### Victoria House - 37-63 Southampton Row - London WC1B 4DA - United Kingdom t: +44 (0)[REDACTED PHONE] e: [REDACTED EMAIL] www.ospar.org Vacancy Announcement and Job Description for the post of Deputy Secretary, Biodiversity 1. Applications are invited from suitably qualified candidates for the post of Deputy Secretary in the Secretariat of the OSPAR Commission. 2. Under the Commission’s Staff Rules, the appointment will be for an initial period of three years (subject to an initial period of probation). After a review at the end of that period, a second three‐ year contract may then be offered. There is a maximum period of service of six years, except in special circumstances. 3. The successful candidate will be asked to take up his /her post sometime from beginning of August 2017. The post is based in the Secretariat offices in central London. 4. The post is open to nationals of the Contracting Parties to the OSPAR Convention, that is, nationals from the following countries: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom and nationals of any other State which is a Member State of the European Union. The OSPAR Commission 5. The OSPAR Commission is an international intergovernmental organisation established to protect the marine environment in the North‐East Atlantic Ocean. It consists of representatives of the Contracting Parties: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the European Union. The Commission is administered by a Secretariat based in London, which also supports a sister organisation, the Bonn Agreement. 6. The Secretariat consists of an Executive Secretary, four Deputy Secretaries and six administrative assistants. The working languages are English and French. 7. The responsibilities of the Secretariat are to help the Commission develop and implement its policies and regulation. This includes the preparation of, and assistance at, the meetings of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies, the preparation of reports and documents for these meetings, general secretariat duties connected with the smooth running of the Commission’s activities and relations with the public, the media and inter‐governmental and non‐governmental organisations. OSPAR Commission for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North‐East Atlantic Commission OSPAR pour la Protection du Milieu Marin de l’Atlantique du Nord‐Est 1 of 3 8. Further information about the OSPAR Commission can be obtained from the Commission’s website at www.ospar.org. Description of the post and requirements 9. Deputy Secretaries are expected to make themselves familiar with the full range of the Commission’s activities and to work to ensure integration between the different themes of work. 10. The work involves advising the relevant committees and working groups of the Commission, ensuring the preparation of the documents necessary for their meetings (including drawing up technical reports, supervising the compilation of statistical reports for publication and editing draft background documents on specific problems), writing the summary records of those meetings and ensuring appropriate follow‐up to the conclusions of the meetings. The person appointed to this particular role is responsible for the many strands of work that are under OSPAR’s Biodiversity Strategy and the current Deputy Secretary has also been leading on OSPAR’s Data and Information Management Strategy. 11. The person to be appointed will have attained a general educational standard equivalent to a good university degree, preferably in environmental management, natural or environmental sciences and will normally have had at least five years' work experience in environmental policy development and implementation. 12. The principal abilities required include:  a good working knowledge of environmental policy and its regulatory basis, with particular reference to the marine environment;  an understanding of the marine environment from an ecosystem perspective;  knowledge of practical, legal and institutional aspects of intergovernmental organisations;  the ability to address the application of environmental knowledge and information for the purposes of OSPAR’s objectives and on‐going work;  representational skills to present material to the Commission and its subsidiary bodies and to represent the views and policies of the Commission in other forums;  sound organisational and administrative skills (including IT skills, among which should be familiarity with word‐processing, spread‐sheets and data management)  experience that would help to further develop the Data and Information strategy within OSPAR would be an advantage. 13. It is expected that the person appointed will ideally have particular experience or knowledge of marine environmental monitoring and assessment and/or implementation of policies relating to marine biodiversity and ecosystems. Knowledge of relevant International or European marine regulation and policy making is also relevant. 14. The bulk of the Secretariat's work is conducted in English, but documents, reports and publications are also produced in French and some of the correspondence is written in French. A thorough knowledge of English is therefore essential, as is the ability to draft quickly, accurately and concisely in English. Given equal professional qualifications, preference will be given to candidates who also have a good knowledge of French. 15. Deputy Secretaries are required to travel frequently within Europe and to accept irregular working hours. Terms of Service and Remuneration 16. The terms and conditions of service will be those set out in the Commission’s Staff regulations (Agreement 2000‐14). Remuneration will be in accordance with Grade A3 of the scales of remuneration of the Coordinated Organisations for staff serving in the United Kingdom. Further details on the salary and on allowances which may be payable are contained in the “Remuneration” document. Procedure 17. Further details of this post and the way in which applications should be made is included in the “Application Instructions” document. 18. The closing date for applications is 30 September 2016 and applications should be sent for the attention of the Executive Secretary to [REDACTED EMAIL]. The Secretariat will acknowledge receipt of your application by email. If you do not receive an acknowledgement within a few days, please contact the Secretariat to check that your application has been received. Please include the following in the subject line of your email: “Application Deputy Secretary 2017”. 19. The indicative timetable for this appointment procedure is as follows: Step Date Applications to be sent to the Executive Secretary 30 September 2016 at the latest Shortlisting of candidates 14 October 2016 Interview with short‐listed candidates resulting in 27 October 2016 recommendations for appointment Approval procedure finalised 10 November 2016 Successful applicants to take up appointment from Beginning of August 2017 Please note that the above timings are indicative only. OSPAR Deputy Secretary Post vacant from: August 2017 Closing date for applications: 30 September 2016 Location: Central London The OSPAR Commission is seeking a university graduate with a minimum of five years’ professional experience in environmental policy development and implementation. Experience in dealing with the implementation of international conventions is desired. Experience in working with data and information in policy making would also be considered an advantage. Applicants must be nationals of one of the 15 OSPAR Contracting Parties or of any other State which is a Member State of the European Union. Main duties and responsibilities 1. Assist the OSPAR Executive Secretary on policy issues regarding the implementation of the OSPAR Convention and OSPAR Strategy, in particular, related to the implementation of the Biodiversity Strategy and the Data and Information Management Strategy; 2. Prepare OSPAR meetings, including drafting agendas, meeting and working documents and identify follow‐up actions, including liaison with OSPAR Contracting Parties for the implementation of OSPAR working programmes; 3. Support other work areas and contribute to the development and implementation of other strategic and cross‐cutting issues as required, including in relation to delivery of periodic status reports; 4. Liaise with other regional environmental conventions and organisations in taking forward work under OSPAR Committees, as appropriate, and represent the OSPAR Commission in meetings, workshops and seminars organized by external organisations. ### Education University degree in environmental management, natural or environmental sciences or related fields. Languages English and French are the working languages of the OSPAR Secretariat. For this post, fluency in written and spoken English is required. Working knowledge of French would be an asset. Required competencies 1. Strong organisational skills in coordinating and prioritising activities and administrative skills (including IT competences in a suite of office applications – word‐processing, spread‐sheets and data management); 2. Ability to work independently under general guidance, and to exercise initiative and judgement; 3. Excellent written and spoken English and document drafting, presentation and communication skills; 4. Ability to work under pressure to tight deadlines; 5. Ability to work as part of a team in an international cross‐cultural context. Applicants should demonstrate knowledge, experience and understanding of:  environmental policy and its regulatory basis, with particular reference to the marine environment;  the marine environment from an ecosystem perspective;  practical, legal and institutional aspects of intergovernmental organisations; and should have:  the ability to address the application of environmental knowledge and information for the purposes of OSPAR’s objectives and ongoing work;  representational skills to present material to the Commission and its subsidiary bodies and to represent the views and policies of the Commission in other forums;  experience that would help to further develop the Data and Information Strategy within OSPAR would be an advantage;  ideally – particular experience or knowledge of global marine environmental regulation/ European Union’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive or equivalent EU regulation and processes. For further details please see the “job description” and the “application instructions” documents. For further information about OSPAR, please consult the website: www.ospar.org or telephone the Secretariat: [REDACTED PHONE]. 2 Victoria House 37-63 Southampton Row London WC1B 4DA t: +44 (0)[REDACTED PHONE] e: [REDACTED EMAIL] www.ospar.org Instructions for applications for the post of Deputy Secretary Instructions aux candidats pour le poste de secrétaire adjoint PROCEDURE MODALITES 1. Applicants should submit an application in the 1. Les candidatures doivent être déposées, sous la form described below on or before 30 September forme indiquée ci‐après, au plus tard le 30 septembre 2016 2016. 2. On the basis of these applications, a selection 2. Sur la base de ces candidatures, un panel de panel drawn from the OSPAR Committee of sélection composé de membres du Comité des Chairmen and Vice‐Chairmen and from the Heads Présidents et des Vice‐Présidents d’OSPAR ainsi que of Delegation will select a short list for interview. de Chefs de délégation procédera à une première This selection will be made by 14 October 2016, sélection des candidats, laquelle aura lieu au plus tard and all candidates will be notified as soon as le 14 octobre 2016. Tous les candidats seront avisés le possible thereafter. plus rapidement possible après cette date. 3. Interviews will be held in London on 3. Les entrevues auront lieu à Londres le 27 octobre 27 October 2016. The interview panel will again be 2016. Là encore, le panel de sélection sera composé drawn from the OSPAR Committee of Chairmen de membres du Comité des Présidents et des Vice‐ and Vice‐Chairmen and from the Heads of Présidents d’OSPAR et de Chefs de délégation. Delegation. 4. Candidates selected for interview will be 4. Les candidats sélectionnés pour une entrevue asked to submit a short (2‐page) note on steps to seront priés de remettre un bref exposé (de 2 pages) progress the application of the ecosystem portant sur la manière de faire avancer la mise en approach to inform policy development within œuvre de l’approche écosystémique afin de soutenir OSPAR le développement des politiques au sein d’OSPAR. They should expect to be asked questions on this Pendant l’entrevue, il est probable que des questions note at the interview, as well as about other leur seront posées sur leur exposé, ainsi que sur relevant topics. d’autres sujets pertinents. OSPAR Commission for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic Commission OSPAR pour la Protection du Milieu Marin de l’Atlantique du Nord-Est 1 of 5 5. Candidates selected for interview will be 5. Les candidats sélectionnés pour l’entrevue welcome to discuss the post and what it requires pourront poser des questions sur le poste à pourvoir with the staff of the Secretariat, either by aux membres du personnel du Secrétariat, que ce soit telephone or when they come to London for the par téléphone ou lors de leur passage à Londres pour interview. l’entrevue. 6. The interview panel will make a 6. Le panel de sélection fera une recommandation recommendation to the Heads of Delegation. aux Chefs de délégation qui donneront leur agrément Approval will be given by a written procedure par correspondance avant le 10 novembre 2016. Les before 10 November 2016, and those interviewed candidats ayant été convoqués seront avisés will be notified immediately. immédiatement du résultat. APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS IMPERATIFS APPLICABLES AUX DEMANDES DE CANDIDATURE Applications should be sent by email for the attention of the Executive Secretariat to the La demande de candidature doit être renvoyée à following address: [REDACTED EMAIL]. l’attention du Secrétaire exécutif par courrier électronique à l’adresse suivante : Applications can be submitted in English or [REDACTED EMAIL]. French and should contain the information requested under the following headings, in the La demande de candidature peut être soumise en order in which they are given. The full details anglais ou en français. Elle doit donner les requested should be given. renseignements demandés sous les titres suivants, dans l’ordre dans lequel ils sont demandés. Tous les Please include the following in the subject line of renseignements demandés doivent être donnés. your email: “Application Deputy Secretary 2017”. La ligne « Objet » de votre courriel doit inclure le texte suivant : « Application Deputy Secretary 2017 » The deadline for receipt of applications is: 30 La date limite pour l’envoi des candidatures est le 30 September 2016 septembre 2016 A. General A. Généralités Please indicate briefly (on not more than two sides Indiquez brièvement (au maximum une page A4 of A4 paper) why you consider that you would be recto‐verso) pour quelle raison vous seriez en mesure successful as Deputy Secretary of the OSPAR de remplir les fonctions de Secrétaire adjoint de la Commission. Commission OSPAR dans des conditions satisfaisantes. B. Personal details B. Coordonnées 1. Family name 1. Nom de famille 2. Personal names 2. Prénoms 3. Mailing address 3. Adresse postale 4. Telephone number and email address for 4. Numéro de téléphone et adresse email (pour any questions about the application toute question concernant votre demande de candidature) 5. Permanent address (if different from the 5. Domicile permanent (si autre que l’adresse mailing address) postale) 6. Place and country of birth 6. Lieu et pays de naissance 7. Sex 7. Sexe 8. Current citizenship(s) (if this is not the same 8. Nationalité(s) actuelle(s) (si autre que votre as citizenship at birth, or if some different nationalité à la naissance, ou, si vous avez citizenship has been held in an intervening possédé une autre nationalité dans l’intérim, period, an explanation of the changes should précisez les raisons des changements) be given) 9. Indication of the date on which the post 9. Indication de la date à laquelle vous pourriez could be taken up. prendre le poste. C. Education C. Etudes 1. School(s) attended and the periods of 1. Etablissement(s) fréquenté(s) et périodes de attendance. scolarisation. 2. University or other higher education 2. Université ou autres études supérieures, en undertaken, including: précisant : a. the main subjects studied; a. les principales matières étudiées ; b. the qualification(s) (degree(s)) b. la ou les qualifications acquises et les achieved; diplômes obtenus. c. the class(es) of qualification(s) c. la ou les catégories de qualifications achieved. obtenues. 3. Post‐qualification studies undertaken, 3. Etudes effectuées postérieurement à la including any further qualifications qualification, dont toutes les nouvelles achieved. qualifications acquises. D. Language skills D. Langues Please state mother tongue(s) and the level of Indiquez la ou les langue(s) maternelle(s) et votre speaking, understanding, reading and writing niveau de connaissance parlée, de compréhension, de English, French and any other languages. Please lecture et d’écriture de l’anglais, du français ainsi que use the levels “fluent” – “good” – “fair” – “poor” – de toutes autres langues éventuelles. Employez les “none”. qualificatifs : « couramment » ‐ « bien » ‐ « assez bien » ‐ « médiocrement » ‐ « aucune ». E. Computer skills E. Compétences en informatique Please indicate your level of computer skills, Indiquez votre niveau de compétence en separately for word‐processing and data handling. informatique, en distinguant le traitement de texte du traitement des données. F. Employment record F. Antécédents professionnels Please give details of your employment over the Indiquez les emplois précédents sur les dix dernières past ten years (at least 5 years’ work experience is années (au moins 5 années d’expérience required). Please begin with your present professionnelle sont requises). Commencez par employment and give the more recent l’emploi actuellement occupé, en remontant dans le employment before the less recent. Please temps dans l’ordre chronologique. Précisez les account for any periods in the last five years when périodes pendant lesquelles, au cours des cinq you were not in employment. Please also give dernières années, vous n’avez occupé aucun emploi. details of any significant earlier employment. Donnez des renseignements précis sur tout emploi important occupé par le passé. For your present employment, please give the En ce qui concerne l’emploi occupé à l’heure actuelle, date when you started, the name of the employer, indiquez la date d’embauche, le nom de l’employeur, the type of business, the title or grade of the post, le type d’entreprise ou d’administration, le titre ou le the salary you receive and a brief description of grade du poste occupé, le salaire ou le traitement what the work involves. perçu, en ajoutant une brève description des fonctions remplies. For previous employments, please give the dates, En ce qui concerne les emplois antérieurs, indiquez the name of the employer and the type of les dates, le nom de l’employeur et la catégorie business, the title or grade of the post and a brief d’entreprise ou d’administration, le titre du poste, en description of what the work involved. ajoutant une brève description des fonctions remplies. G. References G. Références Please indicate whether we may seek a reference Indiquez si nous pouvons demander une référence à from your present employer. votre employeur actuel. Please give the names and contact details of three Donnez les noms et les coordonnées de trois autres other referees from whom we may seek références à qui nous pourrions nous adresser. references References will be sought for all candidates Des références seront demandées pour tous les selected for interview. candidats sélectionnés pour une entrevue. H. Declaration H. Déclaration Please include at the end of the application a Faites figurer à la fin de votre demande de signed statement that “I confirm that the candidature une déclaration signée ainsi libellée : « Je information in this application is a true and confirme que les renseignements donnés dans la complete response to the requests for information présente demande de candidature constituent une in the instructions for applicants for the post of réponse exacte et complète aux questions posées Deputy Secretary of the OSPAR Commission. I dans les instructions aux candidats au poste de understand that any wilful misstatement in this Secrétaire adjoint de la Commission OSPAR. Je suis information will render me liable to dismissal, if I conscient/e du fait que toute fausse déclaration am employed by the OSPAR Commission.” volontaire est susceptible d’être sanctionnée par mon licenciement si je suis employé/e par la Commission OSPAR. »