Political Analyst – 2 Positions

Primary Location: Kyiv, Ukraine

NATO Body: NATO Representation to Ukraine

Schedule: Full-time 

Grade: Locally Engaged Staff

Salary: Euro 2697,41 per month (subject to local taxation) 

Application deadline: 23:59 on 31 May 2024

1. POST CONTEXT

The NATO Representation to Ukraine (NRU) facilitates political and military dialogue and co-operation between the Alliance and Ukraine, and coordinates NATO’s practical support to Ukraine. 

The NRU is a principal stakeholder in coordinating NATO’s Comprehensive Assistance Package (CAP), which provides a consolidated platform for NATO’s practical support to Ukraine.  The CAP enables Ukraine to become more resilient, to better provide for its own security, and to carry out essential reforms, in particular in the security and defence sector. 

A key role of the NRU is to provide advisory assistance to Ukraine’s security and defence sector regarding the implementation of Ukraine’s adapted Annual National Programme (aANP).  This document, renewed yearly, outlines a range of institutional reforms aimed at preparing Ukraine’s integration into the Alliance. 

The Political Analyst works as part of the NRU’s Political Team, which is responsible for monitoring and analysing national and regional political developments; providing regular updates and ad-hoc reports at a strategic level; preparing the Head of the NRU for engagements with external stakeholders; fostering relations with Ukrainian counterparts at the political level; and facilitating visits to the NRU by political stakeholders from other NATO entities, in particular the strategic Headquarters.  

2. QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

a. ESSENTIAL

The incumbent must:

• be a citizen of Ukraine or have permanent residence in the country;

• have a first level university degree in politics, law, international relations, security studies, or other relevant field;

• have a minimum of five years of directly relevant work experience as an analyst, political officer, or in a related position, with a proven record deliver written and verbal assessments on complex and dynamically evolving topics, as well as experience liaising with a variety of political stakeholders;

• have extensive knowledge of Ukrainian national political organisations, legislative bodies, other political institutions, as well as civil society and other relevant organisations;

• have extensive knowledge and understanding of regional and Ukrainian politics, NATO-Ukraine relations and the Euro-Atlantic reform agenda;

• have an intermediate knowledge using Microsoft Office applications; 

• languages: English, level 5 (Advanced); Ukrainian, level 6 (Proficient); including excellent drafting skills;

• have no criminal record and pass security clearance.

b. DESIRABLE

The following would be considered an advantage:

• advanced university degree in a relevant field;

• flexibility to work outside of normal working hours when necessary;

• experience as a political analyst at the local, national, or regional level, or with an international organisation, embassy, or similar organisation;

• experience working in an international environment;

• experience working in a military environment.

3. MAIN ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Ensure the monitoring of a wide range of dynamically developing political issues impacting NATO and Allied interests, making rapid assessments regarding their strategic importance for the organisation and informing NRU stakeholders about potentially challenging situations;

• Provide balanced, clear, objective, and accurate political reporting and analysis regarding current and emerging political, military, informational, security, social, and economic issues impacting the NATO-Ukraine relationship, drafting and reviewing reports, background materials, and speaking points for meetings with political stakeholders;

• Contribute to crafting political messages, lines to take, and communication strategies in coordination with the NRU’s Communications Team, to ensure effective public relations regarding political matters;

• Provide support in tracking and understanding legislative processes; assist the NRU’s other teams in the work with legislators, and provide advice on draft laws and initiatives;

• Represent the Organisation at meetings with external stakeholders, including high-level decision-makers of the Ukrainian government; contribute to correspondence with external stakeholders and facilitate NRU relations with Ukrainian authorities;

• Support the organisation of NRU activities; preparations for meetings and events; the development of programmes of senior and high-level NATO visits and other meetings/conferences organized by the NRU;

• Develop and maintain a broad network of relevant stakeholders in Ukrainian governmental structures, international organisations, NGOs, civil society organisations, and liaise with various institutions, community leaders and opinion formers, with a view to informing and facilitating policy-related dialogue; facilitate contacts between NRU senior staff and national interlocutors;

• Participate and assist in the organisation of events, including incoming political visits or expert meetings;

• If necessary, provide interpretation, translate or summarise relevant documents from English into local language(s) and vice versa; 

• Support local staff recruitment;

• Perform other duties as required.

4. INTERRELATIONSHIPS

The Political Analyst works within the NRU’s Political Team, and reports to the Political Team Lead.  S/he must be able to operate with diplomacy and tact in a multinational environment where various interests are at stake including national industrial interests. S/he participates in and advises during discussions with Allied National Delegations and Ukrainian authorities. S/he also liaises with appropriate NATO Agencies, NATO Military Authorities, national Authorities and Ministries of Defence, as well as other members of the International Staff. 

5. COMPETENCIES

The incumbent must demonstrate:

• Achievement: Creates own measures of excellence and improves performance;

• Analytical Thinking:  Sees multiple relationships; 

• Clarity and Accuracy: Checks own work; 

• Conceptual Thinking:  Clarifies complex data or situations;

• Customer Service Orientation: Takes personal responsibility for correcting problems;

• Initiative: Is decisive in a time-sensitive situation; 

• Organizational Awareness: Understands organisational climate and culture; 

• Self-Control: Manages stress effectively; 

• Teamwork: Solicits inputs and encourages others. 

6. EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS 

The basic salary for  this post is Euro 2697,41 per month (subject to local taxation). Furthermore, the successful candidate will, receive social benefits (health care, including health and accident insurance). 

NATO  may offer a three-year contract to the successful candidate, with the possibility of  renewal for up to three years, during which the incumbent may apply for conversion to an indefinite duration contract. This possibility is based on the needs of NATO and on the performance of the incumbent.

The nature of this position may require the staff member to travel for work and/or to work outside normal office hours.

NATO may put specific security and safety procedures in place, based on the security situation in Kyiv, Ukraine.  Security arrangements apply to all staff and all staff are required to follow instructions by the NRU Security Team, when on NRU premises or during duty travel.

The NATO Representation to Ukraine is a non-smoking environment.

7. HOW TO APPLY 

If interested, please contact: [email protected], indicating the job title in the subject line and attaching your CV and any other documents you deem relevant, such as a motivation letter.  Please provide contact details for at least two people who can provide reference regarding your performance in your previous position(s). 

The deadline for applications is 23:59 on 31 May 2024.  NATO will accept no applications beyond this deadline. 

Recruiters will invite shortlisted candidates for on-line written tests and interviews.

Please note NATO will not accept submissions, in any phase of the recruitment and selection, prepared in whole or in part by means of generative artificial-intelligence (AI) tools, including and without limitation to chatbots, such as Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (Chat GPT), or other language generating tools. NATO reserves the right to screen applications to identify the use of such tools. All applications prepared, in whole or in part, by means of such generative or creative AI applications may be rejected without further consideration at NATO’s sole discretion, and NATO reserves the right to take further steps in such cases as appropriate.

NATO is committed to diversity and inclusion, and provides equal access to employment, advancement, and retention, independent of gender, age, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or belief, cultural background, sexual orientation, and disability.