Head of Media Relations Division

The Media Department brings together the divisions responsible for media relations and web and social media communication, ensuring that the Council’s values, achievements, and positions are shared clearly and creatively with audiences worldwide, through both digital and traditional media channels.

Within the Media Department, the Media Relations Division leads the Council of Europe’s engagement with media professionals and outlets. It coordinates press releases, media briefings, and interviews, maintains relationships with journalists, and ensures consistent, accurate information about the Council of Europe’s work. The Division also includes a media monitoring and analysis team, which tracks, analyses, and reports on the Council’s media visibility, strengthening public understanding and trust across diverse audiences.

As Head of the Media Relations Division, working in close collaboration with the Head of Department and strengthening the link between strategic and operational aspects, you will:

• advise the Head of Department and spearhead proposals on all matters concerning media relations;
• actively contribute to the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Department’s strategy, with a focus on turning the strategic guidelines into concrete operational projects;
• lead, motivate and manage a multicultural team of communication professionals; co-ordinate their activities and facilitate internal communication, fostering team spirit and a harmonious working environment;
• supervise and manage media related projects, with a strong focus on results and measurable impact, with smooth change management;
• oversee media engagement, including during key high-level political events;
• develop and manage public outreach initiatives, including press releases, public statements and posting on social media; supervise the production and dissemination of communication content across multiple platforms;
• build, maintain and strengthen partnerships with international, regional and local media outlets;
• contribute to further developing and ensuring the consistency of the "Council of Europe" brand, by driving initiatives and projects aimed at enhancing its image and visibility both among the general public and political decision-makers.

You must:

• hold a higher education degree or qualification equivalent to a Master’s degree ) in communications, media studies, international relations, political science, journalism or a related field;

The degree requirement may be waived if the candidate has at least 10 years of the experience described below;

• have at least eight years of relevant professional experience acquired in communications, journalism, or media relations, including managerial experience; preference will be given to experience in political communication and strategic media engagement;
• have an excellent knowledge of English (one of the Council of Europe’s two official languages) and basic knowledge of French (the other official language), or capacity to acquire it on the job.

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 - Relationship building

• Professional and technical expertise:
  • political awareness and very good grasp of international current affairs;
  • experience in managing communications projects and campaigns;
  • proven ability to work under pressure;
  • excellent writing, text editing and public speaking skills;
  • understanding or experience of working in journalism or with journalists.

• Managerial - Organisational and contextual awareness
• Interpersonal - Resilience
• Interpersonal - Adaptability

• Professional and technical expertise:
  • understanding or experience of international organisations.

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 .