Do not work here under present management
Avantages
The salary is decent, and there is the occasional free lunch. The work has potential to be interesting, but that advantage is completely undermined by the toxic culture and management of the office.
Inconvénients
I would caution anyone considering a job here to stay far away while the organisation is under the management of Lidia Borrell-Damian. She is the most difficult, unpleasant, scheming "manager" I have encountered in my career to date. Her approach to management is extractive and micro-managerial -- every task she assigns is labelled "urgent," and you will labor under changing and very short deadlines to complete work that she could have assigned days earlier if she were organised (she is chaotic, vague, and forgetful), and that will then sit on her desk for 2-3 weeks, causing delays for you and your partners who will get upset (you will need to manage their displeasure, which she has caused). Don't think of bringing up this issue though, because she does not broach any disagreement. She is haughty and hierarchical, sending meeting invites to you that she always expects will be met even if sent with only two hours' notice and set for 4:30pm on a Friday -- she never asks if you are free when she wants you to be, she just demands that you be. These meetings will be superfluous and micro-managerial because she is controlling and rigid, but you will be warned by others (including her personal assistant, who is her biggest enabler) not to raise the issue because "that's just how she is." You will frequently be subjected to her moods and her coldness -- prepare for unpleasant emails, being told off, and being judged if you have any personal circumstances to attend to, like children to pick up. Because of your constantly crazy work schedule, you will not have time for professional development, and you will not be given credit for your work, either. Truly, I believe the secretary general has a personality disorder. The scheming part is more troubling. In her time there, she has pushed out three different people, firing them under specious, made up pretexts because they stood up to her. The toxic culture she's created has sent staff members on multiples, repeated sick leaves for months on end, and four people have left in under two years. Unfortunately, HR is no help -- one admin person has that function, and she is more than willing to ally with the secretary general to monitor your office presence, check that you're working (?!), comment on your behaviour, and create bullying conditions for staff, like saying nothing when the secretary general berates someone for taking planned leave. It's bewildering and depressing.
