UNOPS

The Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECR), based in Geneva, is responsible for the effective management, coordination and oversight of UNOPS operations across the region. The ECR region spans the Western Balkans, Ukraine and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, South Caucasus, and Türkiye, where UNOPS works with partners to achieve sustainable impact in health, education, environmental management, housing, rule of law, good governance, economic development, and social inclusion. With a wealth of experience in procurement, infrastructure, project and grant management, UNOPS in the region directly implements projects, provides technical advisory services and capacity building to advance the Sustainable Development Goals in support of national governments.

The UNOPS South East Europe Multi-Country Office (SEEMCO) supports sustainable development in Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Based in Belgrade with strong field teams, SEEMCO delivers project management, procurement, infrastructure, HR, and technical assistance to governments, donors, and international financial institutions. Partnering with national institutions, local authorities, civil society, and media, it contributes to sectors such as infrastructure, socio-economic development, social cohesion, rule of law, environment, healthcare, education, digitalisation, energy transition, and governance. Since 2000, SEEMCO has advanced the EU integration agenda, national priorities, and the Sustainable Development Goals. It also provides emergency response, recovery support, and capacity building for institutions. Funders include the EU, European Investment Bank, governments of Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Serbia, North Macedonia, and Montenegro, as well as UN agencies such as UNHCR and UNEP.

The Project “Support to European Integration of North Macedonia” supports North Macedonia’s EU accession negotiations and strengthens the country’s capacity to manage the overall European Union (EU) integration process. The Project is funded by Sweden through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and the Ministry for European Affairs, and is implemented by United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).

The Project’s goal is to enhance the country’s preparedness for EU membership by strengthening institutional capacities, coordination mechanisms, good governance, and public engagement in the EU reform process. In this context, the Project supports the Government to further strengthen its institutional, technical, and administrative capacity to advance EU accession priorities.

The Project will support the preparation of the national version of the EU acquis through institutional, technical, and capacity-development support including analysing regional and European practices and developing recommendations for coordination of translation, legal and expert revision, and terminology management. It will also help define institutional arrangements for verifying translated texts and strengthen capacities, tools, and systems to ensure a more efficient, consistent, and sustainable acquis preparation process.

Under the supervision of the Project Manager, the Specialist for Terminology & Acquis Management will provide expert technical assistance to the national authorities of North Macedonia, primarily the Ministry for European Affairs (MEA), in designing and establishing effective coordination mechanisms for legal and expert revision and terminology management within the process of preparing the national version of the EU acquis.

The assignment will support the development of governance structures, methodologies, workflows, and institutional arrangements for the various phases of this process, with a particular focus on the terminology management and expert guidance on the use of legal terminology to ensure that the legal terminology used  in  already translated acquis texts accurately reflects the original document. The role is intended to strengthen system-level coordination and institutional capacity, rather than to undertake individual translation or revision tasks. It will contribute to the establishment of sustainable mechanisms that ensure consistency, and quality in terminology management and in the use of legal terminology across the acquis preparation process, including by providing expert guidance to help ensure that translated acts accurately reflect the meaning and intent of the original text.

Required

• Advanced university degree in law, EU law, linguistics, translation studies, public administration, European studies, or a related field with 5 years of relevant experience OR

• A first-level university degree in any of the above or related fields with 7 years of relevant experience is required.

Required

• Relevant professional experience is work in EU accession-related work, legal approximation, terminology management, or legal-technical revision.

• Proven experience with coordination mechanisms for translation and/or legal review is also required. 

Desired

• Experience in EU institutions or EU accession administrations dealing with acquis translation, legal revision, or terminology management is desired..

• Please note that UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes. 
• Please note that UNOPS will at no stage of the recruitment process request candidates to make payments of any kind.
• Applications to vacancies must be received before midnight Copenhagen time (CET) on the closing date of the announcement. Applications received after the closing date will not be considered. 
• Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments. 
• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. UNOPS seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. 
• UNOPS evaluates all applications based on the skills, qualifications and experience requirements outlined in the vacancy announcement. We are committed to considering all candidates in a fair and transparent manner, and we value diverse perspectives and experiences, including those of women, indigenous and racialized communities, individuals with diverse gender identities and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities.
• We would like to ensure all candidates perform at their best during the assessment process. If you are shortlisted and require additional assistance to complete any assessment, including reasonable accommodation, please inform our human resources team when you receive an invitation.

• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post. 
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few mandatory courses (they take around 4 hours to complete) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract. Please note that you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers. For more information on a retainer contract here. 
• For more details about the contract types, please click here.
• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda. 
• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.