Vacancy notice CONS/AD/181/22

(2022/C 405 A/01)

 

GENERAL INFORMATION

Department	ECOFIN.2
Place of work	Brussels, Justus Lipsius Building
Title of post	Director
Function group and grade	AD 14
Security clearance required	SECRET UE/EU SECRET
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS	11 November 2022 – 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 the authority of the Secretary-General, it provides advice and support to the European Council, the Council and their Presidencies in all areas of activity, including policy and legal advice, coordination with other institutions, elaboration of compromises, supervising as well as attending to all the practicalities that are necessary for the good preparation and running of the European Council and the Council.

Directorate-General ‘Economic and Financial Affairs’ (DG ECOFIN), comprises two directorates: ECOFIN.1, dealing with economic policy and financial services; and ECOFIN.2, dealing with budget, tax, customs union and cohesion policy. Both of them report to the Director-General. The Directorate-General is likely to undergo reorganization in the coming years.

DG ECOFIN coordinates the organisation of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council configuration, which meets generally once per month. It also serves the Economic and Financial Affairs-Budget Council and the General Affairs Council-Cohesion. Finally, DG ECOFIN is involved in the preparation of the meetings of the Eurogroup, which are informal gatherings of the Ministers for Finance of the euro zone Member States.

Directorate ECOFIN.2 deals with budget, tax, customs union and cohesion policy. The Directorate advises the Council presidency and the President of the European Council and helps prepare and assists the ECOFIN, ECOFIN-Budget and GAC-Cohesion Council and the relevant Coreper and working groups, such as the Budget Committee, the Working party on Combatting Fraud, the Working party on Own resources, the Working party on structural measures and outermost regions, the Working party on Tax Questions in its different formations, the Code of Conduct Group, the Working party on Customs Union and the Export Credits Group.

We propose

The post of the Director in ECOFIN.2 is a challenging position in a politically interesting environment, with a variety of stakeholders and highly qualified staff.

Under the authority of the Director-General you will manage and coordinate your Directorate and its resources in a professional manner, organise its activities and support and motivate staff in their work. You will ensure the quality of the services and products delivered by the Directorate, as well as effective communication and cooperation within the Directorate, across the Directorate-General and with other GSC services.

You will provide high-level and strategic policy and procedural advice destined for the European Council, the Council, Coreper and their Presidencies, and to the Secretary-General on all aspects of dossiers falling within the Directorate’s remit. 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 the Directorate’s remit.

You will define the objectives to be met and contribute to meeting them by establishing the Directorate’s work programme and ensuring the appropriate monitoring of its implementation.

You will also be responsible for initiating and supervising policy analysis activities with a view to providing advice for decision-making in the areas within the Directorate’s remit.

You will be able to plan and organise work in a flexible manner, subject to working hours and to the schedule of meetings in the Directorate’s field of activity. You and your staff will be able to benefit from the GSC’s working arrangements, including teleworking.

Occasional missions abroad (approximately seven times per year), usually within the EU, are required.

We look for

We are looking for a manager with experience in EU policy-making and the EU legislative process, and an extensive knowledge of EU institutional issues. Knowledge of and experience in the areas covered by the Directorate, in particular the EU budget and the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), are required.

All GSC managers are expected to advise their hierarchy and stakeholders, to manage their staff and financial resources, and to 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 solutions and compromises;

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

—	a sense of diplomacy, knowing when to be flexible and when to be firm and maintaining attention to detail without losing sight of the overall picture;

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

—	the ability to reach common agreements or goals by providing targeted advice to stakeholders and by effectively and constructively facilitating discussions;

—	the ability to organise the overall work of the Directorate so as to meet critical deadlines and ensure a fair distribution of workload within the team as well as succession planning;

—	the ability to manage change and support staff through change;

—	excellent communication skills, including interpersonal communication skills.

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 at the time of applying:

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, out of which they have during at least three years effectively exercised management and organisational responsibilities. Three years spent in a post with significant coordination responsibilities would be equivalent to the required management experience;

—	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.

SELECTION PROCEDURE

In choosing the successful candidates 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. 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.

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 a first interview. As this first selection is based on a comparative assessment of the applications, the fulfilment of the requirements of this vacancy 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 in the second half of November 2022;

—	the first interviews are foreseen to take place at the end of November 2022;

—	the assessment centre is expected to take place in the second half of December 2022;

—	the second round of interviews is foreseen for the first half of January 2023.

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 11 November 2022 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 title: CONS/AD/181/22)

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/paste it into your browser (6): https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/53249/gsc-application_form_senior_management_en.docx https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/53248/gsc-application_form_senior_management_fr.docx

(b)

a detailed curriculum vitae in English or French (no photographs included), preferably in the Europass format (http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu), 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’);

(d)

copies of diplomas certifying education and copies of documents and certificates relating to professional experience, grouped together in a single pdf document. It is not sufficient to send just the curriculum vitae mentioned under (b). Supporting documents must have been issued by a third party (file to be named ‘XXX (YOUR FAMILY NAME) — Supporting documents.pdf’).

Failure to include these documents will render the application invalid.

All the supporting documents referred to under (d), must be numbered (Annex 1, 2, etc.) and grouped as mentioned above.

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 emails 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 on 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/56660/jobs-data-protection-083r00-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%3A01962R0031-20220101

(5)  This email address is linked to a functional mailbox and can only process messages with sensitivity option set to ‘Normal’; emails 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 emails.

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