27.5.2015

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CA 172/1

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Vacancy notice for the Executive Director of the Shift to Rail Joint Undertaking, in Brussels

(Temporary Agent — Grade AD 14)

COM/2015/20006

(2015/C 172 A/01)

 

We are

The Shift to Rail Joint Undertaking (S2R JU) is a public-private partnership between the European Union and the rail sector, established by Council Regulation (EU) No 642/2014 (1) in Brussels for a period up to 31 December 2024. It will develop and implement a very substantial new research and innovation programme for rail, funded and managed jointly by the European Commission and European Union Industry, with a view to supporting the European Union’s long term transport policy objectives, including increasing the attractiveness and efficiency of rail and completion of the Single European Railway Area. It also seeks to increase the competitiveness of the European Union rail sector as a whole.

In particular, the S2R JU shall carry out the following tasks:

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define, in a strategic Master Plan (the ‘S2R Master Plan’) the priority research and innovation activities, including large-scale demonstration activities, required to accelerate the penetration of integrated, interoperable and standardised technological innovations necessary to support the Single European Railway Area and to achieve operational excellence of the railway system, while increasing capacity and reliability and driving down costs of railway transport. These activities will follow a holistic railway system and customer-oriented approach, and be structured around five key ‘Innovation Programmes’ or ‘IPs’, covering all the different structural (technical) and functional (management) sub-systems of the rail system, namely: — IP1: Cost-efficient and Reliable Trains, including high capacity trains and high speed trains, — IP2: Advanced Traffic Management and Control Systems, — IP3: Cost-efficient, Sustainable and Reliable High Capacity Infrastructure, — IP4: IT Solutions for Attractive Railway Services, — IP5: Technologies for Sustainable and Attractive European Freight,

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organise and ensure the effective and efficient implementation of the activities of the Shift2Rail initiative, as defined in the S2R Master Plan, by drawing up detailed, result-oriented annual work plans, accompanied by detailed investment plans, and by supervising the development of common products duly identified in the S2R Master Plan,

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organise the technical work of research, development, validation, and studies, to be carried out under its authority and financially support research and innovation indirect actions, mainly through grants to its members and to participants through the most appropriate measures, such as procurement or the award of grants following calls for proposals to achieve the programme objectives, in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1290/2013,

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mobilise public and private sector funds for financing the activities of the Shift2Rail initiative, as defined in the S2R Master Plan, including through the identification of synergies with other Union programmes, such as the Connecting Europe Facility, the European Structural Investment Funds and the European Regional Development Fund, to ensure that tested and validated solutions emanating from the activities of the Joint Undertaking can be taken up for funding,

—	ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of rail research and innovation activities and follow progress towards the achievement of the S2R JU’s objectives through adequate monitoring and evaluation processes,

—	pool user requirements and propose interoperability standards to guide investment in research and innovation towards operational and marketable solutions,

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establish and develop close and long-term cooperation between the Union, the rail manufacturing industry, the rail operating community, research organisations and universities, and other rail private and public stakeholders required to develop pioneering innovations and ensure a strong market uptake of innovative solutions. The S2R JU will encourage the participation of SMEs and of actors from outside the traditional rail sector to maximise the potential for innovation,

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develop close cooperation and ensure coordination with related European, national and transnational research and innovation activities in the rail technical domain, in particular via the European Rail Research Advisory Council (ERRAC) Technology Platform, as well as with those in other domains, such as the European Road Transport Research Advisory Council (Ertrac), the Advisory Council for Aviation Research and Innovation in Europe (ACARE), the Waterborne European Technology Platform, the European Construction Technology Platform (ECTP), the Future Manufacturing Technologies Platform (Manufuture), the Alliance for Logistics Innovation (ALICE), the Advanced Engineering Materials and Technologies Platform (EuMaT), and others.

The S2R JU will engage up to EUR 920 million for the period 2014-2024, including (i) a contribution (in cash) from the European Union to the S2R JU not exceeding EUR 450 million from the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme; (ii) a contribution of at least EUR 350 million (in-kind and in cash) from Members other than the Union; (iii) in-kind contributions of at least EUR 120 million for additional activities. Running costs of the S2R JU will be shared equally and in cash between the Commission, on one side, and Members other than the Union (other than research centres and universities), on the other.

For further information please consult the following website: http://ec.europa.eu/transport/modes/rail/news/shift-to-rail_en.htm

We propose

The Executive Director is the legal representative and public face of the S2Rl JU. He/she shall perform his/her tasks with independence and shall be accountable to the Governing Board (consisting of representatives of the European Commission and the other Members of the JU).

The Executive Director will lead and manage the S2R JU and take overall responsibility for its operations, including budget implementation and ensuring the achievement of its objectives.

The Executive Director will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the S2R JU in accordance with the decisions of the Governing Board. This includes:

—	establishing strategic contacts and negotiating all the necessary agreements with representatives of all the stakeholders and members of the S2R JU,

—	organising and managing the launch of calls for proposals and the process of evaluating as well as negotiating and concluding grant agreements for selected proposals, ensuring subsequent periodic monitoring and follow-up of projects, preparing technical and financial reports,

—	preparing and executing the Annual Work Plan and the Annual Budget Plan of the S2R JU. Elaborating the Annual Activity Report, the Annual Accounts and balance sheets for submission to the Governing Board for approval,

—	preparing and executing the S2R JU budget and ensuring that it is managed efficiently in conformity with the Financial Regulations of the S2R JU,

—	employing, managing and supervising the S2R JU staff and fostering a good working environment,

—	ensuring that the activities of the S2R JU are carried out with complete independence and without conflict of interest,

—	establishing and ensuring the functioning of an effective and efficient internal control system,

—	ensuring that risk assessment and risk management are performed,

—	ensuring that the obligations of the S2R JU, with regard to the contracts and agreements it concludes are met,

—	ensuring the coordination of activities between the different Innovation Programmes managed by the S2R JU and monitoring their progress to achieving their objectives,

—	handling any eventual disputes within or across Innovation Programmes,

—	providing the Governing Board and the Commission with the technical and financial reports,

—	liaising with the States Representatives Group, the Scientific Committee and the European Railway Agency regularly of all matters relevant to their advisory role,

—	running the communication and public relations aspects of the S2R JU, including the organisation of presentation and dissemination events.

We look for (selection criteria)

Preference will be given to candidates who have:

(a)

Management experience, and in particular — Strong capacity in managing and monitoring large projects, including in programming and running industrial research programmes involving multiple actors, — experience in the management of significant financial resources in a national, European and/or international environment, including budgetary planning and internal control, — sound judgement and proven success in a staff management position, in particular the ability to lead, motivate and develop to the best of their potential a team including both administrative and technical personnel. A proven capacity to set up and consolidate a new structure would be an asset. Experience in the implementation and management of quality assurance as well as risk-management methodologies would also be an asset. Finally, experience in a multicultural and multilingual context would be an advantage;

(b)

Technical knowledge, and in particular — A good understanding of the European Union institutions, their functioning and interaction, — a sound knowledge of, and experience with, European Union or international transport policy, in particular rail policy, — a good understanding of research and development in the field of activities of the S2R JU and knowledge of regulatory policy and practice relevant to the Joint Undertaking’s fields of action, — capacity to develop a strategic vision for the rail sector, — knowledge of national, intergovernmental and/or European research and development programmes;

(c)

Communication and negotiations skills, and in particular — Ability to develop a communication strategy for the S2R JU, to communicate effectively and efficiently with the public and to build strategic working relations with all relevant stakeholders, — strong innovation capabilities, being able to generate ideas in promoting, programming and exploiting the results from the S2R JU, — excellent interpersonal, decision-making, organisational and negotiating skills and the ability to build trusted working relationships with the European Union’s institutions and with stakeholders.

Experience in interacting with transport stakeholders and understanding stakeholders’ business needs and constraints, as well as experience in working with industry and/or academics, including in cooperation between public and private organisations, would also be an asset.

A thorough knowledge of written and oral English would be a strong advantage, since it is the working language of the Joint Undertaking.

Candidates must (eligibility criteria)

Candidates will be considered for the selection phase on the basis of the following formal criteria to be fulfilled by the deadline for applications:

—	Nationality: be a national of a Member State of the European Union, or of a country associated to the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (2).

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University degree or diploma: candidates must have either: — a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma when the normal period of university education is 4 years or more, or — a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma and appropriate professional experience of at least 1 year when the normal period of university education is at least 3 years (this 1 year professional experience cannot be included in the postgraduate professional experience required below).

—	Professional experience: candidates must have: — at least 15 years’ postgraduate professional experience at a level to which the qualifications referred to above give admission, — of these 15 years professional experience, at least 5 years must have been at high level management (3).

—	Languages: a thorough knowledge of one of the official Community languages (4) and a satisfactory knowledge of a second of these languages to the extent necessary for the performance of his/her duties.

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Maximum age: to be able to complete, at the deadline for application, the full mandate of 5 years, before reaching the retirement age. For temporary staff of the European Union, retirement age is defined as being the end of the month in which the person reaches the age of 66 years (see Article 52(a) of the Staff Regulations) (5).

Independence and declaration of interests

The Executive Director will be required to make a declaration of commitment to act independently in the public interest and to make a declaration in relation to interests which might be considered prejudicial to his/her independence. Candidates must confirm their willingness to do so in their application.

Equal opportunities

The S2R JU, as a European Union body, applies a policy of equal opportunities and non-discrimination in accordance with Article 1d of the Staff Regulations (5).

Selection and appointment

The Executive Director will be appointed by the Governing Board of the S2R JU on the basis of a proposal from the European Commission.

The European Commission will set up a pre-selection panel, which includes one representative of the Governing Board of the S2R JU, other than the European Commission, as a member and one more as observer. This panel will analyse all applications and identify a number of candidates who have the best profile in view of the selection criteria mentioned above. These candidates will be invited for an interview with the pre-selection panel.

Following the interviews, the pre-selection panel will draw up its conclusions and propose a list of candidates for further interviews with the European Commission’s Consultative Committee on Appointments (CCA).

Candidates called for an interview with the CCA participate in a full-day management assessment centre run by external human resources experts. On the basis of the interview and the results of the management assessment centre report, the CCA establishes a shortlist of candidates it considers suitable to exercise the function of Executive Director. This shortlist is submitted to the relevant Member(s) of the European Commission who will interview these candidates.

The European Commission then adopts a shortlist of candidates, which will be communicated to the Governing Board of the S2R JU. The latter may interview the shortlisted candidates. It will subsequently nominate the Executive Director. Inclusion on the European Commission’s shortlist does not guarantee appointment.

Candidates may be required to undergo further interviews and/or tests in addition to those indicated above.

The Executive Director is expected to take office on 1 March 2016.

Terms and conditions of employment

The Executive Director will be appointed by the Governing Board as a temporary agent at grade AD 14 pursuant to Article 2a and Article 10 of the Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities (5) for a period of 5 years. After an evaluation of the Executive Director’s performance, the Board may extend the term of office once for a further period of not more than 5 years, as foreseen in clause 9 of Annex I to the Regulation establishing the Shift to Rail Joint Undertaking.

Candidates should note the requirement under the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants for all new staff to successfully complete a probationary period.

The place of employment is Brussels, where the Joint Undertaking is based.

Application procedure

Before submitting your application, you should carefully check whether you meet all the eligibility criteria (‘Candidates must’), particularly concerning the types of diploma and professional experience required. Failure to meet any of the eligibility requirements means an automatic exclusion from the selection procedure.

If you want to apply, you must register via the internet by going to the website:

https://ec.europa.eu/dgs/human-resources/seniormanagementvacancies/

and following the instructions there concerning the various stages of the procedure.

You must have a valid email address. This is used to identify your registration and to inform you of the progress of the selection procedure. Therefore, please, keep the European Commission informed of any change in your email address.

To complete your application, you will need to upload a CV in PDF format and to fill out, online, a letter of motivation (maximum 8  000 characters). Both the CV and letter must be written in English, French or German.

Once you have finished your online registration, you will see on-screen a registration number that you must write down and remember — this will be your reference number in all matters concerning your application. When you receive this number, the registration process is finished — it is a confirmation that we have registered the data you entered. If you do not receive a number, your application has not been registered!

Please note that it is not possible to monitor the progress of your application online. You will be contacted directly by the European Commission regarding the status of your application.

The selection process, including correspondence with selection panels during this selection procedure will be carried out in English only (6).

If you have a disability that prevents you from registering online, you may submit your application (CV and letter of motivation) on paper by registered mail (7), postmarked no later than the closing date for registration. All subsequent communication between the Commission and you will be by post. In this case, you must enclose with your application a certificate attesting your disability, issued by a recognised body. You should also set out on a separate sheet of paper any special arrangements you think are needed to make it easier for you to take part in the selection.

If you require more information and/or encounter technical problems, please send an email to HR-A2-MANAGEMENT-ONLINE@ec.europa.eu

Closing date

The closing date for registration is 26 June 2015. Online registration will not be possible after 12.00 noon Brussels time.

It is your responsibility to complete your online registration in time. We strongly advise you not to wait until the last few days before applying, since heavy internet traffic or a fault with your internet connection could lead to the online registration being terminated before you complete it, thereby obliging you to repeat the whole process. Once the deadline for the submission of registrations has passed, you will no longer be able to introduce any data. Late registrations via normal email are not accepted.

Important information for applicants

Applicants are reminded that the work of the selection committees is confidential. It is forbidden for applicants to make direct or indirect contact with members of these committees, or for anybody to do so, on their behalf.

Protection of personal data

The Commission and the Shift to Rail Joint Undertaking will ensure that candidates’ personal data are processed as required by Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data (8). This applies in particular to the confidentiality and security of such data.

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(1)  OJ L 177, 17.6.2014, p. 9.

(2)  Countries associated to the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme are Iceland, Norway, Armenia, Israel, Moldova, Ukraine, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Fyrom, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey and the Faroe Islands.

(3)  In their CVs, candidates should indicate at least for these 5 years during which high level management experience has been acquired: (1) title and role of management positions held, (2) numbers of staff overseen in these positions, (3) the size of budgets managed, (4) numbers of hierarchical layers above and below and (5) number of peers.

(4)  http://ec.europa.eu/languages/policy/linguistic-diversity/official-languages-eu_en.htm

(5)  OJ L 287, 29.10.2013, p. 15; http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:1962R0031:20140101:EN:PDF

(6)  The selection panels will ensure that no undue advantage is given to native speakers of this language.

(7)  European Commission, Directorate-General Human Resources and Security, Unit for Executive Staff and CCA Secretariat — COM/2015/20006, SC11 08/30, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË.

(8)  OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1.

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