Chief, Law and Justice Section (S3)

General Minimum Requirements

The general minimum requirements for working with the OSCE are:

• Excellent physical condition
• Possession of a valid automobile driving license and ability to drive using manual transmission
• Ability to cope with physical hardship and willingness to work extra hours and in an environment with limited infrastructure

Field of Expertise Requirements

The general minimum requirements for working in this field of expertise are:

• Experience in the practice of law, e.g. judges, prosecutors, lawyers, etc.
• Knowledge of courtroom proceedings and criminal law and procedure
• Knowledge of international legal procedure standards and instruments
• Demonstrable organizational, analytical, communication and interpersonal skills

Level of Professional Competence Requirements

Furthermore, this level of responsibility requires the following:

Education:

Second-level university degree/certified training course in law or significant work experience in criminal justice and/or law enforcement. A first-level university degree in combination with two years of additional qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the second-level university degree

Experience:

Minimum 6 years of relevant, diversified and progressively responsible professional experience including at least 3 years at the management level relevant to the actual position

Mission Specific Requirements

Additionally, this particular post has specific requirements:

Mandatory:

• International mission members in the OSCE are internationally recruited. For the purposes of OSCE Missions (Field Operations) this means that they are hired to work in a duty station outside of their home country or country of permanent residence. As a result, nationals and permanent residents of the duty station are not eligible for international mission member positions. In the case of individuals with multiple nationalities, candidates are still ineligible for consideration even if using another citizenship for application while simultaneously maintaining the citizenship or permanent residence status of the country where the duty station is located;
• Second-level university degree in law;
• At least 10 years of courtroom experience (as a prosecutor, judge, advocate/lawyer, judicial clerk, or trial monitor) or in judicial reform, capacity building, or advocacy with human rights institutions (such as an Ombudsperson institution or National Human Rights Institution (NHRI)), dealing with human rights;
• Knowledge of International Law or European Law and international and regional human rights treaties, conventions, and standards;
• Experience in drafting, editing, and commenting on legal documents;
• Demonstrated experience in planning, managing, and overseeing complex multi-stakeholder projects, including budget formulation, monitoring, and reporting, in a human rights or rule of law context; at least 5 years required;
• At least 5 years of experience managing and supervising multi-disciplinary teams, including in geographically dispersed or field-based environments; demonstrated ability to motivate staff, manage performance, and foster a collaborative and accountable team culture;
• Demonstrated capacity for tact, discretion, and constructive stakeholder engagement, including the ability to build consensus, negotiate diplomatically, and maintain productive working relationships with senior government officials, international partners, and civil society counterparts;
• Ability to operate Windows applications, including word processing and e-mail;
• Professional fluency in the English language;
• Demonstrated ability and willingness to work as a member of a team with people of different cultural and religious backgrounds, different gender, and diverse political views, while maintaining impartiality and objectivity;
• Demonstrated cultural sensitivity and sound judgement with respect to local conditions and communities;
• Flexibility and ability to work under pressure and within limited time frames.

Desirable:

• Previous work experience with international organizations, including the UN, the OSCE, or government agencies and development partners focused on human rights and rule of law;
• Previous work experience in Kosovo or the Western Balkans, or knowledge of the regional political context and applicable legal framework;
• Experience with monitoring, reporting, and advocacy methodologies in an international human rights or rule of law context;
• Previous field work experience.

Tasks and Responsibilities

The Chief of the Law and Justice Section (LJS) oversees the Section's core functions, including monitoring, legal and policy engagement, institutional engagement, reporting, advocacy and programmatic delivery, co-ordinating and directing the work of the respective teams, and is responsible for all budgetary and non-budgetary activities of LJS. Working under the direct supervision of the Director of the Human Rights and Communities Department, the successful candidate will be tasked with the following duties:

1. Co-ordinating and directing LJS short- and mid-term strategy across the Section's core functions, ensuring the integration of communities, gender, youth, and human rights considerations, in line with the strategic priorities of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo and the Human Rights and Communities Department;
2. Liaising with other programmatic sections of the Department, Regional Centres and LJS field staff, as well as other departments and offices of the Mission, to ensure a coherent approach to LJS activities;
3. Designing and implementing relevant LJS advocacy and projects, ensuring coherence and effectiveness, and overseeing monitoring and internal evaluation;
4. Providing substantive legal and policy oversight on issues falling within the LJS mandate, including advice to Mission senior management and engagement with relevant external counterpart;
5. Conceptualising, editing, and overseeing the drafting of all LJS regular, thematic, and ad hoc reports, and clearing all LJS external outputs;
6. Chairing relevant advocacy meetings with local and international stakeholders, advancing LJS priorities and advocating for LJS findings and recommendations, and ensuring co-ordination across projects;
7. Representing the Mission at high-level fora, donor meetings, and inter-agency co-ordination platforms on matters falling under the LJS mandate;
8. Contributing to Mission-wide and departmental strategic planning, ensuring LJS priorities are reflected in broader institutional frameworks;
9. Meeting with officials of Kosovo institutions and other relevant counterparts and engaging on issues falling under the LJS mandate;
10. Handling all staff management matters, including recruitment, performance management, disciplinary processes, and training for LJS staff;
11. Performing other duties as required.

For more detailed information on the structure and work of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, please see: About the OSCE Mission in Kosovo | OSCE Mission in Kosovo

The OSCE is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages the nomination of qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious, ethnic and social backgrounds. Please note that nationals or permanent residents of the country of the duty station are not eligible to apply.

The OSCE retains the discretion to re-advertise/re-post the vacancy, to cancel the recruitment, to offer an appointment with a modified job description or for a different duration.

Only those candidates who are selected to participate in the subsequent stages of recruitment will be contacted.

Candidates interviewed and found suitable in the recruitment process for this vacancy notice will be placed on a roster of suitable candidates (valid for three years) for fixed-term posts open for secondment, should a suitable opportunity arise. The placement on a roster does not guarantee a future appointment or assignment.

The OSCE is a non-career organization committed to the principle of staff rotation; therefore, the maximum period of service in this post or in the same Mission is seven years.

Candidates should be aware that OSCE officials shall conduct themselves at all times in a manner befitting the status of an international civil servant. This includes avoiding any action which may adversely reflect on the integrity, independence and impartiality of their position and function as officials of the OSCE. The OSCE is committed to applying the highest ethical standards in carrying out its mandate. For more information on the values set out in OSCE Competency Model, please see https://jobs.osce.org/resources/document/our-competency-model.

Candidates should, prior to applying, verify with their respective nominating authority to which extent financial remuneration and/or benefit packages will be offered.

If you wish to apply for this position, please use the OSCE's online application link found under https://vacancies.osce.org/. If your participating State does not provide the option to apply online for seconded positions, you are kindly requested to submit your offline application form available at https://jobs.osce.org/resources/document/offline-application-form to the respective OSCE delegation whose address can be found at https://www.osce.org/contacts/delegations.

Please apply to your relevant authorities well in advance of the deadline expiration to ensure timely processing of your application. Delayed nominations will not be considered. The OSCE can only process Secondment applications that have been nominated by participating States. For queries relating to your application, please refer to the respective delegation as listed here: https://www.osce.org/contacts/delegations.

Please be aware that OSCE appointments are subject to medical clearance.

Please be aware that the OSCE does not request payment at any stage of the application and review process.

Additional Information

• Issued by: OSCE Mission in Kosovo
• Requisition ID: KOS000487
• Contract Type: International Secondment
• Grade: S3
• Job Level: Middle Management
• Job Type: Seconded
• Number of posts: 1
• Location: KOS - OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Prishtine / Pristina
• Issue Date: Jun 10, 2026
• Closing Date: Jul 8, 2026
• Employee Status: Fixed Term
• Schedule: Full-time
• Education Level: Master's Degree (Second-level university degree or equivalent)
• Job Field: Rule of Law
• Target Start Date: As soon as possible