The Carter Center is guided by a fundamental commitment to human rights and the alleviation of human suffering; it seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and improve health. The Center is preparing to deploy a long-term observation mission for the parliamentary and presidential elections now scheduled for October 2020 and January or February 2021 in the Côte d’Ivoire, with the potential of a runoff election in November.
We are currently recruiting highly-qualified individuals to serve as Deputy Chief of Party/Legal Expert for this mission. The expert will help to strategize mission leadership’s engagement, oversee its programmatic and technical implementation and assess the conduct of the elections vis-a-vis Côte d’Ivoire’s international and national political and electoral obligations. S/he will support overall implementation of the IEOM, with a focus on legal analyses. In addition, s/he will serve as the focal point for the IEOM’s external reporting.
This position will be from approximately August to mid-January, pending electoral developments. The position requires relocation to Abidjan in early August and may involve travel within the country. Experience in Côte d’Ivoire and/or West Africa is highly desirable.
Primary responsibilities:
- Serve as an official representative of the Carter Center’s international election observation mission in Côte d’Ivoire; attend high-level leadership meetings, when appropriate, and assume other responsibilities of the COP as needed;
- Under the supervision of the Chief of Party (COP), work with other core team experts to ensure substantive analysis of electoral/legal issues in line with international obligations and principles;
- Serve as the Carter Center’s legal expert of the mission in Côte d’Ivoire; become familiar with the legal and regulatory framework for the Ivorian elections as well as any other relevant laws (media regulations, judicial system, electoral procedures, dispute resolution, etc.) and international and regional obligations for democratic elections;
- Coordinate contributions from technical experts and draft public statements and reports and prepare supplemental memos and weekly reports; contribute to the preparation of leadership briefing materials;
- In coordination with national staff and core team members, monitor and assess whether the electoral processes before, during and after all elections were conducted in accordance with the legal/electoral framework as set out in national legislation, administrative procedures and international obligations for democratic elections; tracking court challenges and legal questions that impact the overall electoral process, and
- Serve as the mission’s liaison to the applicable judicial bodies; and disseminate updates to observers pertaining to the legal framework and any court challenges.
Qualifications:
Ideal candidates will possess some or all of the following qualifications:
- Seven to ten years of experience working in the field of law, international development, election administration or monitoring, human rights, democracy and governance programs, political analysis, including at least three years working on donor-funded DRG programming in a similar developing country context;
- Demonstrated ability to conduct legal/electoral assessments and/or provide election technical assistance and demonstrated knowledge of international and regional civil and human rights documents applicable to elections;
- Experience in political and/or electoral analysis, security awareness, and personnel management; experience leading or serving in a senior technical capacity for an international observation mission in a similar country context;
- Excellent oral and written communications skills in both French and English.
Please upload a cover letter and a CV to https://airtable.com/shrP9mLOwLd2ZbsTj. Only applications uploaded in the system will be considered. For questions, please e-mail CDIrecruitment@cartercenter.org
Deadline for submissions: July 24, 2020 or until filled. Interested applicants are encouraged to submit their application documents as soon as possible; decisions will be made on a rolling basis from the deadline until the position is filled. As this is an international election observation mission, Ivorian nationals are not eligible to serve as core team members. Due to the large volume of applicants, only those candidates selected for an interview or additional consideration will be notified by the Center. No phone calls or in-person contacts will be entertained.