The purpose of the ZIF Expert Pool is to maintain an up-to-date pool of pre-qualified specialists who have been pre-selected by ZIF and who meet the requirements of short-term and targeted deployment in international peace and election observation missions as well as humanitarian operations. Depending on the different application procedures and requirements of the international organizations, the members of the ZIF Expert Pool apply either via the ZIF recruiting tool ventus or via the recruiting system of the respective international organizations. In both cases, ZIF receives and processes the application of the applicant. ZIF proposes candidates for seconded positions to the international organizations on the basis of the applications received and in consultation with the German Federal Foreign Office. In any case, the final selection decision rests with the international organizations.

ZIF has developed application criteria based on the requirements typically made by the host institutions for the various fields of competence of peace operations, humanitarian operations and election observation missions, which are used as a basis for the examination of applications. These include, among others:

• university degree or equivalent professional training
• several years of relevant professional experience (national/international)
• very good oral and written knowledge of German and English
  (from C1)
• interest in working in different countries and regions
• outstanding social, communicative and intercultural skills as well as excellent personal and character skills
  (especially above average reliability)
• health suitability: physical and above-average mental resilience
• ability, motivation and willingness to work in an international team, even under difficult external conditions
• ability to travel, possibly, suitability for the tropics
• basically short-term availability, flexibility and mobility
• commitment to the free democratic basic order within the meaning of the Basic Law
• driving license class B (formerly class 3) and driving experience
• good computer skills (MS Office)
• possibly, work experience in crisis/conflict regions
• possibly, good knowledge of other languages relevant to the assignment
  (especially Russian, French, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese; from B2)

Additionally desirable for the field of competence of peace operations:

• methodological competence in relevant areas such as project management or consulting, willingness to learn new things

The following additional criteria apply to an application for the competence field of election observation:

• experience as election worker
• completion of the ODIHR Election Observation e-learning course.
• desirable: for reasons of travel logistics, residence in Germany or in a European country close to the border
• possibly, current volunteer work in the area of elections or democratization.
• possibly, interested in working as an election observer (LTO) in the long term

Membership may be terminated by either the pool member or ZIF as described below.

3.1 Termination by the pool member

A member of the ZIF Expert Pool may terminate his or her membership at any time with immediate effect by deleting his or her profile in ventus. ZIF must be informed of the termination of membership by sending an email to hr@zif-berlin.org.

3.2 Termination at the initiative of ZIF

ZIF may terminate the membership at any time with immediate effect, in particular if there are circumstances that prove that the pool member is not or no longer suitable or available for deployment in peacekeeping or election observation missions or humanitarian missions.

Possible reasons for terminating membership in the ZIF Expert Pool on the initiative of ZIF include the following:

• An essential requirement from the application criteria is not or no longer met (see section 2 of these terms of use; application criteria marked with “possibly” or “desirable” do not count as essential requirements from the application criteria).
• The member is permanently or for a significant period of time (at least one year) unavailable or not deployable without a legally privileged reason such as parental leave or caring for dependents.
• The member breaches his/her obligations towards ZIF or the host institution before, during and/or after the assignment. These obligations can result from national laws, the collective agreement, employment contract or secondment contract, the ZIF code of conduct for seconded persons or the code of conduct of the host institution.
• There is objective evidence of non-suitability against the member, e.g. entry/entries in the certificate of good conduct.
• The member cannot be placed. This applies in particular, if
  • the member has not been selected and deployed by a host institution for a role in an international peacekeeping, humanitarian or election observation mission for a significant period of time (at least five years), despite availability, application and nomination,
  • there are no more vacancies for the member’s profile.
• A review according to the Security Review Act (SÜG) has shown that there is a security risk.

This list is not exhaustive. An examination is carried out on a case-by-case basis. There is no obligation on the part of ZIF to give reasons for the decision taken to terminate membership.

Applicants and members have no legal claim of any kind to be accepted or to remain in the ZIF Expert Pool. The membership in the ZIF Expert Pool does not establish any claims against ZIF, in particular not

• for participation in a ZIF training course,
• for placement or support by ZIF with the application
  for any deployment,
• for a specific type of deployment (short or long-term deployment)
• for an employment or secondary contract or
• for unrestricted membership for an unlimited period of time.

ZIF is not required to give reasons for the decisions made.

It is the responsibility of the applicants or members of the ZIF Expert Pool to keep their profile up to date. Applicants and members of the ZIF Expert Pool can adjust or update their profile at any time. All information submitted by applicants and members must be truthful and, if possible, supported by valid certificates or documents. ZIF is only entitled, but not obliged, to request members of the ZIF Expert Pool to adjust or update their profile and, if necessary, to provide required information and supporting documentation.

The applicants and members of the ZIF Expert Pool are responsible for their own content provided in ventus. The posting of content that violates ethical standards, especially due to pornographic, illegal or inappropriate political and/or religious content, is prohibited. ZIF assumes no liability for such violations.

By creating their profile, applicants or members do not undertake to participate in a training course or to work in an assignment.

The German version of these “Terms of use for the ZIF Expert Pool” is authoritative. The English version is for informational purposes only. ZIF reserves the right to change or supplement the rules for membership in and, in particular, the terms of use for the ZIF Expert Pool at any time.