UNOPS Customs Advisor (International Customs Unit)

“UNOPS plays a critical role in providing management services for our life -saving, peace building, humanitarian and development operations. I have seen many examples of how these activities help suffering people in troubled parts of the world.” -Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General

UNOPS mission is to expand the capacity of the UN system and its partners to implement peace building, humanitarian and development operations that matter for people in need. Working in some of the world’s most challenging environments, UNOPS vision is to always satisfy partners with management services that meet world class standards of quality, speed and cost effectiveness. By assisting UN organizations, international financial institutions, governments and other development partners, UNOPS makes significant, tangible contributions to results on the ground. UNOPS employs around 3,500 personnel annually and on behalf of its partners creates thousands more work opportunities in local communities. With its headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark, a network of five regional offices and a further 20 operations and project centre s, UNOPS oversees activities in more than 80 countries.

UNOPS is committed to achieving a truly diverse workforce.

Background Information – Afghanistan

With more than 10 years of experience in the country, the UNOPS Afghanistan office supports national reconstruction and development efforts by providing projects with goods and services - from stand-alone, one-off solutions to long-term management and capacity development support. Based in Kabul, UNOPS in Afghanistan has sub-office s in every region of the country. The team implements projects in support of the Afghanistan National Development Strategy, in a wide range of sectors including infrastructure, education, environment and agriculture, and governance and rule of law.

Functional Responsibilities

Reporting directly to the Team Leader (TL) & Chief Technical Adviser (CTA) of the project, the Customs Advisor (ICU) shall perform the following duties and responsibilities, but not limited to:

• Support the Afghan Customs Department (ACD) in coordinating and interacting with international organizations on customs related matters such as the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), among others;
• Support in building the local capacity of staff and personnel under the International Customs Unit;
• Promote and facilitate active participation of ACD Officials in international conferences and workshops through technical materials, legislation; briefings and background notes;
• Coordinate with other Ministries and Departments in preparing responses on customs and trade facilitation issues raised on international, regional and bilateral forums;
• Support ACD in their participation in regional conferences with the Central Asia Economic Cooperation (CAREC), South Asian Association for Regional Cooperations (SAARC) and the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) for effective consultation and contribution;
• Support the ACD in bilateral meetings to have fruitful negotiations culminating into agreements and treaties on mutual cooperation and assistance;
• Facilitate negotiations with the ACD in Dubai to increase customs cooperation and trade facilitation with Pakistan;
• Conduct technical studies to explore various options for exchange of data with customs departments of neighboring countries;
• Encourage and support the implementation of recommendations of technical studies on data exchanges as a pilot program and gauge possibilities for up-scaling and wider implementation when deemed suitable;
• Support the ACD in the development and implementation of Government-to-Government (G2G) customs data exchange portal in coordination with the Automated System for Customs Data (ASYC UDA) experts;
• Help strengthen the Tariff Research and Statistics Unit (TRSU) to carry out analysis of foreign trade statistics to take informed decisions on areas of risk management, revenue collection, and detection of fraud and corrupt practices;
• Provide effective advise to the TRSU in analyzing trade data using modern statistical methods;
• Perform other duties as may be assigned.

Competencies

• Demonstrated competence in establishing and facilitating inter-agency and inter-organization cooperation;
• Ability to analyze business processes and identify issues based on experience and sound judgment;
• Experience in providing assistance and support in e valuation and performance monitoring;
• Proven ability to work independently with minimal supervision and direction;
• Capable of working with others in a participatory and capacity-building manner;
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work in a multicultural team to achieve organizational goals;
• Ability to establish and maintain excellent contacts with colleagues, senior government officials, donors and other UN agencies;
• Good analytical skills; resourcefulness, initiative and maturity of judgment;
• Self-motivated, versatile and adaptable to different cultures and people at various levels of society and authority.

Education/Experience/Language requirements

• Masters Degree in International Law, Political Science, Social Sciences, Public Administration, International Relations and/or Customs-related studies. A First Level University Degree with additional 2 years of relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of the Masters Degree requirement;
• Minimum 11 years of work experience in reforms, planning, and donor coordination in customs and trade;
• Experience in monitoring, control and evaluation on the progress of customs reform projects in Afghanistan or other similar developing countries;
• Knowledge and experience from the UN/UNOPS, relevant International Organizations and/or the World Bank highly advantageous;
• Proficiency in tools, systems and applications related to data analysis a distinct advantage;
• Excellent command of both oral and written English a must;
• Working knowledge of the local language considered an advantage;
• Experience in the use of office applications and other enterprise systems.

Additional Considerations

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time (CET)
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a level below the advertised level of the post.
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.

Contract type, level and duration

Contract type: Individual Contractor Agreement (ICA)
Contract level: International ICA - Level 3
Contract duration: 12 months, with possibility of extension

For more details about the ICA contractual modality, please follow this link: http://www.unops.org/ENGLISH/WHOWENEED/C O NTR AC T-TYPES/Page s/Individual-Contractor-Agreements- ICAs.aspx