The Secretariat of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe provides political advice and administrative support to one of the statutory organs of the Council of Europe - its Parliamentary Assembly. Within the Assembly secretariat, two Directorates (respectively, Democracy and Rule of Law, and Inclusive, Sustainable Societies and Co-operation) support parliamentary committees, organise parliamentary events on topical political issues and implement co-operation projects. The Secretariat of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights belongs to Directorate I - Democracy and Rule of Law.

As the Deputy to the Head of Secretariat of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, you will:

• contribute to the management of the secretariat of the committee and its sub-committees, general rapporteurs, and parliamentary networks, in accordance with the priorities of the Assembly, ensuring its political relevance, compliance with Council of Europe standards and anticipating new areas of activity, and more specifically co-ordinate the work within the committee secretariat, notably by:
  • performing management tasks delegated by the Head of Secretariat, in particular supervising the work of other members of the department and committee secretariat (including coaching, setting objectives and quality control);
  • leading on and supervising the organisation and follow-up of meetings of the committee and committee events (hearings, conferences, seminars and round tables, etc.);
  • advising the Head of Secretariat and the Committee Chair on the definition of the work programme of the committee; contributing to its implementation;
  • advising and assisting the Committee Chair on procedural matters;
  • supervising the negotiation of contracts with consultants, with a view to assisting parliamentarians in the preparation of reports;

• lead on and conduct legal research tasks:
  • carry out rigourous legal research and drafting tasks for the Assembly rapporteurs, including drafting  resolutions, recommendations and explanatory memoranda to be adopted by the committee and the Assembly; lead on the organisation, participating in fact-finding visits and providing advice and assistance to rapporteurs;
  • provide advice on complex and sensitive legal matters within the committee’s competence, on the basis of Council of Europe legal standards and demonstrating political judgment and sensitivity; supervise the drafting of and leading on the preparation of briefing notes and speeches;
• establish and maintain contacts and working relations with other Assembly committees, national delegations to the Assembly, international governmental and non-governmental organisations, international parliamentary assemblies, relevant parliamentary committees in national parliaments and at the European Parliament, as well as civil society, government authorities and permanent representations of member and observer states, and Council of Europe committees of governmental experts and other Council of Europe departments;
• assist members of the committee representing it at events organised by other national or international bodies; represent the committee secretariat and, as appropriate, the Assembly secretariat, at internal and external meetings, within the committee’s competence.
• support the secretariat of the Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights when necessary, namely:
  
  • participate in the preparation and running of the meetings of the Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights when necessary;
  • assist and replace the Head of the Secretariat of the Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights when necessary;

• anticipate potential media interest in the committee's activities, co-operating with the Communication Division to promote the visibility of the committee's and Assembly's activities.

You must:

• Managerial - Organisational and contextual awareness
• Managerial - Management of teams
• Operational - Planning and work organisation
• Operational - Analysis and problem solving
• Interpersonal - Communication

• Professional and technical expertise:
  • sound political judgement and ability to grasp and analyse complex issues; highly developed knowledge of the political context in Council of Europe member States and at international level;
  • ability to reconcile differing positions in order to promote consensus building;
  • experience in drafting reports and ability to draft complex legal texts;
  • high level of general culture and strong interest in current affairs;
  • awareness of the values of the Council of Europe and familiarity with its role in the international political context and multilateral political architecture.

• Operational - Results orientation
• Interpersonal - Resilience

• Professional and technical expertise:
  • experience of ensuring the secretariat of a parliamentary or intergovernmental committee;
  • experience of working with elected representatives;
  • knowledge of the functioning and case-law of the European Court of Human Rights;
  • knowledge of one of the working languages of the Parliamentary Assembly (German and Italian) or of other European languages.

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 . 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 .