As Head of the Social Insurance and Pensions Unit, you will :

• manage, motivate and develop a team of currently six people, promote a culture of empowerment, continuous improvement and shared responsibility; support the digitisation of HR functions, in co-ordination with colleagues involved in developing IT systems and tools; play an active part in developing HR data management and analysis, in particular regarding absences;
• coordinate the design of medical and social cover policies; monitor the Organisation’s insurance contracts providing medical and social cover: analyse results, maintain regular contact with the contract managers and insurers, ensure the proper application of contractual provisions and deal with any disputes or litigation; organise and manage calls for tenders in co-operation with the procurement department;
• keep abreast of developments and good practices in the field of medical insurance and pensions, analyse risks and opportunities linked to changes in medical and social cover and ensure that the Organisation's cover complies with current regulations; 
• design and implement tools and policies concerning the management of sick leave absences; perform administrative management of long-term illnesses in co-ordination with the insurers, the medical service, the staff members, their managers and other relevant HR colleagues ;
• supervise management of staff retirements and subsequent monitoring of pensioner files; liaise with the International Service for Remuneration and Pensions (ISRP), to which the technical management of pensions has been outsourced;
• build and maintain a professional network in other international organisations; represent the Organisation at the meetings of the Pensions Administrative Committee of the Co-ordinated Organisations (CAPOC);
• participate in meetings of the joint advisory committee on medical and social protection; maintain regular contact with staff representatives and respond to their requests.

You must:

• hold a higher education degree or qualification equivalent to a Master’s degree (), preferably in social science/policy, law, international administration, public administration, business administration, auditing or HR management, and ideally with specialisation in the fields of insurance, social protection or health systems management;
• have at least 5 years’ professional experience in compensation and benefits management, particularly in the field of health insurance and/or pension administration;
• have at least a very good knowledge of French and good knowledge of English, in both oral and written communication.

You must also:

• be a citizen of one of the member states of the Council of Europe and fulfil the conditions for appointment to the civil service of that state;
• have discharged any obligation concerning national service (military, civil or comparable);
• not be the parent, child, stepchild or grandchild of a serving staff member of the Council of Europe;
• be under the age of 65 years.

Your application must demonstrate to what extent you have the competencies listed below. To help you doing so, feel free to consult our .

• Managerial - Management of teams
• Operational - Planning and work organisation
• Operational - Analysis and problem solving
• Interpersonal - Service orientation
• Interpersonal - Teamwork and co-operation

• Professional and technical expertise
  • a very good knowledge of the French social protection system;
  • proven project management skills;
  • excellent oral and written communication skills when liaising with various stakeholders, while ensuring strict compliance with confidentiality.

• Operational - Concern for quality
• Interpersonal - Relationship building
• Interpersonal - Resilience

This job vacancy is for an international external recruitment. You can consult the conditions of employment (salaries, allowances, pension scheme, social insurance, etc.) on the webpage .

For more information on how we recruit, you can consult the page . This recruitment is carried out in accordance with Article 490 of the Council of Europe Staff Rules. The deadline for applications is indicated in the General information section of this vacancy notice (see above) and is fixed at 23:59:59 (CET/CEST). When applying, make sure your motivation shows how your competencies make your profile the best for the role.

As an equal opportunity employer, the Council of Europe welcomes applications from all suitably qualified people, irrespective of sex, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic or social origin, disability, religion or belief. Under its equal opportunity policy, the Council of Europe is aiming to achieve gender parity in staff employed in each category and grade. At the time of appointment, preference between suitable people shall be given to the person of the gender which is under-represented in the relevant grades within the category to which the vacancy belongs.

Applicants with specific needs are encouraged to request reasonable accommodations at any stage during the recruitment process. Please contact us at , we will ensure that your request is handled.

The information published on the CoE’s careers website regarding working conditions is correct at the time of publication of the vacancy notice. Any changes to these conditions during the recruitment process will be updated on our Portal and will apply at the time of the job offer. Our career's website is not intended to be exhaustive and may not address all questions you would have. Should you have remaining questions, please contact us at .