Senior Industry Officer

Senior Industry Officer

The OPCW’s Verification Division works towards achieving chemical disarmament and preventing the re-emergence of chemical weapons through participation in the planning and oversight of inspections at both military and chemical industry facilities. The division also manages declarations while maintaining and strengthening the scientific capabilities of the Organisation, especially its laboratory component. The division also conducts Technical Assistance Visits at the request of States Parties.

The Division is responsible for the day-to-day operation of OPCW’s verification regime. It is a key element of the Secretariat, using trustworthy and science-based information to implement all aspects of the Convention including decisions from the Policy Making Organs.

General Information

• Contract Type
  Fixed-term Professional 
• Grade
  P4 
• Total Estimated monthly remuneration depending on post adjustment and family status: USD
  8.983 
• Closing Date
  06/01/2022 

Responsibilities

Job Summary

The Industry Verification Branch works with the Inspectorate to verify that activities involving Scheduled chemicals and unscheduled discrete organic chemicals at facilities and plant sites declared by States Parties are for purposes not prohibited under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

Main Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Head of Industry Verification Branch, the Senior Industry Officer will perform the following objectives and main responsibilities:

• Executes short-term planning of allocated inspections under Article VI (Activities not Prohibited) of the Convention, supervises their execution and facilitates the production of Final Inspection Reports by the Inspection Teams within the provisions of the OPCW Confidentiality Regime and the timelines of the Convention;
• Support other Verification Branches and OPCW Divisions;
• Represents the Secretariat in contacts with outside organisations and provides inputs to Secretariat training programs.

Qualifications and Experience

Education

Essential: 

• An advanced university degree in the fields of chemical engineering and/or organic chemistry, or a closely related field, from an accredited college or university. Qualifications in both chemical engineering and organic chemistry would be an asset. A relevant first level university degree in combination with qualifying experience (minimum nine years) may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. Equivalent or specialised training in combination with at least thirteen years of relevant professional experience may be accepted in lieu of a university degree.

Desirable:

• An additional degree in business or management (MBA) would be an asset. 

Knowledge and Experience

Essential: 

A minimum of 7 years relevant experience (preferably hands-on, practical in-plant experience) with operations in the chemical industry with advanced degree, 9 years relevant experience with first level degree, 13 years relevant experience with equivalent or specialized training. The experience should preferably involve:

• industrial chemistry support for product development or chemical production; or
• conduct of plant operations; or
• chemical process design/development/optimisation; or
• process safety activities, including quantitative risk assessment, hazard and operability studies, auditing, etc.; or
• R&D chemical development or R&D chemical process design in agrochemicals or pharmaceuticals; or
• plant design or scale-up.
• Experience in multiple types of chemical operations
• Experience with multiple chemical technologies.
• Expertise in the use of MS Office packages (databases, spreadsheet, and word processing).
• Experience working in a toxic environment while wearing personal protective equipment (PPE).

Desirable:

• International experience; experience receiving or otherwise supporting Article VI inspections under the CWC.

Skills and Competencies

• Excellent communication skills (verbal and written) including the ability to prepare reports;
• Strong analytical and conceptual skills;
• Tact, discretion, and the ability to work harmoniously in a multi-cultural environment;
• Demonstrable ability to work with the confines of a strict confidentiality regime.

Languages

Fluency in English is essential and a good working knowledge of one of the other official languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish) is desirable.

Additional Information

This fixed-term appointment is for the duration of two years with a six-month probationary period, and is subject to the OPCW Staff Regulations and Interim Staff Rules.

The OPCW is a non-career organisation with limited staff tenure. The total length of service for Professional staff shall not exceed 7 years.

The mandatory age of separation at the OPCW is 65 years. 

Fixed-term staff members participate in the OPCW provident fund. A monthly staff contribution is met with a doubled amount by the OPCW to ensure separating staff have the capital necessary to move on to new challenges. 

The Director-General retains the discretion to not make any appointment to this vacancy, to make an appointment at a lower grade, or to make an appointment with a modified job description. Several vacancies may be filled.

Only applications submitted before the closing date and through OPCW CandidateSpace will be considered. Only applicants under serious consideration for a post will be contacted. 

Applications from qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged.