Policy Advisor - Drugs and addictions

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

Description & Requirements

Your Team

You will work in the Secretariat of the International Co-operation Group on Drugs and Addictions (Pompidou Group). The Pompidou Group provides knowledge, support and solutions for effective, evidence-based drug and addiction policies, which fully respect human rights. Its approach is based on four pillars, namely prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery, and supply reduction that targets public authorities, healthcare and education establishments, penitentiary and probation institutions, social and community centres, professional environments and society as a whole.

Your Role

As Policy Advisor, you will:

• Analyse and evaluate law enforcement strategies and capacities-including air, maritime, and land domains-in drug precursor control, production, distribution, and trafficking;
• Contribute to the drafting, implementation, and monitoring of policy guidelines and Committee of Ministers recommendations related to combating organised crime and drug trafficking;
• Support development and dissemination of best practices, networking platforms, and operational tools;
• Facilitate exchanges among member states, focusing on trending threats such as high-potency synthetic substances, new drug mixtures, and evolving consumption patterns;
• Organise and participate in conferences, workshops, and capacity‑building sessions for law enforcement stakeholders;
• Develop and promote frameworks and regulatory protocols for coordinated law enforcement, including enhanced cooperation between customs and police agencies;
• Collaborate with international partners (e.g., EUDA, UNODC, OSCE, WHO) to support knowledge exchange;
• Provide technical and policy advice to member states for effective, human‑rights‑based law enforcement practices.

Requirements to apply

You must:

• have the support of the member State seconding you to the Council of Europe;
• have at least 3 years of relevant professional experience in law enforcement, criminal investigations, customs, or drug control policy. Particularly we would welcome applications from candidates of police services, customs administrations, drug enforcement agencies, border management authorities, prosecutorial and judicial services, international organisations or security and organised crime policy units.
• have very good knowledge of English and a basic knowledge of French or the capacity to learn it on the job;
• be a citizen of one of the member States of the Council of Europe or be national of the member State of the partial agreement of the Pompidou Group.
• Operational - Planning and work organisation
• Operational - Analysis and problem solving
• Interpersonal - Teamwork and co‑operation
• Professional and technical expertise:
  • Familiarity with European and international legal frameworks regarding drug enforcement and human rights;
  • Experience in inter‑agency cooperation and international collaboration.
• Interpersonal - Adaptability
• Interpersonal - Initiative
• Professional and technical expertise:
  • Knowledge of the other language would be an asset.

What we offer

This vacancy is for a secondment, ruled by Article 23 of Committee of Ministers’ Resolution CM/Res(2012)2 . You can consult the conditions of secondment to the Council of Europe (days of leave, allowances etc.) on the webpage What we offer . This secondment does not foresee any allowances or travel expenses from the Organisation.

This secondment should start as soon as possible.

Applications and selection procedure

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.