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General Information

Vacancy number
1067/2025
Recruitment type
External recruitment (international)
Type of contract
Fixed-term appointment
Posted date
03-Oct-2025
Deadline to apply
27-Oct-2025
Duty station
Strasbourg
Grade
A1/A2
Entity
European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and HealthCare

Description & Requirements

Your Team

The European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & Healthcare (EDQM) is a leading organisation whose mission is to contribute to public health protection by engaging with an international community of experts and stakeholders. We achieve this by promoting acces to safe medicines and healthcare through the elaboration of quality standards, which are recognised as a scientific bookmark worldwide. The EDQM's standards for medicines and their ingredients, compiled in the European Pharmacopeia, are legally binding in its 39 member states (and the European Union) and are also widely used across the globe in the human and animal health sectors. The EDQM also plays a crucial role in the areas of blood transfusion, organ, tissue and cell transplantation and in developing and setting consumer health standards, such as for cosmetics and food contact materials.

The team within which you will work, the Orders Handling team, is part of the EDQM Supply Chain Department (SCD) and is based in Strasbourg. The team manages customers’ orders for products and services provided by the EDQM and provides first level customer support. It is also in charge of stakeholder engagement activities. 

Your Role

As a Head of the Customer Care Section, you will:

  • organise and manage the human resources allocated to the Section to ensure that it is effective, efficient and result-oriented, including:
    • leading, motivating and co-ordinating staff members; fostering team spirit and a positive working environment; 
    • continuously enhancing workflows and processes to boost efficiency and performance, while also identifying and leveraging synergies with other activities within the Department and rest of the EDQM; 
  • modernise and co-ordinate the Department’s initiatives related to stakeholder engagement activities and customer orientation processes and activities by:
    • defining and implementing communication strategies with customers and actively listening to their needs to improve their experience (including the EDQM HelpDesk);
    • engaging with material donors to boost donations;
    • providing customer support on EDQM products and services;
  • use various channels, formats and materials (including attending trade fairs) to communicate on the Department’s activities and EDQM products/services and contribute to the visibility of its work; 
  • actively support the implementation of the EDQM-wide stakeholder engagement-related and other strategic objectives, including the development of IT systems and services for customer relationship management (CRM) and the online store;
  • monitor the effectiveness and suitability of stakeholder engagement activities through surveys and other similar means but also by taking into account frequently asked questions received by the EDQM HelpDesk.
Requirements to apply

You must:

  • hold a degree or qualification equivalent to a bachelor’s degree (1st cycle of the Bologna process framework of qualifications for the European Higher Education Area) in marketing/business development or similar subject, or in pharmacy, chemistry or biology;
  • have a minimum of 4 years’ professional experience in a similar role (e.g. developing and/or maintaining stakeholder engagement programmes, marketing/sales development, customer care/experience), in the pharmaceutical, chemical or a related industry, for an authority (e.g. national pharmacopoeia authority, OMCL) or in a laboratory or other relevant sector;
  • have a very good knowledge of English or French and good knowledge of the other language. 

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;
  • 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.

Key competencies
  • Operational - Drafting skills
  • Interpersonal - Service orientation
  • Interpersonal - Teamwork and co-operation
  • Interpersonal - Relationship building
  • Professional and technical expertise:

    • experience in business development or sales administration.

Desirable competencies
  • Operational - Creativity and innovation
  • Interpersonal - Initiative
  • Professional and technical expertise:

    • experience in market analysis;

    • knowledge and experience of using an ERP (e.g. SAP) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems.

What we offer

This job vacancy is for an international external recruitment. 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 Article 490 of the Council of Europe Staff Rules. 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). When applying, make sure your motivation shows how your competencies make your profile the best for the role.

Important information

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. Please contact us at talents@coe.int, we will ensure that your request is handled.

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. Should you have remaining questions, please contact us at talents@coe.int.