Team Leader – Specialist Financial Crimes Investigations and Adjudications

Instructions to Applicants: Click on the “Apply now” button. Input your information in the appropriate Sections: personal information, language proficiency, education, resume and motivation. Upon completion of the first page, please hit “submit application” tab at the end of the page. Please ensure that CV or P11 and the Cover letter are combined in one file.

Personal CV or P11, indicating all past positions held and their main underlying functions, their durations (month/year), the qualifications, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate, and at least three (3) the most recent professional references of previous supervisors. References may also include peers.

A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page) indicating why the candidate considers him-/herself to be suitable for the position.

Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns or other materials.

Travel:

1. UNDP will cover the cost of travel of the individual to the duty station, as well as their return to their home upon completion of their services. Travel costs are covered only in the event that the function will be undertaken physically in the duty station and excludes working from home arrangements.
2. Include any official travel expected to be associated with performing the functions
3. The consultancy will be home based. During the consultancy should the Specialist is deemed necessary to Baghdad / Iraq for 5-10 days, UNDP will cover their travel and logistical expenses in Baghdad/ Iraq.

Office/Unit/Project Description

The UNDP Iraq Country Office, with generous funding from INL, is implementing the project ‘Strengthening Justice Sector Capacities to Uphold the Rule of Law in Iraq’. The focus of the project is twofold: (1) to strengthen capacities of the judges to conduct and lead complex organized and financial crime investigations, including on money laundering, corruption and illicit financing, and (2) to improve policies and procedures for the investigation and prosecution of complex organized and financial crime cases.

Organized crime, including money laundering and illicit financing, are prevalent criminal activities in Iraq which led to a prevalent atmosphere of corruption and impunity, and constitute a major impediment to Iraq’s economic recovery, stability, and development. Improving related policies and procedures and capacities of judges to investigate such major crimes to hold perpetrators accountable constitutes a crucial part for being able to restore effective institutions in Iraq. As such skilled and knowledgeable play a crucial role in investigating financial crimes, and likewise be familiar with and have trust in the capacity of the police and specialized financial crime investigators who assist them in their investigations. In order to achieve and sustain skilled personnel in this specialized area of work, it is also critical to ensure that necessary policies and procedures are also in place.

During the period of December 2020 until March 2021, UNDP  conducted a scoping assessment to:

• Help set the baseline for the project to measure/ appraise it outcomes.
• Allow UNDP to use the assessment to develop a much-needed policy document identifying the policies and procedures that require improvement for the investigation of complex organized and financial crime cases. It will be used for advocacy with the senior officials of the Higher Judicial Council (HJC) and other key interlocutors in the justice sector.
• Identify and sequence of proposed training activities, level of trainings and topical priorities for the training modules / curriculum.

Informed by the assessment findings and recommendations therein, the next phase of this important engagement is to conduct specialized workshops/ seminars to approximately 100 investigating judges to further strengthen their capacities in investigating and prosecuting complex organized and financial crime cases. The training workshops shall also include selected participants from investigating agencies such as the police, the Commission of Integrity (CoI), the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Office of the Central Bank (AML-CFT Office) and the Federal Board of Supreme Audit (FBoSA). The training curriculum shall be developed on the basis of the key findings and recommendations from the scoping assessment report. In parrel, it will also involve the development of a Handbook for investigating judges and investigators on the conduct of complex and financial crime investigations by convening high-level workshops with judges and investigators and drafting step by step guidelines.

UNDP, therefore, has identified the requirement to hire a Team Leader – Financial Crimes Investigations and Adjudications and to manage and lead a team of qualified individual Specialists ( Financial Crimes Investigations and Financial Crimes Adjudications) under the overall guidance and oversight of the UNDP SSR/RoL senior technical expert on Criminal Justice in the implementation of the above training activities and handbook production in close collaboration with the project’s key implementing partner, the Supreme Judicial Council, and further supported by investigating law enforcement agencies. Due to the unique characteristics of this assignment, it is vital that the consultant must have in-depth knowledge of/ and or previous experience in investigations of complex organized and financial crimes in Iraq or similar context.

Institutional Arrangement

Under the supervision of the Security Sector Reform/Rule of Law Programme Manager, the Specialist is expected to achieve the aforementioned deliverables .

Scope of Work

The Team Leader/ Specialist  will be required to engage closely with the UNDP Criminal Justice Specialist and rest  of the UNDP SSR/RoL team. The assignment will be conducted under the auspices  of  UNDP’s  ‘Support  to  Security and Justice Sector Governance’ programme of  work.

The Team Leader/ Specialist is expected to deliver the following under the overall advice and guidance of the UNDP Criminal Justice Specialist :

• Lead and manage the overall design, preparation, and finalization of the development of a training curriculum on financial and complex crimes investigations to develop judges’ capacities in leading the investigations into complex financial crimes.

• Task manage and supervise the work of the Financial Crimes Investigations Specialists and Financial Crimes Adjudications Specialist in the overall design, preparation and finalization of the aforementioned training curriculum.

• Lead and mange the overall delivery of the 10 training workshops on financial and complex crime investigations including acting as the technical lead on financial and complex crimes prosecutions and adjudication procedures. (Each training workshop shall include approximately 10 investigating judges, and 10 investigators from the Commission of Integrity, police, other law enforcement agencies and supporting institutions and shall cover 04 (four) working days)

• Task manage and supervise the work of the Financial Crimes Investigations Specialists and Financial Crimes Adjudications Specialist in the delivery of the afore mentioned 10 training workshops.

• Lead and manage the process of drafting a Handbook on the conduct of complex financial crime investigations for investigating judges including co-chairing with UNDP a series of drafting sessions with the supreme Judicial Council as well as task managing and supervising the financial crimes investigation specialist.
• Co- lead with the Financial Investigations Specialist in the development of policy advocacy material / policy briefing on the topic of financial and complex crime investigations based on feedback and outcomes from the afore mentioned training workshops.
• Assist UNDP in national and international partner coordination on advocacy on financial and complex crime investigations.

• Act as the lead focal point from the Specialists team for all communications and discussions with UNDP on activity planning and delivery.

• Manage and Assign any other tasks deem necessary to the Specialists on Financial Crimes Investigations and Financial Crimes Adjudications on Iraq.

• Any other task as advised by the Team Leader and UNDP Criminal Justice Specialist and SSR/RoL Programme Manager.

UN CORE VALUES AND COMPETENCIES

Professionalism: Shows pride in work and 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 the audience; Demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.

Client Orientation: Considers all those to whom services are provided to be “clients ” and seeks to see things from clients’ point of view; Establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect; Identifies clients’ needs and matches them to appropriate solutions; Monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients’ environment to keep informed and anticipate problems; Keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects; Meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client.