GENERAL INFORMATION

Department	LIFE: Agriculture, Fisheries, Social Affairs and Health
Place of work	Brussels, Justus Lipsius Building
Title of post	Director-General
Function group and grade	AD 15
Security clearance required	SECRET UE/EU SECRET
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS	12 November 2024 – 12:00 (noon) Brussels time

We are

The General Secretariat of the Council (GSC) assists the European Council and the Council of the EU and their preparatory bodies in all fields of their activities. Under authority of the Secretary-General, it provides advice and support to the European Council and the Council and to their Presidents in all areas of activity, including policy and legal advice, coordination with other institutions, drawing up of compromises and drafting, supervising as well as attending to all the practicalities that are necessary for the smooth preparation and running of the European Council and the Council.

Directorate-General ‘Agriculture, Fisheries, Social Affairs and Health’ (DG LIFE), comprises five directorates: LIFE.1, dealing with Agriculture (SCA – Special Committee on Agriculture); LIFE.2, dealing with Fisheries; LIFE.3, dealing with Veterinary and Plant Health Questions, Food and Forestry; LIFE.4, dealing with Employment and Social Policy; and LIFE.5 dealing with Health. All of them report to the Director-General.

The Directorate-General coordinates the organisation of the ‘Agriculture and Fisheries’ and the ‘Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs’ (EPSCO) Council configurations, each of them meeting, respectively, around ten and four times per year. These Council meetings are prepared by Coreper and several working groups that handle both legislative and non-legislative files, as well as international relations concerning these files.

We propose

The post of Director-General in DG LIFE is a challenging position in a politically interesting environment, leading a team of around 70 highly qualified staff.

Under the authority of the Secretary-General and in cooperation with the five LIFE Directors, you will manage and coordinate your Directorate-General and its resources in a professional manner, organise its activities and support and motivate staff in their work. You will develop and implement the strategy and work programme of the Directorate-General, you will define its objectives and ensure their achievement according to required deadlines and quality standards. You will foster a culture of effective communication and cooperation both within LIFE and with the other Directorates-General, as well as with other GSC services.

In cooperation with other Directorates-General, you will be responsible for horizontal policy and procedural coordination with the aim to support continuity and coherence of the work of the Council and the European Council.

You will provide high-level and strategic policy and procedural advice to the Secretary-General as well as to the President of the European Council, and to the presidencies of the Council, Coreper and other preparatory bodies on all aspects of dossiers falling within the Directorate-General’s remit. In addition, you will take part in meetings and, where appropriate, in briefings and/or negotiations with a view to reaching compromises and finding solutions. In this context, you will assist the presidencies in negotiations and ensure effective communication and cooperation with EU institutions, agencies and other bodies in the areas within LIFE’s remit.

You will ensure overall strategic coordination, including with other Directorates-General on policy and objectives to be met.

Occasional missions abroad, usually within the EU, are required.

We look for

We are looking for a manager with substantial experience in EU policy-making and the EU legislative process, and an extensive knowledge of the Council and the European Council as well as EU institutional issues. Knowledge of the areas covered by LIFE is an asset.

All GSC managers are expected to advise their hierarchy and stakeholders, manage their staff and financial resources, and represent the GSC. These expectations are set out in the GSC horizontal manager’s profile (1).

Furthermore, the jobholder will need to possess:

—	the ability to think and plan strategically, to anticipate and identify potential problems and to propose workable compromises and solutions;

—	excellent communication skills, including interpersonal communication skills;

—	the ability to maintain good working relationships with a range of internal and external interlocutors and the ability to demonstrate diplomacy;

—	leadership skills and the ability to promote a strong team spirit and to give guidance, and the ability to motivate and empower staff in a multicultural and diverse environment, with a strong emphasis on staff development;

—	the ability to plan and organise the overall work of the Directorate-General so as to meet critical deadlines and ensure a fair distribution of workload within the team, as well as the ability to manage change and support staff through change;

—	the ability to reach agreements, ensure impact and pursue common goals, by providing targeted advice to stakeholders and by effectively and constructively facilitating discussions.

Given that the GSC has a policy of mobility for its managers, who are expected to have broad experience, candidates should be willing and able to work in different areas of activity during their career at the GSC.

RECRUITMENT POLICY

Applicants must meet the following requirements on the closing date for applications:

(a)	General conditions — be nationals of one of the Member States of the European Union; — enjoy their full rights as citizens; — have fulfilled any obligations imposed by the laws concerning military service.

(b)

Specific conditions — hold a university degree (2); — have at least 15 years of relevant professional experience; — have at least three years’ experience in a senior management role in the domain of EU policies; — given that English and French are used extensively for communication within the GSC and with other institutions, an excellent knowledge of one of the two languages and a good knowledge of the other is required. Knowledge of other official languages of the EU would be an asset. NB: (1) This post requires security clearance allowing access to classified documents (SECRET UE/EU SECRET level). Candidates applying for the post must be prepared to undergo security screening under Council Decision 2013/488/EU (3). Appointment to the post will only take effect on condition that the selected candidate has obtained a valid security clearance certificate. A candidate without security clearance will be offered a temporary contract until the result of the security clearance procedure is obtained. (2) The successful candidate must be prepared to follow the GSC management training programme.

SELECTION PROCEDURE

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In choosing the successful candidate the Appointing Authority shall be assisted by an advisory selection board. The advisory selection board will be supported by an assessment centre, run by external recruitment consultants. The reports established by the assessment centre for the same type of post will cease to be valid two years after the date on which the relevant exercises took place or upon termination of the framework contract between the GSC and the assessment centre in question – whichever date is the earliest.

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The advisory selection board will initially evaluate and compare the qualifications, experience and motivation of all the applicants, on the basis of their applications. Based on that comparative assessment, the advisory selection board will shortlist those candidates who, in its opinion, are most suitable to be invited to the first interview. As this first selection is based on a comparative assessment of the applications, the fulfilment of the requirements of this vacancy notice does not guarantee an invitation to the first interview. From among the interviewed candidates, the advisory selection board will pre-select candidates to attend the assessment centre as well as a second interview with the advisory selection board.

The provisional planning for the selection procedure is as follows:

—	it is expected that candidates selected for the interviews will be informed mid-November 2024;

—	the first interviews are foreseen to take place at the end of November 2024;

—	the assessment centre is expected to take place the first half of December 2024;

—	the second round of interviews is foreseen for the first half of January 2025.

NB: The above schedule is purely indicative and can be modified.

LEGAL BASIS

This post is published in all institutions of the European Union and outside the institutions, in conformity with Article 29, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union (4).

HOW TO APPLY

The closing date for applications is 12 November 2024 at 12:00 (noon) Brussels time.

Applications will be only accepted by email and must be sent to applications.management@consilium.europa.eu  (5) no later than the closing date and time. Late applications will not be considered.

The email address indicated above must be used for any correspondence concerning the selection procedure (the email must have the following reference in the subject line: CONS/AD/196/24 LIFE).

Before submitting their application, candidates should carefully check whether they meet the requirements listed above, under ‘Recruitment policy’, in order to avoid automatic exclusion from the selection procedure.

To be valid, the application file must include the following documents in pdf (NB: locked, password protected or electronically signed documents will not be accepted):

(a)

the application form duly completed and dated (file to be named ‘XXX (YOUR FAMILY NAME) – Application form.pdf’); to download the electronic application form (EN or FR), click on the appropriate link below or copy and paste it into your browser (6):   https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/68640/gsc-application_form_senior_management_en.docx   https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/68641/gsc-application_form_senior_management_fr.docx

(b)

a detailed curriculum vitae in English or French (no photographs included), preferably in the Europass format (https://europa.eu/europass/en/create-europass-cv; https://europa.eu/europass/fr/create-your-europass-cv), covering the applicant’s entire career, listing, inter alia, the applicant’s qualifications, language knowledge, experience and current duties (file to be named ‘XXX (YOUR FAMILY NAME) – CV.pdf’);

(c)	a motivation letter, in English or French (file to be named ‘XXX (YOUR FAMILY NAME) – Motivation letter.pdf’).

Failure to include these documents will render the application invalid.

NB: Copies of diplomas certifying education and copies of documents and certificates relating to professional experience will be requested from the preselected candidates invited for the first round of interviews. Supporting documents must have been issued by a third party.

The supporting documents should be numbered (Annex 1, 2, etc.) and must be grouped together in a single pdf document (file to be named ‘XXX (YOUR FAMILY NAME) – Supporting documents.pdf’). This should include an index.

Failure to submit all supporting documents at latest the day before the first interview, may be considered as ground for disqualification.

Applications that arrive by post or via cloud-based data storage solutions or file-share platforms will not be considered.

The successful candidate will be asked to provide the originals of the above documents.

Candidates will receive an email acknowledging receipt of their application. However, technical difficulties affecting the sending of e-mails can occur. Therefore, if no email acknowledging receipt of the application is received, candidates are asked to contact applications.management@consilium.europa.eu. Since the advisory selection board will begin its work shortly after the closing date for applications, any correspondence about the receipt of the application should be made in the week following that date.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

The GSC is committed to diversity and inclusion. For more information please see the relevant statement:

https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/general-secretariat/jobs/diversity-and-inclusion/.

REEXAMINATION OF APPLICATIONS

For information about the procedures relating to requests for complaints, appeals and referrals to the European Ombudsman you may consult:

https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/56631/complaint-en.pdf.

DATA PROTECTION

The rules governing the processing of personal data in connection with this selection procedure are spelled out in the privacy statement:

https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/ekkle5de/jobs-data-protection-083r01-en.pdf.

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(1)   https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/53279/gsc-manager-profile-en.pdf.

(2)  Article 5(3)(c) of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union (the Staff Regulations) require applicants to have at least:

(i)	a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma when the normal period of university education is four years or more, or

(ii)	a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma and appropriate professional experience of at least one year when the normal period of university education is at least three years.

(3)  Council Decision 2013/488/EU of 23 September 2013 on the security rules for protecting EU classified information (OJ L 274, 15.10.2013, p. 1).

(4)  Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and the Conditions of Employment of other servants of the European Union, laid down by Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68, (OJ L 56, 4.3.1968, p. 1), consolidated text available at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A01962R0031-20240101.

(5)  This email address is linked to a functional mailbox and can only process messages with sensitivity option set to ‘Normal’; e-mails sent with other sensitivity options (e.g. ‘Personal’, ‘Private’, ‘Confidential’ or encrypted mails) cannot be processed. Please therefore select the ‘Normal’ sensitivity option. Your email must not be greater than 25 MB. If your email, together with its attachments, exceeds this maximum size, please split your attachments over a number of e-mails.

(6)  If you need more information and/or encounter technical problems, please send an email to: applications.management@consilium.europa.eu.