Under the authority of Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the incumbent is responsible for programme and budgetary questions throughout the Organisation. The incumbent will provide leadership to, and ensure efficient management of, the Directorate of Programme and Budget, in compliance with Council of Europe values and priorities.

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

• contributes to the definition of the Council of Europe’s strategic priorities and assess their budgetary implications;
• ensures the preparation, follow-up and reporting on the programme of activities and budgets of the Organisation and all related questions;
• works closely with all MAEs and in particular collaborates with the Office of the Directorate General of Programmes in preparing the biennial programme of activities;
• contributes to the management of the Organisation’s funds;
• ensures the Secretariat of the Budget Committee, and advice to relevant Rapporteur Groups of the Committee of Ministers;
• liaises with the External Auditor and the Oversight Advisory Committee on the above mentioned questions;
• promotes good practices on programming and budgetary management throughout the Organisation;
• provides leadership and guidance to the Directorate’s staff;
• manages the financial and human resources allocated to the Directorate;
• represents the Council of Europe in matters concerning the Directorate;
• promotes Council of Europe values internally and externally.

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

Only applicants who best meet the following criteria will be considered for shortlisting:

Qualifications:

• Higher education degree or qualification, equivalent to a masters degree, preferably in finance, administration, political sciences or another relevant field. Exceptionally, the degree or qualification requirement may be waived if the candidate has equivalent professional experience.

Experience:

• substantial professional experience in budgetary and financial management;
• proven experience in management of human and financial resources at increasing levels of responsibility;
• substantial experience in one or more of the following fields: policy development, programme management, intergovernmental work;
• excellent knowledge of the Organisation’s scope and the functioning of international organisations; very good understanding of multilateral co-operation;
• awareness of the functioning and use of current information technology.

Language requirements:

• Very good knowledge of one of the official languages (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.

Council of Europe staff members adhere to the values Professionalism, Integrity and Respect.

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

Essential

• Vision and Strategic Insight
• Leadership
• Management of teams
• Decision Making
• Planning and work organisation
• Results orientation
• Negotiating

Desirable

• Organisational and contextual awareness
• Professional and technical expertise
• Analysis and problem solving

For more information, please refer to the Competency Framework of the Council of Europe.

Applications

Applications must be submitted in English or French at the latest 11 July 2016 (midnight Central European Time) 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.

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.

If an external candidate is selected, he/she 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.

If an internal candidate is selected, he/she 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.