Under the authority of the Director General of Administration, the post-holder shall be responsible for ensuring that the Council's information system is fully compatible with the Organisation's strategy. He/she shall be responsible for the design and implementation of the information system, for maintaining it in an operational state, for its quality and for cost control. He/she shall provide leadership to, and ensure efficient management of the Directorate, in accordance with relevant terms of reference, regulations and Council of Europe's values and priorities. 

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

- Defines and ensures the implementation of the information system policy under the supervision of the Governance Board on Information Technology;  

- Delivers services to internal and external clients in compliance with the level of quality established in the service contracts; 

- Manages the documentary and archiving information system;  

- Guarantees the security of computer and telecommunications systems;

- Establishes good relations with internal partners and clients;  

- Defines and implements the Directorate's outsourcing policy;

- Makes proposals on and manages the Directorate's investment projects;

- Manages the Directorate's financial and human resources;

- Communicates vision and objectives to staff and ensures that they are properly implemented;

- Promotes the Council of Europe's values, internally and externally. 

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

Essential Criteria

Only candidates who fulfill the following criteria will be considered eligible for shortlisting:

·      Qualifications: higher education degree or qualification, equivalent to a masters degree, in computer sciences, information systems or a similar area. Exceptionally, the degree or qualification requirement may be waived if the candidate has equivalent professional experience.  

·       Experience: substantial professional experience at senior management level in the field of information technology, preferably in an international environment.  

·      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. 

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

·         Vision on international affairs: vision and strategic insight.

·         Managerial skills: leadership; management of multi-layer teams, as well as of resources and projects covering different functional areas and fields of expertise; influence and authority.

·         Professional and technical skills:

-          very good knowledge of information technology and developments in the field; 

-          planning and work organisation; problem-solving; judgement skills.

·         Interpersonal skills: team work; service and client orientation; relationship-building at a senior level; negotiating.

·         Communication skills: ability to express oneself, make presentations and draft clearly and convincingly; ability to address an audience.

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

·         Personal values: integrity, loyalty, commitment and conscience; respect for diversity.

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

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 10 August 2015 (midnight Central European Time).  

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.

External candidates 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.

Internal candidates 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.