Government Relations Officer, Iraq Program, L6

Organization profile

Every year, millions of people around the world go missing as a result of conflict, human rights abuses, disasters, organized crime, irregular migration, and other causes. This is a complex global challenge that can be tackled effectively through cross-cutting programs that address a variety of difficult, interconnected issues.

The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) is the only international organization tasked exclusively to work on the issue of missing persons. It works with governments and other stakeholders, including families of the missing, to help them develop and maintain successful missing persons processes. To learn more about ICMP click here.

ICMP is implementing a multi-year project in Iraq to support authorities in their efforts to account for persons missing as a result of armed conflict and violations of human rights.

Position Background

• Serves as liaison officer between ICMP and partnering governmental and international institutions (MoH, MoJ, MoFA, MF, MLD, MoMAA, MoI, UNITAD, ICRC, UN relevant institutions, IDP camps, Iraqi Provincial councils and governor’s offices);
• Assists in the planning and organization of formal meetings and field missions with national team and other stakeholders;
• Deploys to the field and/or mortuaries with relevant country team members to provide translation and administrative support, if needed;
• Contributes to the monitoring of and reporting on field activities (excavations and blood collection campaigns) of ICMP’s national team;
• Assists in data collection campaigns and any data collection requirements, including assistance to the MEAL Officer to support the collection of evaluation and learning data;
• Provides support to national team in proper use of iDMS field application and site locator;
• Serves as a public affairs specialist, and represents ICMP along with HoP and DHoP on official meetings and communicates and advocates ICMP priorities to local/regional/state and national officials and staff;
• Supports the delivery of training initiatives;
• Provides oral and written translation between the languages to/from English from/to Arabic for program staff as needed;
• Provides general internal administrative and coordination assistance to the country program; and
• Other related duties as assigned.

Requirements

• 5-10 years’ experience in forensic investigations (Police, Military, Judiciary, etc.);
• BA/BS in Political Science, Communications, Public Relations, Journalism or related field or equivalent experience;
• Excellent planning and prioritization skills;
• Excellent conceptual, analytical, documentation and presentation skills, including report writing;
• Experience translating into/from English/Arabic and Arabic/English;
• Knowledge of Law of Iraq relevant to the state’s obligation vis-à-vis missing persons (for both Federal Iraq and Kurdistan region);
• Willingness to live and operate in entire Iraq (Baghdad and Erbil), with regular travels into disputed areas, IDP camps.

Mandatory Requirements

• Professional fluency in written and spoken English, Arabic and Kurdish (Sorani);
• Proficiency in Microsoft applications, including Word, Excel and Power Point;
• Proven ability to interact positively with colleagues regardless of culture, nationality or gender;
• Ability to travel at short notice and to work flexible hours including weekends and evenings;
• Commitment to the underlying objective of helping the authorities and families of the missing to account for missing persons in an impartial and transparent manner;
• Physical and mental resilience, with the ability to operate effectively in hostile environments.

Benefits

This is a full-time position with a competitive base salary at the LES 6 level on the ICMP Iraq salary scale, generous paid leave and extensive health insurance benefits for the incumbent and any eligible dependent.

This position is not eligible for expatriate allowances.

Review of applications will begin on 29 October 2020; however, the position will remain open until filled.

ICMP is committed to maintaining an environment of mutual respect, where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants. ICMP believes that diversity and inclusion among our staff are critical to our success as a global organization, and we seek to recruit, develop and retain the most talented individuals from a thoroughly diverse range of candidates. ICMP is proud to be part of the International Gender Champions network.