7.8.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CA 200/1

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VACANCY NOTICE

for the position of Director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control

(2004/C 200 A/01)

Applications are invited for the position of Director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (the Centre). It will be located in Stockholm, Sweden and is expected to start operations by May 2005. The legal base for the Centre is Regulation (EC) No 851/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 establishing a European Centre for disease prevention and control (1) (the Regulation).

General description of the tasks and role of the Centre

The initial mission of the Centre is to identify, assess and communicate current and emerging threats to human health from communicable diseases. The Centre will search for, collect, collate, evaluate and disseminate scientific and technical data (surveillance), provide scientific opinions and technical and scientific assistance, including training. The Centre will provide timely information to its partners within and outside the European Union (EU), coordinate the networking activities within its mission and exchange information, expertise and best practices. It will also facilitate the development and implementation of joint actions, such as joint outbreak investigations. The Centre will need to establish cooperation with the WHO.

The Centre will issue advice and recommendations to guide EU and national decision makers, taking into account the wealth of scientific expertise in the Member States' public health institutes. The aim of the Centre is to network this expertise and to facilitate coordination between the Member State institutes.

Under the guidance of the Director, the Centre must rapidly earn a reputation with its stakeholders as the accepted point of reference by virtue of its independence, the scientific quality, accuracy and timeliness of the networks it operates, the support it provides in emerging crisis situations and the information it disseminates as well as the transparency of its procedures and its diligence in performing the tasks assigned to it.

The initial focus of the Centre will be on communicable diseases and outbreaks of disease of unknown origin. After initial years of operation, an independent external evaluator will assess its achievements and the possible need to extend its scope to other relevant activities in the field of public health, in particular to health monitoring.

Additional information can be found at http://europa.eu.int/comm/health/index_en.html.

Description and nature of functions

The Director is the legal representative and public face of the Centre and is accountable to the Management Board. Particular responsibilities include:

—	developing and achieving the Centre's strategic objectives in accordance with its mission,

—	day-to-day management of the Centre's staff, including recruitment,

—	preparation and execution of the budget of the Centre,

—	communicating to the public in relation to matters within the Centre's mission,

—	preparation and implementation of the multiannual and annual work programmes,

—	facilitating cooperation between the Centre, the Commission and the Member States to promote coherence between risk assessment, risk management and risk communication functions,

—	cooperation with the competent bodies in the Member States carrying out similar tasks to those of the Centre, in particular chairing the Advisory Forum,

—	establishing effective contacts with the European Parliament.

The challenge will be to ensure continuity of action and to establish an excellent level of coordination with the Commission.

Specific qualifications and experience required for this function

—	Proven scientific excellence in the field of health, or management excellence in organisations in this area

—	A good understanding of the EU institutions and EU policies in these fields as well as of other policies relevant to the Centre, and related international activities

—	Proven capacity to lead an organisation at strategic management level, and to fulfil the mandate of the Centre; experience in successfully managing teams and in guiding, motivating and mentoring staff; sound experience of financial and administrative management

—	Excellent communication and negotiation skills, including the ability to communicate with the public and to build good working relations with all stakeholders

—	A good working knowledge of English and/or French would be an asset.

Applicants must:

—	be a citizen of one of the 25 EU Member States,

—	hold a university degree that gives access to undertake postgraduate studies,

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on the closing date for applications, have at least 15 years of professional experience at a level to which the qualification referred to above gives access. At least five years of this professional experience must have been gained at scientific or management level commensurate to the position in question,

—	have a thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the European Union and an adequate knowledge of another of these languages,

—	it would be desirable to be in a position to serve one full five-year mandate before reaching the normal retirement age for EU Staff.

Independence and declarations of interest

The 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 should therefore include confirmation of their willingness to make such declarations with their applications.

Appointment and conditions of employment

In accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 17 of the Regulation, the Director will be appointed by the Management Board on the basis of a shortlist list drawn up by the Commission. Before appointment, the candidate nominated by the Management Board will be required to make a statement to and answer questions from the European Parliament.

This call for applications is the basis for the establishment of the Commission's shortlist. Candidates should note that the shortlist may be made public and that inclusion on the shortlist does not guarantee appointment.

The Director will be appointed as a member of the temporary staff at grade A*14 pursuant to Article 2a of the Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities (2) for a period of five years that may be extended once for a further period of up to five years.

Equal opportunities

The European Union takes great care to avoid any form of discrimination in its recruitment procedures and actively encourages applications from women.

Application procedure

In order for applications to be considered valid, candidates must submit a letter of motivation, and an EU CV (3). Supporting documents (certified copies of degrees/diplomas, references, proof of experience, etc.) should not be sent at this point but must be submitted at a later stage of the procedure if requested.

Applications, preferably in English, French or German, should be sent by e-mail in Word or pdf format to SANCO_ECDC_director@cec.eu.int. Applicants who are not able to send their application by e-mail may, alternatively, send it by post, marked ‘Director of the ECDC’, to:

European Commission

Health and Consumer Protection Directorate-General

Public Health and Risk Assessment Directorate

Unit C6 Health Measures

G-1 05/234

B-1049 Brussels

Closing date

Applications must be sent either by e-mail or by registered post not later than 10 September 2004 (date as postmark).

Applications sent by courier service must be delivered to the same address before 15.00 on the abovementioned date.

The Commission reserves the right to postpone the closing date of this call by publication in the Official Journal of the European Union only.

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(1)  OJ L 142, 30.4.2004, p. 1

(2)  OJ L 124, 27.4.2004, p. 1. http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/archive/2004/l_12420040427en.html

(3)  http://www.cedefop.eu.int/transparency/cv.asp

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