Secretariat of the Subcommittee on Human Rights/Human Rights Unit - Post A

The Directorate-General for External Policies is made up of four directorates: Committees, Regions (covering interparliamentary delegations), Resources and Democracy Support.

Staff of DG EXPO form a European team of advisers supporting the European Parliament's President and political bodies in their work on the EU's external policies. Colleagues in DG EXPO provide advice on matters of substance and procedure, liaise with other EU institutions and manage resources. The focus is on legislation, parliamentary oversight of the European Commission and EEAS, and support for parliamentary democracy. Most of the work is done in Brussels.

The EP's Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI) is one of the five parliamentary committees and subcommittees dealing with the European Union's foreign policy issues. As a Subcommittee of the EP's Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), its core competences, proceedings and activities focus on democracy, the rule of law, human rights in third countries and the principles of international human rights and humanitarian law. The Subcommittee’s role is to ensure coherence between all the Union’s external policies and its human rights policy.

The secretariat of the Subcommittee is tasked with the organisation of DROI meetings, public hearings, DROI coordinators’ (Enlarged Bureau) meetings and visits of DROI Members’ delegations to third countries. It assists AFET/DROI Rapporteurs with the preparation and adoption of the annual report on human rights and democracy in the world, as well as own-initiative reports and opinions to reports prepared by other EP committees. It also contributes to the preparation of so-called “urgency resolutions” linked to plenary debates on urgent cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

• Assisting the staff of the DROI subcommittee secretariat with preparing briefing notes, background notes, feedback notes of the subcommittee meetings and other meetings, as well as speaking points for the Chair and MEPs;
• Contributing to the preparation of the subcommittee’s political and legislative work by gathering and researching information;
• Contributing to the organisation of and preparation of subcommittee meetings, hearings, workshops and exchanges of views with visiting speakers;
• Contributing to the subcommittee’s work on “urgency resolutions” by searching for and compiling relevant information;
• Drafting press releases and other communication documents;
• Attending parliamentary meetings and meetings with MEPs, as well as with human rights organisations.

• A university graduate, preferably with a Master’s degree in law, political science or social sciences;
• Eager to learn about the European Parliament, the EU’s external policies and passionate about human rights;
• Proactive, flexible and able to think outside the box;
• Equipped with excellent written and verbal communication skills, with an eye for detail;
• Equipped with strong analytical and problem solving skills;
• Fluent in English, knowledge of languages spoken in South or Southeast Asia would be an asset;
• Experienced in research work;
• Able to work independently and also within a team and to follow the instructions of senior team members;
• A person with strong time-management and organisational skills;
• Proficient in MS Office.