Programme Officer (Administration and Translation), Moldova

Place of work: Chișinău, Moldova

Employment rate: 100%

Start date: October 2024 or shortly thereafter

Contract type: 6 months, with possibility of extension

Reporting: Senior Specialist, Asset Recovery

1. About the International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR)

ICAR is a specialist centre of the Basel Institute on Governance that works with countries around the world to strengthen their capacities to recover stolen assets. Particular emphasis is placed on hands-on mentoring to assist practitioners from law enforcement and prosecution authorities in conducting financial investigations, developing suitable strategies for the prosecution of corruption and economic crime offences and to identify, restraining and confiscating proceeds of crime. ICAR also supports legislative and institutional reform processes, develops and delivers tailor-made training and works with other international organisations to advance innovation and global policy dialogue on asset recovery.

1. About our programme in Moldova

ICAR has engaged a Senior Asset Recovery Specialist to work with key stakeholders to strengthen Moldova’s “asset recovery delivery chain” in financial investigation, international cooperation and confiscation/asset recovery. With funding requested for an initial six-month inception phase, the specialist will build on existing ICAR interventions with Government of Moldova partners. It is anticipated that this inception phase will result in a longer-term programme of support to Government of Moldova partners.

A particular focus of this programme is the enhancement of mutual legal assistance (MLA) capabilities within partner agencies. The appointed expert will be responsible for disseminating the recently produced MLA guidelines for Moldova, as well as mentoring law enforcement and prosecutors on the preparation of MLA guidelines.

1. Responsibilities

The Programme Officer (Administration and Translation) will facilitate dynamic communication between the Senior Specialist, Asset Recovery (and other staff of the Basel Institute on Governance), and our Government of Moldova counterparts, including the General Prosecutor’s Office (GPO), the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (APO); and the Specialised Prosecutor’s Office on Organised Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS), and other State institutions.

Within this role, the Programme Officer will engage in daily iterative oral and written communication with counterparts as well as support local logistical and administrative needs of the Basel Institute on Governance team in Moldova.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Provision of simultaneous or consecutive interpretation in Romanian to English and vice versa, for daily interactions of the Senior Specialist, Asset Recovery and other deployed experts in Moldova.
• Translation of documents and correspondence from Romanian to English and vice versa. Texts are primarily of a legal nature including official correspondence, court judgments, indictments, appeals, and investigative material.
• Quality assurance of Romanian language translations of Basel Institute training content, including e-learning courses, to ensure that translation is appropriate for training delivery.
• Assistance in the scheduling of meetings, receiving and maintaining documents, and providing general logistical support.

1. Qualifications and skills

• High degree of spoken and written English language proficiency with demonstrated ability to conduct high quality and accurate consecutive interpretation (simultaneous preferred) between ICAR Specialists and Government of Moldova counterparts and stakeholders. This includes understanding specialised terms and words associated with criminal law and procedure.
• Demonstrated skills in document translation (preferably law related) reflecting technical accuracy and meaning.
• At least five years of professional experience working with international organisations, technical assistance projects or development/donor institutions in a similar role.
• A University degree in law, criminology, political science or related field.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate effectively with national and international stakeholders.
• Demonstrated capability in organising meetings, managing documents and maintaining schedules.
• Confidentiality: The post-holder will be required to sign a Non-disclosure Agreement as part of the contract, and will at all stages protect the confidentiality of stakeholders participating in the assignment. Demonstrable prior experience of maintaining confidentiality in a similar role is an asset.

1. Offer

We offer an interesting and rewarding working environment with a proactive, dynamic and international team spirit. The work is both routine and varied, and offers scope for initiative and innovation. The salary is competitive.