The Council of Europe (CoE) Projects are implemented under the Co-operation Programmes Division of the Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law. In Ukraine, projects are implemented within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” (2023-2026).

The Project “Strengthening Ukrainian Law Enforcement Agencies During War and Post-War Period” aims to assist the Ukraininan law enforcement agencies (National Police, State Bureau of Investigation and State Security Service) in creating the necessary preconditions for better implementation of European human rights standards. It applies practices that strengthen effectiveness of investigations into human rights violations, including in the context of the ongoing war.

Related Project in the sphere of criminal justice is “Fostering Human Rights in the Criminal Justice System in Ukraine”. It aims at providing policy and legal expertise in the criminal justice sector in Ukraine, supporting prosecution and judiciary in creating preconditions for better implementation of European human rights standards, including in the war context with a great focus on ensuring justice and accountability for alleged war crimes and other international crimes.

As a Senior Project Officer you will play an important role in implementing the project’s activities and will leverage your legal knowledge to ensure effective outcomes. More specifically, you will:

• contribute to planning, organisation, implemention and follow up of project activities in accordance with the project workplan and calendar of activities, under the co-ordination of the local project management;
• communicate and liaise with local project partners and stakeholders;
• contribute to the efficient functioning of the Council of Europe Office in Kyiv, including through contributions, by regularly informing the Head of the Office and the Deputy Head of Office about the implementation of the project and coordinating the work within the broader framework of the overall activities of the Council of Europe Office;
• consider financial resources allocated to project activities when dealing with necessary action preparations;
• track status and, where need be, the quality of deliverables from international and national consultants, ensuring deadlines are respected and intellectual services ordered are delivered in full;
• support the Project Manager and guide the Project Assistant in ensuring timely and effective delivery of project outputs in line with the CoE rules and procedures;
• assist with preparation of necessary documents and agendas for project activities, participate in these events, and facilitate/moderate them as necessary;
• support publicity and visibility of the project by drafting news items, communications on social media, preparing documents for public dissemination, ensuring that any publications are in line with the CoE rules and guidelines on communications, visibility and publishing;
• ensure that project monitoring and evaluation data is duly collected and maintained, and analyse it as necessary;
• monitor local contextual and legal developments, particularly in the law enforcement and criminal justice sectors, ensuring the project team is duly and timely informed of any important developments;
• prepare periodic overviews of developments in the Ukrainian law enforcement/criminal justice spheres, as necessary;
• contribute with local legal research, analysis and advice to project activities, as necessary, including, where appropriate, by contributing to reviews and substantive comments in the context of preparation of the project deliverables, leveraging knowledge of the Ukrainian legal system and context;
• provide general conclusions on the potential impact of developments in the law-making and law-enforcement/criminal justice spheres as necessary;
• support and participates in the project’s procurement and recruitment procedures in line with the CoE rules and regulations;
• undertake official journeys in connection with the project activities;
• perform any other task related to the implementation of the project as requested.   

You must:

• completed full course of general secondary education and appropriate professional qualifications;
• have a minimum of four years of cumulative relevant professional experience in the areas of law-enforcement, justice, criminal justice, public prosecution functioning, human rights, and experience in project management/implementation of technical co-operation or policy oriented programmes at an international and/or national level;
• have an excellent knowledge of Ukrainian (mother tongue level) and a very good knowledge of one of the two Council of

Europe’s official languages (English);

• be a citizen of the host country or one of the 46 member States of the Council of Europe;
• 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 at the closing date of this vacancy

Demonstrate to us that you have the following competencies:

• Professional and technical expertise:
  • good knowledge of project management (results-based management approach) and experience of carrying out corresponding duties of project implementation in the framework of international/European technical co-operation programmes or in a public institution;
  • good knowledge of the Ukrainian legal system as well as Ukrainian context of the justice sector reforms and the human rights situation in Ukraine;
  • good knowledge of the Council of Europe standards and mechanisms in the field of rule of law and human rights;
  • good computer skills of standard tools in office applications (word processing, spreadsheet, data bases, presentation software, outlook).
• Planning and work organisation
• Concern for quality
• Teamwork and co-operation
• Analysis and problem solving
• Drafting skills
• Relationship building
• Learning and development
• Communication

These would be an asset:

• Professional and technical expertise:
  • hold a higher education degree or qualification in law or a related field;
  • specific knowledge of the Ukrainian legal system in the field of law enforcement or pre-trial investigation, criminal justice, public prosecution functioning;
  • experience in managing and implementating financial
• Creativity and innovation
• Resilience

If successful, you may be offered employment based on temporary contracts at grade B5. You will receive a basic monthly gross salary of 2 818.03€ which is exempt from national income tax. This salary may be supplemented by other allowances depending on your personal situation. You will be affiliated to a pension scheme and social and medical insurance. You will also benefit from 32 working days leave per year and other advantages (including flexible working hours, training and development, possibility of teleworking, etc.).

This recruitment procedure 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. Please note that staff must live within commuting distance from the Council of Europe Office in Kyiv, as the work requires staff to be regularly present in the office. If your profile matches our needs and you are not recruited straight away, you may be placed on a list of eligible candidates. The current projects run until the end of 2024, with follow-up 2-year phase project actions currently under development. Following the results of the competition, the position.s will be offered once the follow-up project.s are approved.

Applications and selection procedure                                                                                

Deadline for applications is 12 November 2024 (midnight Central European Time). You can apply in English or French using the Council of Europe online application system on: www.coe.int/jobs. Please fill out the form providing all requested details and explain how your competencies make you the best candidate for this role. It usually takes a few hours to fill it in, so please take this information into consideration while applying.

Only applications that best meet the abovementioned criteria, and that demonstrate the best profile in terms of qualifications, experience, and motivation, shall be considered for the next stages of the recruitment evaluation process, which may consist of different types of assessment. Further information on the assessment process will be provided to the selected people in due course.

Applications from staff members of the Council of Europe, who currently hold a fixed-term (CDD) contract or former staff members whose fixed-term contract has ended less than 12 months before the deadline for applications, will not be considered.

As an equal opportunity employer, the Council of Europe welcomes applications from all suitably qualified people, irrespective of sex, gender, marital or parental status, sexual orientation, ethnic or social origin, disability, religion or belief. Under its equal opportunities policy, the Council of Europe is aiming to achieve 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. During the different stages of the recruitment procedure, specific measures shall be taken to facilitate access for people with disabilities.