CV

Deputy Head of Unit – Council of Ministers & Parliamentary Affairs

Austrian Federal Ministry of Housing, Art, Culture, Media and Sports (Vice-Chancellor’s Office)

Since June 2025| Working languages: German (English occasionally)      

Selected Responsibilities

• Strategically steer and prioritize time-critical, high-visibility government procedures.

• Ensure legal, substantive, and editorial quality of ministerial submissions to the Council of Ministers and Parliament.

• Represent the Ministry in interministerial coordination formats.

• Act as senior liaison with the Austrian Parliament, the Federal Chancellery and line ministries.

• Develop institutional process- and knowledge-management frameworks to ensure coherence.

• Lead an AI project for Public Administration with the Austrian Federal Computing Centre.

Senior Advisor for EU, International Affairs & Human Rights, Chief of Protocol

Austrian Federal Ministry of Justice

Feb 2022 – Mar 2025 | Working languages: German, English (French occasionally)

Selected Responsibilities

• Developed ministerial strategies and policy positions on EU and international affairs, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.

• Conducted strategic analysis of legal, political and technological trends and developments; prepared high-level briefings, concept notes, and policy proposals.

• Provided strategic coordination and crisis management on complex dossiers, including artificial intelligence, disinformation and hate speech, sanctions, rule-of-law, migration, environmental protection and corporate governance (DSA, CDDD etc.).

• Led negotiations on EU and national legislation as well as international agreements within the Ministry’s remit.

• Shaped high-level communication, including speeches, public statements, and crisis communication in sensitive contexts.

• Strengthened the Ministry’s international positioning through bilateral and multilateral engagement (EU, UN, OSCE, Council of Europe) and strategic visibility at key forums (e.g. Munich Security Conference, Warsaw Security Forum).

• Advanced international partnerships on issues of (international) rule of law and democracy, digital and green transformation, and corporate governance, with like-minded states, DACH countries, Georgia, Ukraine, and the Western Balkans.

• Designed and convened high-level international conferences, policy dialogues, and multi-stakeholder formats involving policymakers, experts, civil society, and international partners.

• Led major institutional reform projects (including budget oversight, contracts and reporting), e.g. a judiciary-wide accountability and compliance framework and reforms in diversity management.

• Managed complex multi-stakeholder environments across government, parliament, EU institutions, and international organizations.

• Led cross-ministerial and cross-institutional processes involving other ministries, the Austrian Parliament, EU institutions, and international organizations.

Senior Advisor for Foreign Policy, Migration and Human Rights

The Greens/Austrian Parliament

Jan 2020 – Jan 2022| Working languages: German, English

Selected Responsibilities     

• Defined strategic and thematic priorities for foreign policy, migration and human rights.

• Advised Members of Parliament on legislative positioning, negotiation strategies, and political direction.

• Analyzed legal and geopolitical developments for legislative processes and public debate.

• Drafted key strategic documents, including policy wordings, briefings, position papers, public statements, and negotiation materials.

• Coordinated parliamentary work across EU, foreign affairs, and human rights committees.

• Led legislative work and coordination of EU law, international treaties, and national action plans.

• Managed projects, particularly those related to humanitarian assistance, development cooperation and civil peace service initiatives.

• Built cooperation with EU institutions, ministries, international organizations, academia, NGOs, and cultural actors.

• Organized and moderated expert panels and policy workshops.   

Political Coordinator & Expert – Coalition Negotiations

The Greens/Austrian Parliament

Oct 2019 - Jan 2020       

Selected Responsibilities

• Coordinated thematic working groups during national coalition negotiations.

• Developed negotiation positions, policy texts and strategic proposals.

• Acted as expert negotiator on EU affairs, foreign and development policy, asylum, migration, internal security and defense.

• Co-edited the government program.

Foreign Policy & Human Rights Advisor to MP Alma Zadić

Austrian Parliament

Dec 2018 – Sep 2019 | Working languages: German, English

Selected Responsibilities

• Conducted legal and policy analysis and provided strategic advice on foreign policy and human rights.

• Drafted policy papers, briefings, speeches, press releases and interviews.

• Coordinated parliamentary activities, including legislative processes and committee work.

• Developed and coordinated international and national projects and partnerships.

• Facilitated structured exchange with government representatives, ministries, national authorities, civil society organizations, international organisations and EU institutions.

• Participated in international conferences (e.g. High‑Level Forum Africa‑Europe) and negotiations of new policies.

Core Lecturer – Vienna Master of Arts in Human Rights

University of Vienna

September 2012 – June 2019

Selected Responsibilities                                  

• Co-developed the interdisciplinary Master’s program.

• Taught courses, including international law, political theory and human rights.

Coordinator – International Human Rights Expert Review Committee for the Republic of China (Taiwan)

August 2012- February 2013

Selected Responsibilities                                  

• Coordinated international expert review processes with government, civil society, and independent experts.

• Conducted legal analysis and drafted and edited policy recommendations, review documents and public statements.

Research and Teaching Fellow – Department for European, International and Comparative Law

University of Vienna

June 2011- June 2016 | Working languages: German, English (French occasionally)

Selected Responsibilities     

• Served as Chief Editor of the Vienna Manual of Human Rights.

• Conducted independent academic research, including publications, paper presentations, and conference participation.

• Taught courses on public international law and human rights law (in German and English).

• Designed and coordinated educational field trips.

• Provided research and teaching assistance to Prof. Manfred Nowak in human rights and international law.

• Organized and coordinated international (multi-stakeholder) conferences, symposia and workshops.

• Supervised interns and Prof. Nowak’s team.

• Coordinated the specialization module “Culture Juridique Francophone Européenne et Internationale”.   

LL.M. Yale Law School (USA)

2016-2017     

New Haven School of International Law (public policy-oriented approach linking law and governance); constitutionalism in times of populism; political theory, migration and citizenship; political economy of law

‍Magistra iuris, University of Vienna (AT)   

General law degree with a specialization diploma in law of international relations.

ERASMUS Exchange Year at the University of Nottingham (UK), with a focus on international law and relations, international criminal law; (counter-)terrorism.

Selected Advanced Programmes

• The 2018 Institute of Global Law and Policy Scholars Workshop, Harvard Law School, Bangkok (Thailand)

• Transnational Law Summer Institute 2016, King’s College London (UK)                             

• Institute of Global Law and Policy Workshop 2015, Harvard Law School, Doha (Qatar)   

• 2014 Venice School of Human Rights, European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation

• 28th Warsaw Course on International Humanitarian Law 2010, International Committee of the Red Cross  

• Global and European governance.

• Human rights, democracy, rule of law and constitutionalism.

• Migration, borders and citizenship.

• Non-state actors, corporate governance, privatization and public-private partnerships.

• Political economy of the European and international order, including Global South and Central European Perspectives.

• Democracy, human rights and climate justice.

• Second and third world approaches to international law and relations (SWAIL, TWAIL)

• Poverty and Political Rights: An Exercise of Recovery from Oblivion. In: Davis/Kjaerum/Lyons (eds.), Research Handbook on Human Rights and Poverty (Elgar Publishing 2021, together with M. Nowak) 69-87.

• Book Review: Harald Kleinschmidt‘s Geschichte des Völkerrechts in Krieg und Frieden. In: (2016) 18 Journal of the History of International Law 480-484. 

• Non-State Actors and Human Rights. In: Noortmann/Reinisch/Ryngaert (eds.), Non-State Actors in International Law (Hart Publishing 2015, together with M. Nowak), 113-161.

• Torture: Europe and the Americas. In: Andersen/Borch/Lassen (eds.), Europe and the Americas: Transatlantic Approaches to Human Rights (Brill 2015; together with M. Nowak) 299-336.

• R2P and the Prohibition of Torture. In: Peter Hilpold (ed.), The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) – A Paradigm Shift in International Law? (Brill 2014), 225-243 (together with M. Nowak and J. Hofbauer).

• All Human Rights for All – Vienna Manual on Human Rights (Neuer Wissenschaftlicher Verlag/Intersentia 2012), 672 pages (together with Manfred Nowak and Tina Hofstätter (eds.)).

Invited speaker and presenter at international conferences and institutions, including:

• Yale Law School

• Harvard Law School

• European and UN-related human rights forums

• Conferences on international law, democracy, populism, migration, global governance, and human rights

• Fulbright Scholarship (2016 – 17)

• LL.M. Scholarship (Outgoing), University of Vienna (2016 – 17)

• Lilian Goldman Perpetual Scholarship (2017)

Board Member, Südwind Agency (Austrian NGO for International Development) (2013 – 2016)

Jury Member, RAHA Human Rights Award for Iranian Human Rights Defenders, with S. Ebadi & A. Rhodes (2013 – 2015)

• German (native)

• English (C2, full professional proficiency)

• French (B2, professional working proficiency)

• Polish (A2–B1, basic to intermediate proficiency)

• MS Office

• Digital collaboration tools 

• Social media & online communication