Policy Advisor - Reykjavik Process and the Environment

Your Team

Within the Directorate of Social Rights, Health and Environment you will work with the Reykjavik Process and the Environment team which is responsible for the implementation of the Council of Europe Strategy on the Environment and serves the Steering Committee on the Environment (CDENV), the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention), the Landscape Convention (Florence Convention) and the European and Mediterranean Major Hazards Agreement (EUR-OPA).

Your Role

As a Political Advisor, you will:

• provide high-quality policy advice and analysis to senior management and governing bodies, contributing to the Reykjavík process on the environment by strengthening the Council of Europe’s work to counter the impact of the triple planetary crisis of pollution, climate change and loss of biodiversity on human rights, democracy and rule of law;
• actively contribute to the implementation and promotion of the Council of Europe Strategy on the Environment and its related Action Plan;
• contribute to developing synergies and foster co-operation between the Reykjavík process on the environment, the Steering Committee on the Environment (CDENV), the Bern Convention, the Florence Convention and the European and Mediterranean Major Hazards Agreement (EUR-OPA) and, if need be, assist colleagues in these areas by providing both strategic and operational contributions;
• strengthen and develop cooperation with other services of the Organisation, and, in this context, participate in the organisation and running of meetings of the Council of Europe Inter-Secretariat Task Force on the Environment, as well as in the collection of information needed to feed in the Progress Report on the implementation of the Council of Europe Strategy on the Environment and to revise its accompanying Action Plan;
• contribute to cooperation with external stakeholders on the Reykjavík process on the environment, and, in this context, participate in the organisation and running of events such as the UN Climate Change COPs, maintaining and developing external partnerships, and strategically propose new ones;
• contribute to the promotion of the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law and of the animal welfare conventions;
• collect and analyse information, carry out background studies and research, and provide policy-relevant analysis to support evidence-based decision-making;
• draft and co-ordinate communication outputs and visibility of the work carried out by the Council of Europe on the environment (publications, press releases, articles for the website and news on any other means of communication, in particular social media);
• promote the Council of Europe’s contribution to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals - in particular Goals 3, 5, 13, 15 and 16 - by ensuring their integration across relevant programmes within the scope of the Reykjavík process on the environment, coordinating with internal and external stakeholders, producing the related deliverables, and measuring and reporting on progress.

Requirements to apply

You must: 

• have the support of the member State seconding you to the Council of Europe; 
• hold a higher education degree or qualification equivalent to a master’s degree (2nd cycle of the Bologna process framework of qualifications for the European Higher Education Area) in fields such as environment and human rights, environmental law, environmental protection and management, natural sciences, ecology, sustainable development, political science or law, or other relevant and similar degrees; 
• have at least 5 years of relevant professional experience acquired in environmental protection, management and policies; 
• have a very good knowledge of one of the two official languages of the Council of Europe (English or French) and good knowledge of the other (French or English); 
• be a citizen of one of the member States of the Council of Europe.

Key competencies

• Operational - Planning and work organisation
• Operational - Analysis and problem solving
• Operational - Drafting skills
• Operational - Learning and development

• Professional and technical expertise:

• ability to use standard office applications (word processing, spreadsheets, databeses, presentation sofware, Outlook).

Desirable competencies

• Managerial - Vision and Strategic Insight
• Operational - Results orientation
• Interpersonal - Adaptability

• Professional and technical expertise:
  • experience in secretariat work of intergovernmental and/or experts committees.

What we offer

This vacancy is for a secondment, ruled by Article 23 of Committee of Ministers’ Resolution CM/Res(2012)2. You can consult the conditions of secondment to the Council of Europe (days of leave, allowances etc.) on the webpage What we offer. This secondment foresees the relocation allowance and the travel expenses from the Organisation as indicated in Article 23 of the Resolution. 

This secondment should start as soon as possible.

Applications and selection procedure

For more information on how we recruit, you can consult the page Our recruitment process of our Career's website. 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). Only applicants who meet the conditions of the Committee of Ministers’ Resolution CM/Res(2012)2) and who best meet the abovementioned criteria will be considered for selection and for the next stage.

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 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 [email protected], 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 [email protected].