17.8.2017

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CA 271/1

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DG Justice and Consumers

Vacancy notice for a Director function (AD 14)

Brussels

(Article 29(2) of the Staff Regulations)

COM/2017/10374

(2017/C 271 A/01)

 

We are

The mission of the Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers (DG JUST) is to vindicate and strengthen the rights of people living in the European Union, whether they are acting as citizens, as entrepreneurs, as consumers or as workers, wherever they are in the EU.

To do this, it aims to build a European Area of Justice, and to support the development of a dynamic single market for consumers, workers, and business, contributing to growth.

Within DG JUST, the Directorate for Consumers (JUST.E) develops consumer policy in accordance with the horizontal priorities of the Commission centred around the role of the consumer as an economic factor. It implements the four pillars of the consumer programme on safety, education and information, building consumer markets knowledge and implementing legislation in the areas of redress, financial services, the digital single market and energy.

The Directorate proposes, implements and ensures the enforcement of consumer legislation, especially in the areas of consumer rights, consumer redress, marketing practices, etc. and plays the role of focal point for the DG’s relations with the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency on consumer aspects.

We propose

We propose a challenging task for a Director who will be responsible for providing guidance and coordinating the formulation, adoption and implementation of policy and legal instruments in the areas of the Directorate.

The Directorate is structured around four units dealing with consumer policy, consumer and marketing law, consumer enforcement and redress and product safety and rapid alert system. The Director will oversee the work of these units, ensuring the coordination within the DG, with other DGs and institutions and ensure that the Directorate contributes to and implements the annual DG JUST work programme. S/he will also represent the Commission in different committees and in international and bilateral fora.

Furthermore, the Director will ensure effective planning, allocation and management of human and financial resources of the Directorate.

The Directorate has a total of about 85 staff.

We look for

The successful candidate should possess the following skills and competences:

—	proven leadership, management and coordination skills including the ability to lead the activities of a large team and to develop teams to the best of their potential,

—	very good conceptual and analytical skills, strong capacity to develop long-term strategies and a political vision and to set priorities and objectives,

—	experience in legislative procedures to steer the Directorate’s complex and high-profile legislative initiatives as well as good understanding of the issues dealt with by the Directorate (consumer policy, consumer law enforcement and redress, consumer safety, education and information),

—	a good knowledge of the Commission’s internal procedures and practices, including practical experience in legislative procedures and financial management,

—	strong communication skills and ability to cooperate efficiently and effectively with interlocutors at senior level, inside and outside the European Commission,

—	excellent negotiation skills and sound political judgment; experience in international negotiations and with other stakeholders within and outside of the European Institutions will be an advantage.

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: candidates must be of Croatian nationality.

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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’s professional experience cannot be included in the postgraduate professional experience required below).

—	Professional experience: candidates must have at least 12 years’ postgraduate professional experience at a level to which the qualifications referred to above give admission.

—	Management experience: at least 6 years of that professional experience must have been gained in a management function at high level (1) and should be in direct relation to a field relevant for this position.

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Languages: have a thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the European Union (2) and an adequate knowledge of another of these official languages. Selection panels will verify during the interview(s) whether candidates comply with the requirement of a satisfactory knowledge of another official EU language. This may include part of the interview being conducted in this other language.

—	Age limit: not yet have reached regular retirement age, which for officials of the European Union 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) (3).

Independence and declaration of interests

Before taking up their duties, candidates are required to make a declaration of their commitment to act independently in the public interest and of any interests, which might be considered prejudicial to their independence.

Appointment and conditions of employment

The European Commission will select and appoint the Director according to its selection and recruitment procedures (see also the Compilation Document on Senior Officials Policy (4)). As part of this selection procedure, candidates who have been invited for an interview by the Commission’s Consultative Committee on Appointments will have to participate, beforehand, in an assessment centre run by external recruitment consultants.

For functional reasons and in order to complete the selection procedure as quickly as possible in the interest of the candidates as well as that of the institution, the selection procedure will be carried out in English and/or French only (5).

Salaries and conditions of employment are those laid down in the Staff Regulations for AD 14 grade officials of the European Union. Candidates should note the requirement under the Staff Regulations for all new staff to complete successfully a 9-month probationary period.

The Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers is based in Brussels.

Equal opportunities

The European Union applies an equal opportunities policy. Given the low representation of women in management functions, the Commission would particularly welcome applications from women.

Application procedure

Before submitting your application, you should carefully check whether you meet all the eligibility criteria (‘Candidates must’), particularly concerning the required types of diploma and professional experience as well as your linguistic capacity. Failure to possess any of these 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 follow the instructions there concerning the various stages of the procedure.

You must have a valid email address. This will be used to identify your registration as well as to remain in contact with you during the different stage of the selection process. Therefore, please keep the European Commission informed about 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). For functional reasons and in order to complete the selection procedure as quickly as possible in the interest of the candidates as well as that of the institution, both the CV and motivation letter must be written in English, French or German.

Once you have finished your online registration, you will receive an electronic mail confirming that your application has been registered. The mail also contains a registration number which will be your reference number in all matters concerning your application. If you do not receive a confirmation mail, 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.

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 to the following address: European Commission, Directorate-General for Human Resources and Security, Unit for Executive Staff and CCA Secretariat, SC11 8/59, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË, indicating clearly as a reference: Vacancy for a Director in DG JUST (COM/2017/10374), and 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-SM-vacancies@ec.europa.eu

Closing date

The closing date for registration is 29 September 2017, 12.00 noon Brussels time, after which online registrations will not be possible any more.

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 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 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 EU institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data (6).

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(1)  In their CVs applicants should indicate at least for these 6 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; and (4) numbers of hierarchical layers above and below and number of peers.

(2)  http://ec.europa.eu/education/official-languages-eu-0_en

(3)  http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:1962R0031:20140101:EN:PDF

(4)  http://ec.europa.eu/civil_service/docs/official_policy_en.pdf

(5)  The selection panel will ensure that no undue advantage is given to native speakers of these languages.

(6)  OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1.

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