Civil Society Forum seeks Director of Secretariat

The Secretariat of the Steering Committee of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum is seeking a Director.

Location: Brussels, Belgium.

Salary: € 48 000 per annum (brutto).

Start date: November/December 2012.

Deadline: applications should be sent to steeringcommittee@eap-csf.eu by midnight CET, 28 October 2012.

The Steering Committee of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum is looking to appoint a full-time Director for the newly registered Secretariat of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum. The Director will launch the Secretariat, raise the profile and impact of the Forum, liaise with key stakeholders in government and civil society at the EU level and in the Eastern Partnership countries, support the Steering Committee, and raise funds for the further development of the Secretariat.

This is a challenging position working in a dynamic, international civil society network. The Director will be appointed by the EaP CSF Steering Committee following an open call for applications. The Director will be expected to attend the forthcoming Forum annual event in Stockholm on 29-30 November 2012.

About the Forum

The Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum was established in 2009 following the Prague Summit launching the Eastern Partnership (EaP) initiative. The EaP aims to support Eastern European countries' sustainable reform process with a view to accelerating their political association and economic integration with the EU. The Forum’s annual meeting and Steering Committee meetings are financed by the European Union. The Forum aims to support the further development of civil society organisations, and to promote contacts between them as well as facilitate their dialogue with public authorities. The Forum is an integral part of the Eastern Partnership, which forms the Eastern dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy. The EaP encompasses Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine.

In 2012, the Secretariat was registered by the Forum’s Steering Committee as an international non-profit organisation in Belgium. The Steering Committee comprises 17 people, elected at the third Forum annual event in Poznan in November 2011.

The Steering Committee is structured as follows:

• Each working group (reflecting the four EaP thematic platforms; five from November 2012) elects two representatives, one from the EU and one from EaP partner countries
• Each EaP country elects a representative to become the country facilitator
• Three representatives from the EU.

The Forum aims to strengthen the diversity and plurality of public discourse and policymaking by holding governments and public authorities accountable to the commitments made in the joint declaration of the Prague Eastern Partnership summit, signed on 7 May 2009 by the EU and the governments of the six Partner countries, and by protecting and promoting human rights, fundamental freedoms, participatory democracy, market economy, sustainable development and good governance. The Forum is the representative forum of bona fide civil society organisations from the Eastern Partner countries working with issues related to the Eastern Partnership process and of civil society organisations operating in the member states of the European Union (EU) that are active in the Partner countries.

See www.eap-csf.eu for further details.

Director Profile

The Director will have a good knowledge of the workings of the EU, and understanding of the policy challenges and the development needs of civil society in the six Eastern Partner countries. 

The successful candidate will have experience as a senior project manager/leader, working in civil society or with a grantmaking organisation, and will have the communications skills to quickly develop good contacts in EU institutions, and also to fundraise for the Secretariat. A track record in successful fundraising/proposal writing is needed, and the successful candidate must have experience of managing budgets and overseeing finances (working with accountants/auditors). Excellent analytical and communication skills are required.

Strong written and spoken English language skills required; solid working knowledge of Russian required.

Key responsibilities:

• manage legal obligations (in line with registration in Belgium as an international non-profit organisatoin) and accounting/audit, reporting to donors;
• manage Secretariat staff;
• support Steering Committee in official correspondence, and liaise with EC in preparation of agendas of meetings of SC and WGs;
• liaise with Working Group coordinators;
• monitor EaP platform meetings, other expert meetings;
• monitor developments at EU level (EU Council, Commission, Parliament, bilateral meetings in Brussels, other Brussels stakeholders, e.g. CSOs)
• set up meetings with European Commission, European External Action Service, MEPs, think-tanks, for visiting Forum experts/delegations;
• prepare Advocacy Calendars, maintain project database of EaP civil society activities, and support presentation of projects at Forum events and to key EU stakeholders;
• assist the Steering Committee in raising funds for the Forum, its Working Groups, Subgroups and National Platforms;
• co-ordinate on behalf of the Steering Committee publications and promotional materials of the Forum;
• act on behalf of the Steering Committee, sign contracts and agreements, and negotiate with third parties.

EaP CSF