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 Equality and Non-Discrimination belongs to Directorate II - Inclusive, Sustainable Societies and Co-operation.

As the Head of the Secretariat of the Committee on Equality and Non-discrimination, you will:

• provide leadership and direction to committee secretariat, by leading and motivating team members, allocating roles and responsibilities, setting objectives and evaluating the performance of those responsible directly to you;
• supervise and co-ordinate the work of the committee, its standing and ad hoc 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, notably by:
  • elaborating the committee’s work programme;
  • organising and supervising the preparation of and follow-up to meetings of the plenary committee, its sub-committees and parliamentary networks;
  • supervising the organisation of missions of parliamentarians and staff;
  • providing the chairperson, vice-chairpersons, rapporteurs and general rapporteurs with the necessary substantive and procedural assistance, such as giving advice on highly sensitive issues as well as formulating proposals thereon;
• lead on and conduct research tasks:
  • carry out rigourous 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, participate in fact-finding visits and provide advice and assistance to rapporteurs;
  • provide advice on complex and sensitive 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;
• provide secretariat to the Vigdís Prize for Women's Empowerment, notably by supervising the organisation of meetings of the selection panel and of the award ceremony, and providing panel members with all relevant information and documentation necessary for their activities.
• 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:

• hold higher education degree or qualification equivalent to a master’s degree () in law, political science or a related and relevant field;
• have at least 10years of relevant professional experience acquired in the areas covered by the committee’s mandate;
• have very good knowledge of one of the two official languages (English or French) and good knowledge of the other.

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 - Vision and Strategic Insight
• Managerial - Leadership
• Managerial - Management of teams
• Operational - Planning and work organisation
• Interpersonal - Negotiating

• 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 texts on complex and sensitive political and human rights issues;
  • 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 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 .