Result of Service

The consultant will provide the following deliverables: • The information repository, being built by ITS/UNOV, will be well tested and user-friendly and align with the mandate given to UNOOSA. • Older information, such as is relevant, will be identified and migrated into the repository. • A Scientific and Technical Subcommittee side event will be prepared to demonstrate the new repository. • Social media posts to launch the new repository will be prepared.

Work Location

Home-based

Expected duration

15/6/24 – 28/2/25

Duties and Responsibilities

Following on the successes of the first three phases of the Project, UNOOSA is implementing a fourth phase. This includes, as one of the key deliverables, the development and roll out of the information repository on the long-term sustainability of outer space activities. The consultant will facilitate this, as the project manager working closely with the developers. The consultant will also update the interrelated spacesustainabity.unoosa.org website. Under the supervision of the Associate Programme Officer, and the overall guidance of the Chief, Committee, Policy and Legal Affairs Section, the consultant’s tasks will include, but not be limited to: · Review the mandate given and the related workflow envisioned for the new information repository, identify any potential issues or sticking points and propose related solutions; · Research interconnected United Nations websites and systems (for instance, spacesustainability.unoosa.org, documents.un.org and gdocs) and develop proposals and potential solutions for how these may work together with the information repository; · Act as the link between the UNOOSA programme officers and ITS/UNOV, ensuring what is desired by the Office is communicated in terms the IT specialists understand; · Build and maintain relationships with the IT developers, arranging period meetings to obtain updates, replying to all queries that arise, and looping in supervisors on matters that are of a sensitive nature or a broader importance; · Ensure that what is being built is in line with the mandate and fits the needs of UNOOSA and clients, flagging any key issues to supervisors; · Undertake periodic review and testing of what is developed, providing ongoing feedback and guidance and clarifying any misunderstandings; · Assist in arranging demonstrations of product, as it is developed, in order that donors may be shown intermittent progress; · Populate the information repository, including migrating relevant older data into the system; · Organize and run a virtual event to demonstrate the new information repository.

Qualifications/special skills

Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in project management, information technology, space science or a related field is required. A first level university degree in similar fields in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. At least two (2) years of working experience in the field of implementing/managing IT projects or projects with a strong technical component is required; Excellent verbal and written communication skills are required; The ability to work pro-actively with minimal supervision is required; The ability to create and update web content and trouble shoot website challenges is required; Familiarity with outer space activities, and the ability to understand related political and policy developments, is desirable; Experience working with United Nations IT systems and/or document processing is desirable.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this post, fluency in oral and written English is required. Knowledge of another United Nations official language is an advantage.

Additional Information

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) is the United Nations office responsible for advancing international cooperation in the peaceful uses and exploration of space and in the utilization of space science and technology for sustainable economic and social development. It also serves as the secretariat for the General Assembly’s only committee dealing exclusively with international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space: the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) and its subsidiary bodies. The Project “Awareness-raising and capacity-building related to the implementation of the Guidelines for the Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities (LTS Guidelines)” reinforces UNOOSA’s efforts to raise global awareness of, and build capacity on, the importance of the long-term sustainability of outer space activities. The Project is implemented in phases – this being the fourth phase. In 2023, the Working Group on the Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of COPUOS agreed that as increasingly more information and views were shared by States Members of the United Nations and permanent observer organizations of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space on the elements included in the Working Group’s terms of reference (A/AC.105/1258, annex II, appendix, paras. 4 and 6), an easily accessible and searchable open-source repository of such information would be useful and could serve as a tool for building transparency, confidence and capacity (see A/AC.105/1279, annex II, para. 17).

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.