Head of Human Rights (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 working with human rights, minority or gender issues
• Demonstrable organisational, analytical, communication and interpersonal skills
• Experience in drafting reports

Level of Professional Competence Requirements

Furthermore, this level of responsibility requires the following:

Education:

Second-level university degree in political sciences, international relations, public policy, law, international human rights law or other human rights related fields. 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 (8 years with a relevant first-level university degree) 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;
• Experience in human rights programme development and political analysis, including the production of reports, verbal and written briefings;
• Detailed understanding of both the human rights situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in particular its institutions and bodies (at all levels of government), key legislation, and the overall political situation;
• Leadership qualities including ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with people of different national and cultural backgrounds;
• Experience of working in a programmatic/strategic planning role using a results-based management approach;
• Experience in programme and project management, including in planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting;
• Excellent organizational skills, with ability to work under pressure, manage multiple tasks and process large amounts of information;
• Demonstrated gender awareness and sensitivity, and an ability to integrate a gender perspective into tasks and activities;
• Professional fluency in English with excellent oral and written communication skills;
• Computer literate with practical experience using Microsoft applications.

Desirable:

• Working knowledge of the local languages would be an asset;
• Understanding of the work of the Mission in the field of human rights and human dimension.

Tasks and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Head of Human Dimension Department (HDD), should you be selected for this position, you will be tasked with the following duties:

1. Managing the Human Rights Section, which is dedicated to ensuring that relevant governmental institutions and legislation promote reforms aimed at improving access to human rights, fostering tolerance and non-discrimination, and strengthening social and economic rights as well as fundamental freedoms, including the freedoms of media and expression, of religion or belief, and of association;
2. Leading the development and implementation of the Human Rights Section's annual activity plan and budget;
3. Overseeing ongoing legislative review and revisions, as well as monitoring and reporting on effective implementation of the country's human dimension commitments;
4. Ensuring close contacts with relevant national human rights institutions, executive and legislative authorities, law enforcement, social protection workers, civil society groups and others engaged in the relevant thematic areas;
5. Overseeing and co-ordinating the implementation of capacity building activities and technical assistance provided to assist the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees and other relevant line ministries at all levels of governance as well as the judiciary, law enforcement officers, Roma communities and advocates, associations of social work professionals, social welfare centers and civil society organisations;
6. Co-ordinating the Mission's engagement s to promote the implementation of the Annex 7 of the Dayton Peace Agreement;
7. Acting as Roma Action Focal Point of the Mission;
8. Providing support to HDD Management in human resources planning;
9. Together with the other Heads of Sections, assisting the HDD Management with programme development and strategy formulation through identification of lessons learnt, current trends, achievements, problems and future plans;
10. Representing the Mission and co-ordinating with international and domestic organizations active in the field of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the working level, in order to prevent duplication and ensure that the programme achieves maximum benefit from related initiatives;
11. Integrating project evaluation and long-term impact assessment practices into all policy and project work;
12. Working with HDD Management, as well as other heads of sections, departments and units across the Mission to identify cross-cutting synergies among the respective areas of Mission engagement;
13. Performing other duties as assigned.

For more detailed information on the structure and work of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, please see: https://www.osce.org/mission-to-bosnia-and-herzegovina

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.

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 to Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Requisition ID: BAH000239
• Contract Type: International Secondment
• Grade: S3
• Job Level: Middle Management
• Job Type: Seconded
• Number of posts: 1
• Location: BAH - OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo
• Issue Date: Aug 19, 2026
• Closing Date: Sep 16, 2026
• Employee Status: Fixed Term
• Schedule: Full-time
• Education Level: Master's Degree (Second-level university degree or equivalent)
• Job Field: Human Rights
• Target Start Date: As soon as possible