Chief, Compliance Assurance and Regulatory Management Unit (CARMU)
Organizational Context
The International Seabed Authority (ISA) in Kingston, Jamaica, is an international organization under UNCLOS, managing activities and resources in the seabed beyond national jurisdiction. The Compliance Assurance and Regulatory Management Unit (CARMU) within the Office of Contract Management and Capacity Building (OCMC) supports the ISA in administering contracts, implementing regulations, and ensuring contractor compliance with obligations.
Job Purpose
The Chief of CARMU leads the systematic management of contracts for activities in the Area throughout their lifecycle, from application processing to renewal or transition. This involves monitoring, reviewing, and documenting all aspects of contractor engagement, ensuring adherence to regulatory and contractual obligations. The role is crucial for developing and maintaining the seabed mining registry, assessing regulatory impacts, and implementing a robust compliance assurance and risk management framework. The Chief ensures effective regulatory reporting, manages non-compliance issues, and serves as a key liaison with contractors and sponsoring states, contributing to the progressive operational readiness for the exploitation regulatory framework and the overall performance of the ISA.
Responsibilities
Lead comprehensive contract lifecycle management, including processing applications, monitoring annual reports, and managing contractual commitments, modifications, and obligations. Develop and maintain a seabed mining registry with associated regulatory information and records management systems, ensuring data integrity and accessibility. Assess regulatory impacts and lead the development and implementation of a compliance assurance and risk management framework, including risk identification, governance, and mitigation. Design and implement a risk-based compliance strategy, manage a regulatory reporting program, coordinate monitoring and audit activities, and ensure timely closure of findings and corrective actions. Develop guidance and training materials for stakeholders, and maintain a non-compliance decision matrix. Serve as a primary contact for contract management and regulatory compliance, fostering effective relationships with contractors and sponsoring states. Prepare and submit performance reports and working documents to ISA organs, tracking decisions and ensuring auditable records. Ensure clarity on responsibilities within Secretariat units for contract administration and regulatory implementation. Develop and optimize workflows, standard operating procedures, and quality assurance mechanisms. Lead and manage the CARMU team, including work programming, staff supervision, resource management, and performance reporting. Drive the operational readiness for the exploitation regulatory framework and coordinate inter-unit contributions to contract administration and regulatory implementation.
Work Experience
Requires a minimum of 10 years of combined experience in contract or regulatory administration, mining/natural-resource regulation, environmental regulation, compliance assurance, risk-based systems, or implementing complex regulatory frameworks. Experience in team management, strong English writing skills for technical reports, and proven expertise in leading compliance and risk functions are essential. Experience in building quality assurance programs and strong negotiation/influencing skills are desirable.
Skills
Professionalism, Accountability, Client Orientation, Performance Management, Leadership, Strong negotiating and influencing skills, Excellent writing ability, Team management, Contract management, Regulatory administration, Compliance assurance, Risk management, Knowledge of international law of the sea, Familiarity with seabed mining regulations.