The Council of Europe is hiring a Senior IT Officer for Data and Artificial Intelligence at the Register of Damage for Ukraine in The Hague, on a fixed term contract to 31 December 2027, with applications closing on 22 September 2026. At Youth Works Hub, we read the vacancy in full so you can judge whether your data and AI experience matches what this team actually needs.
This is an applied AI role inside a claims processing operation, not a research post. The notice is unusually clear that AI stays advisory and that humans keep responsibility, which tells you how the work is governed before you even apply.
Why the Register Needs an AI Officer
The Register of Damage for Ukraine was established in May 2023 through an Enlarged Partial Agreement of the Council of Europe. It is based in The Hague, the 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, and it receives claims from individuals, businesses and state and municipal entities in Ukraine.
The Information Technology Section manages the Register's systems and data, implements digital solutions for the Register's business processes and platforms, and is responsible for data management and information security. Claims arrive at volume, which is where document processing and classification come in.
The Work: Pilots and Claims Workflows
🧪 Designing, testing and running controlled pilots and experiments for data and AI use cases before they are taken forward for full implementation.
📄 Supporting the development and operation of AI enabled workflows for claims processing, including document processing, data enrichment, classification, summarisation, anomaly detection, risk indicators and decision support outputs.
🗄️ Co-owning, with IT colleagues, the data structures and integration patterns for storing AI generated outputs, metadata, logs and evaluation results in the Register's systems, including MongoDB based workflows.
Evaluation and Quality Assurance
🧾 Developing and maintaining evaluation and QA workflows for AI outputs, including test datasets, quality checks, regression testing, output review processes and acceptance criteria.
📐 The notice treats evaluation as a first class part of the job rather than an afterthought, which is a good signal about how the team works.
Dashboards, Usage and Cost
📊 Building and maintaining operational dashboards and analytical views to monitor claims processing workflows, AI output quality, evaluation results, system usage, cost indicators and Secretariat adoption.
☁️ Monitoring and analysing the use of Azure deployed AI services, including logs, token consumption, cost patterns, model behaviour and operational incidents, in cooperation with internal IT colleagues and external providers.
Working With External Providers
🤝 Acting as the Register's internal technical counterpart for external data and AI providers: reviewing technical designs, validating outputs, documenting issues, supporting acceptance testing and helping refine future development scope.
🧑🏫 Supporting the Secretariat and other users in understanding, testing and using AI assisted workflows.
The Guardrails
🧍 AI remains advisory, and human users retain responsibility and oversight. That is written into the role, not left to interpretation.
🔐 Compliance with Council of Europe standards and data protection requirements is part of the job, through privacy by design, secure data handling, logging, auditability and appropriate access controls across data and AI workflows.
According to Youth Works Hub's review of this notice, the combination of sensitive claims data and an explicit human in the loop requirement is what makes the data governance experience in the competency list more than a formality.
Entry Requirements
🎓 A completed full course of secondary education and appropriate qualifications.
🕓 At least four years of relevant professional experience in data engineering, analytics engineering, AI solution implementation, machine learning engineering or a closely related field.
🐍 Strong practical experience with Python for data processing, prototyping, automation or analytical workflows.
🔗 Experience working with structured and semi structured data, APIs, data pipelines and databases, preferably including MongoDB and SQL, and familiarity with Microsoft Fabric or comparable platforms.
🗣️ A very good knowledge of English, one of the two official languages of the Council of Europe.
Eligibility Conditions
🛂 Citizenship of the host country or of one of the member states of the Council of Europe, with the conditions fulfilled for appointment to the civil service of that state.
📍 Being currently present in the Netherlands.
🎖️ Having discharged any national service obligation, military, civil or comparable.
👪 Not being the parent, child, stepchild or grandchild of a serving Council of Europe staff member.
🔞 Being under the age of 65.
Competencies and Technical Expertise
🧭 Key competencies: planning and work organisation, analysis and problem solving, learning and development, service orientation, and teamwork and co-operation.
🧮 AI evaluation and quality assurance: designing and operating testing, validation and evaluation processes for AI assisted outputs, including quality metrics, regression testing, human review and acceptance criteria.
📈 Analytics and operational monitoring: developing dashboards and analytical views and monitoring AI services, usage, costs and operational performance, preferably with Power BI and Azure based services.
🛡️ Data governance and security: secure data handling, privacy by design, auditability, access control and documentation in environments handling sensitive information.
💬 Stakeholder collaboration: understanding operational needs, helping translate them into data and AI solutions, explaining technical concepts to non technical colleagues and supporting adoption.
🎯 Desirable: results orientation, a bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, data science, artificial intelligence, information systems or engineering, and knowledge of French.
Contract, Grade and Conditions
📑 Local external recruitment on a fixed term contract.
⌛ Employment is limited to 31 December 2027 and may be extended.
🏷️ Grade B5, vacancy number 1542/2026, posted on 8 September 2026.
💼 No salary figure is given in the notice; salaries, allowances, pension scheme and social insurance are published on the Council of Europe's conditions of employment page.
Applying and Timing
📅 The deadline is 22 September 2026 at 23:59:59 CET or CEST.
📘 The recruitment is carried out under Rule No. 2/2025 on locally recruited staff members in duty stations outside France.
✍️ Your motivation has to show how your competencies make your profile the best for the role, so structure it around the four technical expertise areas rather than around your CV chronology.
Equal Opportunity
⚖️ Applications are welcomed from all suitably qualified people, irrespective of sex, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic or social origin, disability, religion or belief.
👥 The organisation aims for gender parity in each category and grade, and at appointment gives preference between suitable candidates to the person of the under represented gender in the relevant grades.
♿ Reasonable accommodations can be requested at any stage of the recruitment process.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a degree in computer science required?
No. The requirement is completed secondary education with appropriate qualifications plus four years of relevant experience. A bachelor's or master's in a related field is listed as desirable.
What does the AI work actually involve?
Controlled pilots and experiments, then AI enabled claims workflows covering document processing, data enrichment, classification, summarisation, anomaly detection, risk indicators and decision support, with evaluation and QA around them.
Which tools and platforms are named?
Python, MongoDB, SQL, APIs and data pipelines, Microsoft Fabric or comparable platforms, Azure deployed AI services and, in the competency list, Power BI.
Can I apply from outside the Netherlands?
No. The notice requires you to be currently present in the Netherlands.
Does AI make decisions on claims here?
No. The role explicitly ensures that AI remains advisory and that human users retain responsibility and oversight.
How long is the contract?
Employment is limited to 31 December 2027 and may be extended, at Grade B5.
Deadline
⏳ 22 September 2026
Applications close at 23:59:59 CET or CEST. Find more opportunities like this, explained in plain language, on Youth Works Hub.
