Vacancy Notice N° e51/2015
Scientific Assistant (Grade B4)
Directorate General of Democracy and Human Dignity (DG II)
European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare (EDQM)

European Pharmacopoeia Department
Closing date: 13 May 2015
Location : Strasbourg

Fixed-term contract: The total length of employment under fixed-term contracts will not exceed five years.

Job mission

Fixed-term contract - Turnover Profile

Turnover Profile 

 
 
Turnover profiles are specific roles where it is considered to be in the best interests of the Organisation to have a consistent rotation of staff. Turnover profiles offer once-only opportunities under this scheme and the total duration of employment cannot exceed five years.
Staff members or former staff members who are or have previously been employed in the framework of the Junior Professional Programme or Turnover Profiles will not be eligible again for any of the profiles under these schemes. The Council of Europe reserves the right to assess the admissibility of candidates who are or have previously been employed with the Organisation according to their contractual situation at the closing date of this competition.

Job mission 

 
 
 
Under the authority of the Director of the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and HealthCare and of the Head of the Department, the incumbent will provide professional scientific assistance in the management of assigned groups of experts/working parties and their respective work programmes and in the co-ordination, elaboration and revision of monographs and general chapters of the European Pharmacopoeia, in accordance with procedures, guidelines and priorities and with a concern for quality, efficiency and accuracy, and in compliance with Council of Europe’s values and regulations.
 

Key activities

Under the responsibility of the relevant scientific officer, the incumbent performs all or a combination of the following duties:

 

·           contributes to the implementation (including carrying out background studies/research and analysis), co-ordination, and assessment of programmes and activities for the elaboration of European Pharmacopoeia monographs and general chapters in respect of assigned Groups of Experts/Working Parties, notably:

§   organises and participates actively in meetings of groups of experts and working parties;

§   verifies technical documents (validation documents, batch data), in particular those received from manufacturers;

§   guides and advises experts assigned to the drafting or revision of European Pharmacopoeia texts, notably with respect to the Technical guide for the elaboration of monographs;

§   drafts, examines and/or revises draft texts of the European Pharmacopoeia;

§   participates in the scientific discussions in the groups and consolidates these discussions before a public enquiry, and after receiving comments from experts, the health authorities, the national pharmacopoeia authorities, manufacturers, etc., sends and evaluates these comments;

§   prepares the documents needed for the meetings of the groups;

·           contributes to the appropriate dissemination of information to all those who are concerned within EDQM (especially EPD) but also outside EDQM. This also includes management of users’ questions via the EDQM’s Helpdesk and of other scientific papers.

 

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

 

Eligibility Requirements

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

 

·        Qualifications: full course of general secondary education and a higher education degree or equivalent in a relevant area (for example, pharmacy, chemistry).

·         Experience: at least six months’ experience in the methods applied in quality control of substances for pharmaceutical use acquired in either a licensing authority, an official medicines control laboratory, a university (e.g. for a doctorate), an analogous organisation or the pharmaceutical industry.

·        Language requirements: very good knowledge of one of the official languages (English) and knowledge of the other (French).

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

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

Admissibility: candidates must be eligible for employment on this type of profile.

Employee Core Values

Competencies

Essential: 

·      Professional and technical competencies: good knowledge of methods of analysis applicable to chemical substances; planning and work organisation; analytical thinking. 

·      Communication and linguistic skills: communication, writing and presentation skills; can express/present oneself and draft clearly, concisely and convincingly in English. 

·      Interpersonal skills: relationship-building; diplomacy; team-work and co-operation. 

·      Personal attitudes: initiative and responsibility; result-orientation and sense of continuous improvement; concern for quality, efficiency and accuracy. 

 

Desirable:

·      Professional expertise: experience in preparing and drafting material of a regulatory or scientific nature; knowledge and experience of working with the texts of the European Pharmacopoeia.

·      Communication and linguistic skills: knowledge of other European languages. 

 

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

Additional information

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 13 May 2015 (midnight Central European Time).  

 

The selection procedure consists of a shortlisting based on candidates’ applications and may include ability tests, behavioural questionnaires, a job related written exam, situational exercises, language tests, interviews and full assessment centres.

 

Only candidates who best match the requirements of the job vacancy will be shortlisted and invited to test or a written exam. Tests or written exams may be eliminatory, in which case only candidates who succeed in the tests will be invited for interview. Depending on the number of applicants, the length of the professional experience considered for shortlisting may be increased from that indicated in the vacancy notice.  

 

Following this competition, a list of eligible candidates, in order of merit, may be established. This list will be valid for two years with the possibility of extending it to a maximum of four years. During the period of validity of the list, candidates on the list may be offered employment of fixed term duration. It should be noted that placement on this list does not give candidates the right to an appointment within the Council of Europe. The choice of candidates from a reserve list is not made solely according to the order of merit, but also takes into account the requirements of the position to be filled and the qualifications of the candidates.

 

For the moment, the duration of the position is limited to 31 December 2017, but may be prolonged.

 

The first two years of employment will constitute a probationary period. Provided the staff members’ work is considered satisfactory, he/she may be offered a contract of fixed term duration. However, the total length of employment will not exceed five years. The staff member so recruited shall not be eligible for any subsequent internal competition, promotion or transfer to a post, or for secondment.

 

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 European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare (http://www.edqm.eu) is a leading organisation that protects public health by enabling the development, supporting the implementation and monitoring the application of quality standards for safe medicines and their safe use. Its standards are recognised as a scientific benchmark world-wide. The European Pharmacopoeia is legally binding in European member states.  Similarly, the EDQM develops guidance and standards in the areas of blood transfusion, organ transplantations and consumer health issues.  Its mission is to contribute to the basic human right of access to good quality medicines and healthcare and to promote and protect human and animal health.

 

 

External recruitment procedure organised in accordance with Article 16 of the Regulations on Appointments