The seconded official shall remain in employment or be paid by the member State from which he/she is seconded throughout the period of secondment, and shall receive no salary and no social and medical cover from the Council of Europe.

The seconded official will not receive displacement allowance nor reimbursement of travelling expenses by the Organisation as set out in Article 23 of Committee of Ministers’ Resolution Res (2012)2.

Under the authority of the Head of Bioethics Unit, the seconded official will manage the project on “Emerging Technologies and Human Rights”.

The seconded official performs the following key duties:

- Preparation and implemention the programme of activities aiming at developing, promoting and facilitating the implementation of ethical principles in the field of emerging technologies, including activities in cooperation with other intergovernmental organisations;

- Contribution to the preparation of documents, including, where appropriate, a possible white paper (drafting and preparing proposals on the basis of the comments made by members of group(s) of experts and delegations in the Committee on Bioethics (DH-BIO));

- Preparation and follow up of the meetings of the Group of experts entrusted with the follow up of the Conference on Emerging technologies and Human Rights held in May 2015 ;

- Participation in the other activities carried out by the Bioethics Unit.

Please note that the seconded official may be required to perform other duties not listed in the call for candidates.

Qualifications:
Higher education degree or qualification equivalent to a masters degree in the biomedical field with very good knowledge ethical and legal issues in this field (2nd cycle of the Bologna process framework of qualifications for the European Higher Education Area).

Experience:
› In depth experience in the analysis of ethical and legal issues in the biomedical field; experience in the analysis of such issues in relation with emerging technology would be an asset.

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.

Council of Europe staff members adhere to the values Professionalism, Integrity and Respect.

Essential:
› Professional and technical expertise
- Expertise in bioethics, in particular on ethical and legal issues raised by scientific and technological development in the biomedical field
› Vision and Strategic Insight
› Analysis and problem solving
› Drafting skills
› Planning and work organisation
› Teamwork and co-operation

Desirable:
› Initiative
› Organisational and contextual awareness
› Adaptability

For more information, please refer to the Competency Framework of the Council of Europe.

In recent years, innovations in the biomedical field are more and more emerging from the convergence of developments in different domains, including nanotechnology, biotechnology, cognitive science and information technology. As a result of this convergence, we can observe an increasing interaction between the life sciences and the engineering sciences. This interaction and convergence between different scientific and technological fields are source of important potential benefits, in particular for human health. However, it also raises new questions about the implications of these developments for human rights and human dignity. This lead the Committee on Bioethics (DH-BIO), as part of its mission, to look into these new developments in order to be able to respond to the possible ethical and legal challenges that they raised . A conference on “Emerging Technologies and Human Rights” was held on 4-5 May 2015 under the auspices of the Belgian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers.  The objective of that conference was to identify priority human rights challenges raised by emerging technologies and their convergence.   Two background studies prepared for the Conference, covering on the one hand the scientific aspects of new technological developments, and on the other ethical issues raised by emerging sciences and technologies. Based on these studies, the presentations made and discussion held at the conference as well as the report by the conference rapporteurs, the DH-BIO, in accordance with its Terms of reference for the 2016-2017 biennium, will identify and undertake action(s) to address priority human rights challenges raised by emerging technologies, including a possible white paper.  The key competences for this job, in particular, the expertise in bioethics, in particular on ethical and legal issues raised by scientific and technological development in the biomedical field , together with drafting ability have been defined in the light of this objective.