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Senior Industry Officer P-4


COMPLETE OUTLINE

PRINCIPAL FUNCTIONS

RESPONSIBILITIES

Working under the direct supervision of the Head, Industry Verification Branch, the Senior Industry Officers will have the following responsibilities, and one or more in a back-up capacity, as indicated in sections 3.2 and 3.3.

3.1       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 (FIRs) by the Inspection Teams (ITs) in accordance with the provisions of the OPCW Confidentiality Regime and the timelines of the Convention by:

  • Accessing all declarations and other documentation relevant to the inspection site using the Security Critical Network (SCN) and/or hard-copies from the Secure Archives;
  • Evaluating the declared information and deciding on whether the chemicals are scheduled and the applicable thresholds are appropriate for inspection;
  • Deciding the requirement for the number of inspectors for a specific mission;
  • Reviewing the Draft Warning Order prepared by the Inspectorate, negotiating any changes necessary and recommending the Draft Warning Order to Head IVB (H/IVB);
  • Drafting and obtaining approval from VER Management of the Inspection Mandate on the SCN using the Mandates Workflow, arranging for translation as necessary, and submitting it for signature of the Director-General;
  • Briefing the IT on technical, treaty-related and policy issues in relation to the inspection, emphasizing special features of the plant site/facility and advising the IT in its preparation for the inspection;
  • Populating the Mission Folder with the signed Inspection Mandate, declarations, previous inspection reports and other relevant documents and sending it to the IT Leader;
  • Monitoring the on-site progress of the inspection through Situation Reports and telephone contact with the IT Leader ;
  • Guiding and advising the IT while on-site to meet its mandate and to resolve all problematic issues during the mission. Recording and sharing the discussions with the IT;
  • Debriefing the IT upon its return to the OPCW HQ on technical, treaty-related and/or policy issues;
  • Advising H/IVB on issues requiring further attention, uncertainties and/or possible violations of provisions of the Convention and guiding the IT in their converting the Preliminary Findings Report into the FIR within the timelines of the Convention. This guidance is a quality assurance function that normalizes the conclusions of inspections against one another;
  • Deciding on which issues, if any, are to be brought to the attention of top management in relation to the inspection (eg a memorandum to the Director-General);
  • Drafting the letter to the inspected State Party on the inspection. This supporting documentation, including the memorandum to the Director-General, is the "bottom line" assessment of the inspection in terms of technical, treaty compliance and policy issues, and includes recommendations for specific actions;
  • Obtaining approval from Director, VERfor theFIR and the supporting documentation according to the relevant SOP;
  • Reviewing the Risk Assessment for Schedule 1 facilities and Schedule 2 plant sites performedby the IT;
  • Communicating and meetingthe inspected State Party representatives to resolve issues requiring further attention (IRFA) and/or uncertainties arising from an inspection; making recommendations to H/IVB in relation to such issues;
  • Draftingclosure letters for inspections not closed with the FIR (through the relevant SCN workflow), after the resolution of the IRFAs and taking into account the FIR, comments received from the inspected State Party, and any amendments to declarations arising from the inspection findings;
  • Participating in Technical Visits to States Parties resulting from inspection activities;
  • Negotiating to conclude or update Facility Agreements with the States Parties;
  • Acting as Chief Technical Planning Officer when assigned in the case of challenge inspections at industrial facilities.

    3.2      Support other Verification Branches as required.

  • Developing, supporting and implementing a consistent verification regime at chemical weapons production facilities (CWPF) and at chemical weapons destruction facilities (CWDF) in support to CDB when needed.

3.3       Supports Management of the Branch, the Division and the Secretariat by:

  • Making recommendations and advising Management on chemistry and industry-related technical issues on the basis of acquired expertise
  • Advising Management on the potential application of emerging technologies to the Convention and the possible impact on the existing verification regimes on which IVB lead. Such emerging technologies include the use of AI in chemical synthesis and in toxicity studies, the role of biomediated production and gene technology for the production or modification of chemical warfare agents, and the use of additive manufacturing, nanotechnology and other such technologies in the weaponization of chemical warfare agents and the production of chemical weapons;
  • Making recommendations and advising Management on treaty compliance and/or policy matters to facilitate the political decision-taking process;
  • Creating and maintaining selected industry-related databases;
  • Selecting plant sites and facilities declared under Article VI of the Convention for the medium term inspection plan and preparing and updating the schedule of inspections to be carried out at these sites;
  • Advising on methodologies to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the Secretariat’s implementation of verification regimes, and in particular to address the structural challenges posed by changing geographical involvement in the risk-based selection Schedule 2 chemical plant sites and the random algorhythmic selection of OCPF plant sites for inspection;
  • Drafting Verification 's contribution to the Verification Implementation Reports and the Annual Budget;
  • Writing papers on industry-related and Convention-related subjects for briefing of or use by Management'
  • Advising and making recommendations to representatives of States Parties, Industry Associations, individual industrial companies and/or groups, NGOs and other outside organisations on industry-related and Convention-related subjects;
  • Developing SOPs, guidelines and other working procedures related to the activities of the Branch and Division'
  • Making recommendations on the implementation of the OPCW Confidentiality Regime on the basis of practical experience in working in the Security Critical Area.
  • Acting as Branch Head when designated to do so;
  • Serving on various Secretariat Committees and/or Councils;
  • Providing background information for consideration by the various Secretariat Management Committees and carrying out decisions taken by these Committees.

            

    3.4       Supports the work of the Policy Making Organs (PMOs) of the OPCW by:

  • Advising and assisting the designated Facilitators of the Industry Cluster Consultations of the Executive Council on issues within their purview;
  • Attending Industry Cluster Consultations as Secretariat expert and acting as Secretary at such meetings;
  • Drafting Secretariat Notes, Non-Papers, Draft Decisions etc. relating to Article IV, V and VI issues for submission to the Executive Council;
  • Discussing issues relating to the work of the PMOs with Delegations and providing advice to the delegates;
  • Attending consultations on issues relating to the activities of the Scientific Advisory Board and drafting documents on these issues.

             

    3.5       Represents the Secretariat in contacts with outside organisations and provides inputs to Secretariat training programs by:

  • Initiating and/or maintaining contact at working level with other designated organisations and groups;
  • Attending meetings, conferences, seminars etc. of other designated international organisations, actively participating by making appropriate presentations and reporting back on the proceedings of and issues arising from these events;
  • Developing training materials for industry inspector training, National Authority training, Regional and National Seminars, etc. and making presentations/teaching at such events;
  • Identifying and obtaining approval for attendance at outside training events and participating in such events.

3.6        International Duty Travel to be undertaken as per the requirement of the assignment.

3.7        Performs other duties as required.

RECRUITING PROFILE 

Education (Qualifications):

Essential: An advanced university degree in the fields of chemical engineering and/or organic chemistry, or a closely related field. 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 specialized training in combination with at least thirteen years of relevant professional experience may be accepted in lieu of a university degree.

Desirable: Qualifications in both chemical engineering and organic chemistry would be an asset. An additional degree in business or management (MBA) would be an asset.

Required Certification (if applicable):  N/A

Experience: 

Essential: 

  • A minimum of 7 years relevant 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 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:  Preferably hands-on, practical in-plant experience, International experience; experience receiving or otherwise supporting Article VI inspections under the CWC.

Skills and Abilities (key 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.

Language Requirements:  High fluency in both oral and formal written English is essential and a good working knowledge of one of the other official languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish) is desirable.


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