance to UN leadership and UN partners on the integration of human rights into protection, rule of law, human rights economy, transitional justice and accountability.
• Represent the human rights function at the highest levels in senior-management and other UN coordination fora, integrated analysis and planning processes and/or joint funding opportunities, ensuring coherent information flow and timely integration of human rights analysis into UN decision-making and programmatic responses.
• Provide strategic guidance to authorities, Humanitarian Country Teams and other humanitarian actors—including through inter-agency humanitarian fora, in particular the Inter-Agency Standing Committee and the Protection Cluster—to embed human rights norms and standards in emergency preparedness and response, with attention to gender integration and leave-no-one-behind perspectives.
• Provide strategic direction and exercise institutional accountability for the development of strategies on protection of civilians, conflict-related sexual violence and child protection, ensuring early warning is translated into coordinated responses.
• Oversee and steer the resource mobilization strategy and its implementation to advance the Office's goals, providing senior-level guidance, ensuring alignment with strategic priorities and exercising accountability for performance and outcomes.
• Set the strategic direction and provide senior-level oversight for advocacy and impactful outreach activities for the promotion of Human Rights, ensuring institutional coherence.
• Manage and coordinate the activities of the team, including hiring, training, assigning tasks and responsibilities, and ensuring that deadlines are met.
• Plan and manage required resources to implement the responsibilities, projects, and activities.
• Provide guidance to team members to promote professional development and a positive team culture.

Requirements

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in human rights, law, political science, international relations, social sciences, economics, public policy, sustainable development, humanitarian affairs or related field.
• 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 ten (10) years of experience in human rights or related areas is required.
• Relevant experience may include, but is not limited to political affairs, public affairs, international relations, law, social sciences, economics, development, humanitarian affairs, or other related areas.
• Strategic thinking skills are required.
• Ability to build and maintain partnerships is required.
• Planning, organising, and coordination skills in a large multi-stakeholder environment are required.
• Knowledge of human rights monitoring, documentation, analysis, research and reporting methodologies, including planning, coordinating and conducting field missions is required.
• Knowledge of international human rights law, norms, and standards is desirable.
• Knowledge of international humanitarian law and its application is desirable.
• Knowledge of the application of human rights in humanitarian contexts is desirable.
• Programme management skills are desirable.

Skills

• Human Rights Monitoring
• Human Rights Documentation
• Human Rights Analysis
• Human Rights Reporting
• Field Mission Coordination
• International Human Rights Law
• Strategic Thinking
• Partnership Building
• Planning and Organization
• Stakeholder Coordination
• Political Affairs
• International Relations
• Law
• Social Sciences
• Economics
• Public Policy
• Sustainable Development
• Humanitarian Affairs
• Programme Management

Languages

English, Russian, Ukrainian