Council of Europe is hiring a Senior Project Officer

Description & Requirements

Your Team

The Council of Europe Office in Chisinau facilitates, maintains and strengthens working relations between the Council of Europe and the national authorities (mainly the government and parliament), regional and local authorities, representatives of civil society, political parties and the media, as well as members of the international community. 

You will be part of the team implementing the Project "Support for judicial reform in the Republic of Moldova" within the Department for the implementation of Human Rights, Justice and legal co-operation standards, which is part of the Council of Europe’s Directorate General of Human Rights and the Rule of Law.

This 42-month project, which started in May 2023, aims towards achieving the following outcomes:

• The Justice Sector Reform Strategy is further implemented, and the legal framework is more in line with European standards and commitments.
• The judicial and prosecutorial self-governing bodies exercise their competences to select, appoint, promote, transfer, suspend and remove judges and prosecutors in an effective, objective, and transparent manner in line with European standards.
• The National Institute of Justice provides enhanced judicial training for judges and prosecutors through improved curricula and internal processes allowing for a more transparent and impartial selection of new judges and prosecutors and for better training capacities, in line with the 2022 TAIEX recommendations.
• Constitutional justice is enhanced through increased legal capacities of members and staff of the Constitutional court and increased accessibility of Constitutional Court rulings via a new database.  

Your Role

As a Senior Project Officer, you will:

• ensure and supervise the planning, organisation and implementation of assigned project components, in line with the workplan, in close coordination with the project team, and under the supervision of the Project Manager, the project management at headquarters, as well as the Head and Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Chisinau; 
• ensure budget monitoring and financial reporting in line with the logframe and workplans, as well as the implementation of procurement procedures required in the context of the preparation of project activities, and ensure the verification of purchase files, draft contracts and payment documents;
• co-ordinate, organise and supervise the work of project assistants and experts involved in specific activities/outputs;
• establish and maintain close working contacts with project partners and local stakeholders, international organisations, civil society organisations and other relevant stakeholders; 
• co-ordinate the work within the broader framework of the overall Council of Europe Office action in the country; 
• participate in and contribute to meetings between the CoE, CoE experts and national authorities/counterparts/beneficiaries concerning the project, ensuring the implementation of agreed decisions; 
• ensure the preparation and drafting of project documents, including work plans, project reports, terms of reference, briefings, speaking notes, relevant meeting documentation, minutes; mission reports, and official speeches, ensuring editing documents prepared in English and in Romanian;
• co-ordinate and support the organisation of project inputs through tailor-made events (seminars, workshops, conferences, expert meetings, etc.);  
• provide assessment of results and achievements, and advise the management about risks and problems encountered; suggest new priorities and adjustments as necessary; 
• support the Council of Europe Secretariat and short-term consultants in the context of tasks and missions in the field; 
• ensure that decisions, final deliverables, project documents and correspondence are properly documented and filed; 
• contribute to raising the visibility of the project by verifying web news items and press releases, providing inputs for publications and by disseminating information; 
• contribute to the efficient functioning of the Council of Europe Office in Chisinau and regularly inform the Head of the Office and Deputy Head of Office in Chisinau on the implementation of the project and co-ordinate the work within the broader framework of the overall activities of the Council of Europe Office in Chisinau;
• undertake official journeys in connection with activities described above;
• perform any other task related to the implementation of the project as requested;
• promote the Council of Europe values internally and externally. 

Requirements to apply

 You must:

• hold a completed full course of general secondary education and appropriate professional qualifications in law, public administration, international relations, political or social science, or a related field; 
• have a minimum of 4 years of relevant professional experience in implementation of technical assistance projects, preferably focusing on justice reform, protection of human rights, or at least 4 years of experience in public sector institutions working in the relevant fields;
• have an excellent knowledge of Romanian (mother tongue level) and a very good knowledge of one of the two Council of Europe’s official languages (English, at least C1 level).
• be a citizen of the host country or one of the 46 member States of the Council of Europe and fulfil the conditions for appointment to the civil service of that state;
• be present in the Republic of Moldova;
• 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 competency framework.

Key competencies

• Managerial - Management of teams
• Managerial - Decision making
• Operational - Drafting skills
• Operational - Results orientation
• Interpersonal - Initiative

• Professional and technical expertise:
  • excellent knowledge of Council of Europe and international standards on human rights and the rule of law; 
  • experience in working with authorities at national level;
  • knowledge of specific project management tools (project management methodologies, logframes, risk monitoring, etc.);
  • sound knowledge of standard tools in office applications (word processing, presentation, outlook, excel).

Desirable competencies

• Interpersonal - Service orientation
• Interpersonal - Communication
• Interpersonal - Adaptability

• Professional and technical expertise:
  • university degree in law;
  • specific knowledge of justice reform agenda;
  • understanding of the situation related to the selection, evaluation, disciplinary matters as well as professional training as concerns judges and prosecutors in the Republic of Moldova;
  • understanding of the institutional challenges of the key justice actors in the Republic of Moldova.

What we offer

This job vacancy is for a local external recruitment based on temporary contracts. Employment is limited to 31 December of the current year and may be extended. You can consult the conditions of employment (salaries, allowances, pension scheme, social insurance etc.) on the webpage What we offer.

Applications and selection procedure

For more information on how we recruit, you can consult the page Our recruitment process. This recruitment is carried out in accordance with Rule No. 1234 laying down the conditions of recruitment and employment of locally recruited staff members working in Council of Europe Duty Stations located outside of France. The deadline for applications is indicated in the General information section of this vacancy notice (see above) and is fixed at 23:59:59 Central European Time (CET). When applying, make sure your motivation shows how your competencies make your profile the best for the role.

Important information

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 beetwen 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 talents@coe.int, 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 beupdated 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 talents@coe.int.