Administrative Support Assistant

European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare (EDQM), Council of Europe; Den Haag; On-site; EUR 30,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

The Administrative Support Assistant role is based in The Hague within the Register of Damage for Ukraine, established under an Enlarged Partial Agreement of the Council of Europe. You will support the Executive Director, Deputy and team with diary management, travel arrangements, meeting logistics and document handling in a multilingual, international setting.

Applicants should have at least four years of general administration and event-planning experience, strong English, and a willingness to

Qualifications

• Four years of professional experience in general administration and event/work programme planning/co-ordination, preferably in a multinational setting.
• Very good knowledge of English; Dutch language skills are highly desirable.
• Be a citizen of a Council of Europe member state and eligible for civil service, present in the Netherlands.
• Discharge any mandatory national service obligations and be under 65 years of age.

Responsibilities

• Provide day-to-day administrative and organisational support to the ED and Deputy, including diary management and meeting arrangements.
• Coordinate travel for the ED, Board members and staff, including transport, accommodation, visas and expense claims.
• Organise in-person and virtual meetings, venues, interpretation, technical needs and participant registration.
• Prepare minutes, notes and follow-up actions; maintain records and mailing lists.
• Maintain administrative communications with embassies and international bodies; manage office supplies and records.
• Provide drafting, proofreading and editing support to other teams as required.

Skills

Planning and work organisation

Analysis and problem solving

Service orientation

Teamwork and co-operation

Resilience

Adaptability

Initiative

Multinational environment experience

Education

High School Diploma

Tools

Office software

Outlook

Job description

Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law (DGI)

Description & Requirements

Your Team

The Register of Damage for Ukraine, established in May 2023 through an Enlarged Partial Agreement of the Council of Europe, is based in The Hague, Netherlands, with an office in Kyiv, Ukraine. It serves as a documentary record of claims and evidence on damage, loss or injury caused by the Russian Federation’s internationally wrongful acts in or against Ukraine. The Register receives claims from individuals, businesses and state and municipal entities in Ukraine regarding damage, loss or injury that they have suffered because of the Russian aggression in Ukraine.

You will join the Register’s team in The Hague and work closely with the Executive Director, the Deputy and colleagues across its different teams.

Your Role

As an Administrative Support Assistant, you will contribute to the smooth and efficient functioning of the Register by providing administrative and organisational support to the Executive Director (ED), the Deputy and wider team. Working in a varied and international environment, you will:

• provide day-to-day administrative and organisational support to the ED, including diary and agenda management, meeting arrangements and general office co-ordination;
• co-ordinate travel arrangements for the ED, Board members and other relevant staff, including transport and accommodation, visa requests and expense claims;
• organise the administrative and logistical arrangements for in-person and virtual meetings and events, including venues, live streaming, interpretation and translation, technical requirements, participant registration and hospitality;
• contribute to the smooth running and follow-up of meetings and events, including welcoming participants, preparing notes, minutes and other relevant records, and undertaking related follow-up actions as required;
• maintain administrative and protocol communications with embassies, international organisations and relevant authorities, acting as the primary point of contact for routine matters;
• maintain accurate and up-to-date administrative records, contact and participant lists and mailing lists, as well as digital systems and collaborative workspaces, including DMS and CollabSpaces and related user access and permissions;
• contribute to the efficient day-to-day running of the office, including reception, supplies, filing and other general administrative requirements;
• provide administrative support to other teams, including basic drafting, proofreading and editing of documents, and provide backup to other administrative and support staff as required.

Requirements to apply

You must:

• hold a completed full course of general secondary education (High School Diploma);
• have a minimum of four years of professional experience, including experience in general administration and planning/co-ordinating events and work programs, ideally within a multinational environment;
• have a very good knowledge of English (one of the Council of Europ's two official languages); knowledge of Dutch is highly desirable.

You must also:

• be a citizen of one of the member States of the Council of Europe and fulfil the conditions for appointment to the civil service of that state;
• be currently present in the Netherlands;
• 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.

Your application must demonstrate to what extent you have the competencies listed below. To help you doing so, feel free to consult our competency framework .

• Operational - Planning and work organisation
• Operational - Analysis and problem solving
• Interpersonal - Service orientation
• Interpersonal - Teamwork and co-operation
• Professional and technical expertise:
  • wide and in-depth experience of management support duties and of the activities and procedures preferably of international organisations or diplomatic missions;
  • excellent computer skills for standard tools in office applications (word processing, spreadsheet, data bases, presentation software, outlook, internet/intranet publications).
• Interpersonal - Resilience
• Interpersonal - Adaptability
• Interpersonal - Initiative
• Professional and technical expertise:
  • knowledge of French (one of the Council of Europ's two official languages).

What we offer

This job vacancy is for a local external recruitment based on fixed-term contracts. Employment is limited to 31 December 2027 and may be extended. You can consult the conditions of employment (salaries, allowances, pension scheme, social insurance, etc.) on the webpage What we offer .

Applications and selection procedure

For more information on how we recruit, you can consult the page Our recruitment process . This recruitment is carried out in accordance with Rule No. 2/2025 on locally recruited staff members in Duty Stations outside of France. 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).

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.

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.