Officer Trade in Goods - Trade Relations Division
The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is an intergovernmental organisation working for the promotion of free trade and economic integration to the benefit of its four Member States Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.
The EFTA Secretariat provides services to the EFTA States and has offices in Geneva, Brussels, and Luxemburg. The Headquarters in Geneva services the EFTA Council and supplies services for policy development, negotiations and implementation of free trade and cooperation agreements with countries outside the European Union. The Brussels office supports the management of the EEA Agreement and assists the Member States in the elaboration of input to EU decision making. EFTA’s Luxembourg office contributes to the development of the European Statistical system.
EFTA has established preferential trade relations – primarily in the form of free trade agreements and joint declarations on cooperation – with more than 40 countries and territories outside the EU and is continuing to develop this worldwide network.
This position is open to nationals of the EFTA Member States (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland).
Role Description
The Trade Relations Division of the EFTA Secretariat in Geneva consists of 12 staff members. It provides comprehensive services related to the exploration, negotiation, administration, and modernisation of EFTA’s preferential trade relations.
The successful candidate will have substantive, analytical and organisational responsibilities in support of EFTA’s engagement with partner countries outside the European Union.
The officer’s main area of responsibility will be trade in goods, including related tariff and non-tariff matters. The officer will support EFTA Member States in managing existing agreements and in preparing and negotiating new or updated agreements with third countries. This extends to activities as desk officer for several partner countries, the elaboration of relevant documents around monitoring and negotiation processes, as well as other tasks in areas covered by EFTAs free trade agreements.
Essential Skills
- Relevant Master’s university degree, for example in economics, international relations and/or political science with an international dimension;
- Sound knowledge in international trade in goods;
- Work experience in international organisations, related research institutes, private sector, or national administration in the field of trade in goods;
- Excellent oral and written command of English, the EFTA working language;
- Proficiency in Microsoft Excel
- Service-mindedness and tact;
- Very good communication and negotiation skills;
- Readiness to cooperate closely in an international team;
- Ability to work under time pressure and to meet deadlines;
- Strong organisational skills and self-reliance;
- Open-mindedness, proactivity and flexibility, including on work portfolio.
Ideal Skills
- Expertise in the field of international trade policy and rules, with sound knowledge of relevant international legal frameworks, in particular of the WTO;
- Working experience in a national administration of an EFTA Member State;
- Good statistics knowledge;
- Knowledge of customs matters such as rules of origin, trade facilitation and the international harmonised system (including the World Customs Organisation) would be an asset;
- Knowledge of French, and possibly other work-related languages, would be an asset.
Employment Terms
Grade: A4
Annual salary: CHF 170,085
Appointments are made at the first step of the grade. The Secretary-General reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a level different from that advertised. Through its recruitment policy, the EFTA Secretariat wants to ensure diversity in terms of gender, age and culture. For this position, female applications are particularly encouraged.
EFTA is an international organisation, and the salaries and related payments are normally exempt from income taxation by the EFTA States and the host states of the EFTA duty stations. Depending on the candidate’s family status, benefits and allowances may apply.
Applicants must be nationals of one of the EFTA Member States (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland). Applicants must apply online via the e-recruitment tool. Please note that only applications received via our web tool will be considered.
For further information on this post, please contact:
On job content: Ms Krisztina Bende, Director TRD, kbe@efta.int, tel. +41 22 332 26 30; +41 79 277 61 90
On process: Ms Inga Hanna Gudmundsdottir, Head of HR, ihg@efta.int, tel. +32 2 286 17 06
Technical issues: HR Support, HR.support@efta.int
Deadline for applications: 18 June 2023