Program Officer; Researcher

The Center on International Cooperation (CIC) at New York University is launching a two-year project to strengthen African member states' engagement in multilateral negotiations at the United Nations. The project seeks to make available dedicated research, analytical, and convening capacity that will support African Member states, using the established framework of engagement within the Africa Group and the Permanent Observer Mission of the African Union.

The focus for the first phase will be on three thematic areas: financing for development; global health governance; and AI and digital technologies. The Program Officer is the position responsible for driving this work day to day.

The Program Officer will support the design and delivery of the project’s core activities - policy briefs, expert convenings, deep dives, and the sequencing of New York discussions with African Union processes in Addis Ababa - in close, sustained coordination with the AU Permanent Observer Mission and in service of the UN Africa Group's negotiating priorities. The role combines substantive policy research with hands-on program management and diplomatic convening, and requires the judgment to operate effectively inside a sensitive, politically attentive multilateral environment.

• Serve as CIC’s dedicated point of contact with the AU Permanent Observer Mission, Africa Group Member States Missions, and the African Union Commission building and maintaining the day-to-day working relationship on which the project depends.
• Support the research and drafting analytical policy briefs across the three thematic areas, timed to specific decision points on the UN negotiating calendar, in consultation with member states and experts.
• Design and organize convenings that bring Africa Group member state representatives together with subject-matter experts.
• Plan and facilitate expert deep dives on complex or emerging issues within each thematic area.
• Maintain a living map linking the New York negotiating calendar to the corresponding African Union policy calendar in Addis Ababa, and identify and sustain relationships with the relevant AU Commission department and contact person for each thematic area.
• Commission and manage inputs from short-term consultants and CIC’s broader expert network where specialized expertise is required.
• Track and report on project indicators, contribute to funder reporting, and support the quarterly advisory group process.
• Represent CIC professionally and diplomatically in UN and AU-related settings at expert level, exercising discretion appropriate to the sensitivity of the diplomatic environment.
• Contribute to CIC’s broader institutional knowledge on African multilateral engagement, including through occasional public-facing writing or events.

• 4-6 policy briefs per thematic area per year (12-18 total annually), delivered on schedule against the UN negotiating calendar.
• 8-10 expert convenings per year, each producing a talking points document.
• 3-4 expert deep dives per year across the three thematic areas.
• A maintained NY-AU linkage map, reviewed and updated quarterly.
• Quarterly updates to the project advisory group and contributions to annual funder reports.

Required Education

• A master’s degree with minimum 7 years of relevant experience. Experience in lieu of education may be considered.

Required Experience

• 7 or more years of relevant work experience, including within the government, non‑government and multilateral sectors.

Required Knowledge,

Skills and Abilities

• Advanced degree (Master’s or equivalent) in international relations, public policy, economics, public health, law, or a related field.
• A minimum of 7
  -10 years of relevant…