Under the authority of the Director General of Democracy (DGII), the incumbent will provide leadership to, and ensure efficient management of the Directorate of Democratic Citizenship and Participation, in compliance with Council of Europe values and priorities.

The incumbent performs all or a combination of the following duties:

• defines the objectives of the Directorate in consultation with the Director General;
• contributes to the development and achievement of the Directorate’s policies in accordance with the mandate of the Directorate General;
• plans, formulates, implements and reports on policies and programmes in the fields of Education and Youth in accordance with general priorities and policies;
• ensures policy and administrative support to the statutory and intergovernmental bodies operating in these fields;
• provides leadership and guidance to the Directorate’s staff in cooperation with subordinate line managers (Heads of the Education and Youth Departments);
• manages financial and human resources allocated to the Directorate including Joint Programmes with the European  Union and funds from other external sources;
• promotes transversality within the Directorate and Directorate General and by establishing and maintaining cooperation with other bodies/sectors of the Council of Europe, including the Secretariats of the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities;
• supervises the preparation of documents submitted to the Committee of Ministers;
• establishes and maintains contacts with governments, international institutions, non governmental organisations and other relevant bodies/institutions;
• increases the internal and external visibility of the Directorate and its topics;
• undertakes official journeys and/or participates in field missions in connection with activities described above.

Please note that the incumbent may be required to perform other duties not listed in the vacancy notice.

Only candidates who fulfill the following criteria will be considered eligible for shortlisting:

·      Qualifications: higher education degree or qualification equivalent to a masters degree  in a relevant field. Exceptionally, the degree or qualification requirement may be waived if the candidate has equivalent professional experience. 

·      Experience: substantial professional experience, including in managing teams, resources and projects at a senior level in an international relations context. 

·      Language requirements: very good knowledge of one of the two official languages of the Council of Europe (English or French), and good knowledge of the other. 

·      Nationality: nationality of one of the 47 Council of Europe member States. 

·      Age: under 65 years of age, at the closing date of the vacancy notice. 

The following competencies have been identified as important for the role: 

·         Vision of international affairs: vision and strategic insight; awareness of the international political, economic, social and cultural context; organisational awareness.

·         Managerial skills: leadership; management of teams, resources, processes and projects; coaching of others; influence and authority.

·         Professional and technical expertise:

- conceptual thinking and policy development at strategic level;

- planning and work organisation;

- problem-solving and jugement skills.

·         Communication and linguistic skills: highly-developed and persuasive communication skills; listening and presentation skills in both languages; ability to draft clearly, concisely and convincingly.

·         Interpersonal skills: relationship-building and networking at the political, diplomatic and administrative levels; negotiating skills.

·         Personal attitudes: initiative and responsibility; result orientation and concern for continuous improvement; concern for quality and efficiency;  organisational alignment.

·         Personal values: integrity, loyalty,  independence and confidence; respect for diversity.

For more information, please refer to the competency inventory of the Council of Europe. 

Applications must be made in English or French using the Council of Europe on-line application system. By connecting to our website www.coe.int/jobs you can create and submit your on-line application. Applications must be submitted at the latest 3 August 2015 (midnight Central European Time).  

Only those candidates who are considered to best match the requirements of the job vacancy will be selected for the next stage of the recruitment procedure.

After the preliminary selection has been made, candidates for senior management posts (grades A6 and A7) at the Council of Europe will be subject to a competency assessment.

Candidates may be invited to attend interviews. 

The appointed candidate must be a national of a Council of Europe member State. In accordance with the Staff Regulations of the Council of Europe, staff shall retire on reaching the age of 65.

External candidates will be appointed on an initial two-year contract, constituting a probationary period. If successful the appointment will be extended for one or more periods varying in length between one and five years.

Internal candidates will be initially appointed for a trial period of two years. If the staff member is confirmed in his/her post at the end of the trial period, he/she shall be re-appointed for three years. At the end of the period of five years, he/she shall be either kept in post, or assigned to another post at the same grade. 

Further details on conditions of employment including salaries, allowances, pension scheme and social insurance can be consulted on our recruitment website. 

Under its equal opportunities policy, the Council of Europe is aiming to achieve parity in the number of women and men employed in each category and grade. In the event of equal merit, preference will therefore be given to the applicant belonging to the under-represented sex.

The Council of Europe welcomes applications from all suitably-qualified candidates, irrespective of gender, disability, marital or parental status, racial, ethnic or social origin, colour, religion, belief or sexual orientation.

During the different stages of the recruitment procedure, specific measures may be taken to ensure equal opportunities for candidates with disabilities.

The Organisation 

The Council of Europe is the continent’s leading organisation in the protection of human rights, democracy and rule of law. It was founded in 1949 in order to promote greater unity between its members  and  now includes 47 member states, all having signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights.

By Statute, the Council of Europe has two constituent organs: the Committee of Ministers, composed of the member States’ Ministers for Foreign Affairs, and the Parliamentary Assembly, comprising delegations from the national parliaments. The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe represents the entities of local and regional self-government within the member States. The Commissioner for Human Rights is an independent and impartial institution within the Council of Europe mandated to promote the awareness of and respect for human rights in member states.

The European Court of Human Rights is the judicial body which oversees the implementation of the Convention in the member states. Individuals can bring complaints of human rights violations to the Strasbourg Court once all possibilities of appeal have been exhausted in the member state concerned.

The Council of Europe has its permanent headquarters in Strasbourg (France) and in addition it maintains external presence in more than twenty countries. More information about Council of Europe external presence.

The Directorate of Democratic Citizenship and Participation is one of the three Directorates in the Directorate General of Democracy. It plays a key role in helping DGII in its mandate to promote democratic governance, to strengthen sustainable democratic societies and democratic responses to crisis situations, and to promote social cohesion and the societal defences against discrimination, cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue, democratic citizenship and the participation of all. 

The Directorate aims at developing, planning and implementing Council of Europe policies and practices in the field of Education and Youth, e.g. in the following areas:  

-           education for intercultural dialogue, democratic citizenship and human rights including history teaching; 

-           quality education and language teaching policies;

-           inclusive education; 

-           higher education policy and reform; 

-           teacher education; 

-           national youth policies; 

-           the contribution of youth NGOs to education for democratic citizenship and human rights; 

-           the contribution of youth work and youth NGOs in peace-building, conflict transformation and intercultural dialogue; 

-           access of young people to social rights and the prevention of social exclusion, discrimination and xenophobia directed against vulnerable groups; 

-           empowerment of Roma and other vulnerable groups through education and youth work;

-           promotion of youth cooperation through the work of the European Youth Foundation.

The Directorate provides in-service training and support for the professional development of teachers and teacher training professionals through the Pestalozzi Programme for education professionals. It organises seminars and training courses for young people in its Youth Centres in Strasbourg and Budapest. It carries out regional and bilateral assistance activities in its field of work, both directly with member States and in partnership with the European Commission and the European Economic Area. The Directorate comprises some 120 staff, working at the headquarters in Strasbourg, at the European Youth Centre in Budapest, at the European Centre for Modern Languages in Graz and in offices of the Council of Europe  in Brussels, Belgrade, Sarajevo, Tirana, as well at the Council of Europe Project Office in Ankara. The Directorate co-operates with key international organisations and bodies active in the field of education and youth.  Through special cooperation agreement it cooperates closely with the European Wergeland Centre (Oslo) on account of its special relevance to Council of Europe priorities in education and youth.

The Directorate of Democratic Citizenship and Participation is part of Directorate General II Democracy, which includes three other directorates: the Democratic Governance Directorate, the Directorate of Human Rights, Dignity and Anti-Discrimination as well as the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and Healthcare.