6.7.2012

Official Journal of the European Union

CA 198/1

VACANCY NOTICE ECA/2012/42

Director

(function group AD, grade 14/15)

CEAD Chamber — Directorate B: Audit and audit supervision — Financial and compliance audit

(2012/C 198 A/01)

WE ARE

The European Court of Auditors is the European Union (EU) institution established by the Treaty to carry out the audit of EU finances. As the EU's external auditor, it contributes to improving the EU's financial management and acts as the independent guardian of the financial interests of the citizens of the Union.

The Court renders audit services through which it assesses the collection and spending of EU funds. It examines whether financial operations have been properly recorded and disclosed, legally and regularly executed and managed so as to ensure economy, efficiency and effectiveness. The Court communicates the results of its audits in clear, relevant and objective reports. It also provides its opinion on financial management issues.

The Court promotes accountability and transparency and assists the European Parliament and the Council in overseeing the implementation of the EU budget, particularly during the discharge procedure. The Court is committed to being an efficient organisation at the forefront of developments in public audit and administration.

The Court of Auditors has its headquarters in Luxembourg.

The CEAD Chamber is a horizontal Chamber and its primary responsibility is to assist the Court and the vertical audit Chambers with audit coordination, evaluation, assurance and development. It consists of two Directorates:

—	Directorate A: Audit support, quality and development,

—	Directorate B: Audit and audit supervision — Financial and compliance audit.

Within Directorate B, the ‘Audit supervision and support for financial and compliance audit’ (ASC) unit is responsible for the supervision, follow-up and coordination of specific assessments and for the aggregation of these elements for the purposes of producing the Court's Statement of Assurance (DAS) on the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions. To this end, it is also responsible for drawing up the main concepts on which the Court's DAS approach and methodology are based, and for internal training courses and communication in this respect.

The ‘Reliability of the accounts and of management representations’ (ARR) unit is responsible for auditing the Commission's annual accounts and the EU's consolidated financial statements, as well as for analysing the positions adopted by the Commission departments and the Member States. The unit's main task is to contribute to the Court's annual Statement of Assurance as regards the reliability of the accounts as they appear in the financial statements and the reports relating to the implementation of the budget.

WE PROPOSE

The Court of Auditors has decided to open a selection procedure in order to fill the post of Director (grade AD 14/AD 15) in the CEAD-B Chamber, ‘Audit and audit supervision — Financial and compliance audit’, under Article 29(2) of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union (‘the Staff Regulations’). This selection procedure, the purpose of which is to expand the choices available to the appointing authority, will be run concurrently with the internal and interinstitutional appointment procedure.

The appointment will be made at grade AD 14/AD 15. The basic monthly salary is EUR 13 216,49 at grade AD 14 and EUR 14 953,61 at grade AD 15. In addition to the basic salary, which is subject to Union tax and exempt from national taxes, certain allowances may be payable as laid down in the Staff Regulations.

The Director of the CEAD-B Chamber is a senior official.

Under the direct authority of the Court Members and whilst complying with the Court's Audit Policy and Standards and its Audit Manual, his/her duties are:

—	to assist the Dean and the Members of the Audit Chamber in carrying out their assigned tasks and activities,

—	to draw up and implement the Directorate's annual work programme and report on the way it is executed,

—	to ensure that the contradictory procedures for the Chamber's sphere of activity run smoothly,

—	to supervise the Directorate's units and manage its staff, in particular the supervision and further training of staff, and also the financial and material resources allocated to the Chamber.

WE LOOK FOR

This selection procedure is open to all candidates who, on the final date for the submission of applications, can satisfy the following conditions:

—

in accordance with Article 5 of the Staff Regulations:

—	university level education attested by a recognised diploma where the normal length of study is four years or longer, or

—	university level education attested by a recognised diploma and relevant professional experience of at least one year where the normal length of study is at least three years, or

—	where justified in the interests of the service, professional training of an equivalent level,

—	at least 15 years' conclusive, relevant professional experience since the diploma referred to above was obtained,

—	for recruitment at grade AD 14, at least four years' experience in management positions is required; for recruitment at grade AD 15, at least six years' experience in management positions,

—	conclusive and successful experience in auditing,

—	conclusive and successful experience in the field of contradictory procedures with reports published at political level (Parliament, government, SAI),

—	conclusive and successful experience in quality control of audits,

—	international experience is also desired,

—	proven capacity to devise and implement strategy, to define objectives and the results to be achieved and report on them,

—	excellent mastery of audit standards in general, and compliance and financial auditing standards in particular,

—	excellent mastery of management methods: leading and motivating teams, identifying and exploiting staff potential, conflict management,

—	versatility and the capacity to analyse and summarise,

—	excellent interpersonal skills and oral and written communication skills,

—	proven ability to work with stakeholders. Accessibility and open-mindedness, with a sense for the general interest and negotiating skills,

—	thorough knowledge of auditing methods concerning various fields (including statistics),

—	satisfactory knowledge of public sector accounting standards (IPSAS),

—

thorough knowledge of one official language of the European Union and satisfactory knowledge of at least one other official language of the European Union. Knowledge of other languages would be an advantage. On account of the nature of the duties to be performed, a sound knowledge of French and English is required.

RECRUITMENT POLICY

The Court is an equal opportunities employer with a policy of non-discrimination and welcomes applications from all qualified applicants.

CONDITIONS FOR RECRUITMENT

In accordance with Article 28 of the Staff Regulations, candidates must:

—	be a national of one of the Member States of the European Union,

—	enjoy their full rights as a citizen,

—	have fulfilled any obligations imposed on them by the laws concerning military service,

—	produce the necessary character references as to their suitability for the performance of their duties.

SELECTION PROCEDURE

(a)

To help the Court reach a decision, a preselection board (‘the board’) will assess the applications on the basis of the following criteria:

(i)	the candidates' qualifications, professional experience, motivation, versatility and analytical ability;

(ii)	their capacity to manage and direct a team;

(iii)

their specific skills, as required for the post in question.

(b)

The board will make its assessment in two stages:

(i)

each candidate will be assessed on the basis of:

—	his/her personal file, curriculum vitae (CV) and letter giving his/her reasons for applying,

—	a case study which he/she will be invited to prepare;

(ii)

the successful candidates will be:

—	invited for interview,

—	asked to present their case studies.

If the board deems it necessary, it may also call on the services of an ‘assessment centre’ to evaluate the candidates' capacity to perform management tasks.

DATA PROTECTION

Pursuant to Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of 18 December 2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council 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 (1), ‘the recipient shall process the personal data only for the purposes for which they were transmitted’.

SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS

Applications, written in English or French, must be submitted electronically to the following address: vacancies@eca.europa.eu. Applications must contain the vacancy notice reference (ECA/2012/42) and include a letter giving the candidate's reasons for applying, as well as an up-to-date CV using the Europass template (please consult the website http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu).

The final date for submitting applications is 24 July 2012 at midnight.

If invited for interview, candidates will have until the interview date to produce documentary evidence of their studies, professional experience and current responsibilities. As no such documents will be returned, only copies or photocopies should be submitted.

Luxembourg, 29 June 2012.

For the Court of Auditors

Vítor CALDEIRA

President

(1) OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1.