27.5.2016

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CA 188/1

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Directorate-General for Budget

Vacancy notice for a Principal Adviser function (AD 14) Brussels

(Article 29(2) of the Staff Regulations)

COM/2016/10366

(2016/C 188 A/01)

 

We are

The European Commission is responsible for implementing many of the budgetary obligations of the European Union. The Directorate-General for Budget (DG BUDGET) has the task of ensuring from the budgetary authority the necessary resources to implement EU policies, managing the budget regulatory framework, implementing yearly budgets (revenue and expenditure), drawing up the annual accounts of the institutions, ensuring sound financial management and reporting on budget execution to the European Parliament, the Council and the Court of Auditors for a positive statement of assurance (DAS). It is made up of five directorates based in Brussels and has almost 450 staff.

DG BUDGET also prepares the rules governing the European Union’s finances and, by offering advice and training, promotes sound financial management within Commission departments. In doing this, the Directorate-General plays a decisive role in the administrative reform process designed to give the institution a high-quality public administration with which to accomplish with maximum efficiency the tasks conferred on it by the Treaty.

DG BUDGET plays a key-role in the allocation of financial and human resources as well as in the implementation of financial provisions applicable to them. This also covers financial and human resources allocations to decentralised bodies.

We propose

DG BUDGET is seeking to recruit a Principal Adviser to lead the work on ‘Budget focussed on results’, which is one of its top priorities. In the context of increasing scarcity of public finance, the Commission has to ensure that available resources are used in an optimal way and that the best possible results are achieved by the EU policies through the budgetary allocations.

In this perspective, DG BUDGET is leading a number of actions both inside and outside the Commission with a view to:

—	contributing to a stronger performance culture in relation to the EU budget, including by enhancing performance-based budgeting across the Commission, and

—	providing internal and external stakeholders with relevant, timely and meaningful information with regard to the value added of the EU budget.

The Principal Adviser is directly accountable to the Director-General. She/he is in charge of leading a strategy to focus the EU budget on results, as well as planning, monitoring and supervising the activities of the newly created Task force ‘Budget focussed on results’ in particular in the following areas:

—	organising, preparing and following-up of the Commissioners' Group on budget focussed on results, the Inter-Service Group on budget focussed on results, the Inter-Institutional Working Group on Performance-based Budgeting,

—	organising, preparing and following-up of the annual Conference on Budget focussed on results,

—	developing a coherent framework for evaluating and reporting on the performance and impact of EU spending programmes in close cooperation with spending DGs.

Moreover, the Principal Adviser represents the Commission at senior management level vis-à-vis the outside world.

We look for

The ideal candidate should be a public service minded person with a track record developing and implementing strategies with a leading by example and ‘hands-on’ management style.

She/he should have:

—	very good knowledge of the EU budget and policies,

—	excellent analytical skills and capacity to identify key issues, to develop and generate strategic goals and to translate them into practical proposals for action,

—	very good ability to solve organisational and operational problems, demonstrated sound judgement and a capability for decision-making,

—	proven organisational skills; excellent capacity to set objectives and targets, prioritize tasks and ensure their effective execution as well as the capacity to work in a networked mode with different services within DG Budget and the Commission,

—	successful, evidence based experience in developing and implementing complex strategies, preferably in areas closely related to budget and policy performance. Good understanding of policy assessment methods and tools,

—	very good leadership, communication and interpersonal skills, being able to represent the Directorate-General and the Commission effectively at senior management level vis-à-vis other DGs, EU Institutions and/or external stakeholders.

Candidates must

1.	Be a citizen of one of the EU Member States.

2.

Have: (i) 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 (ii) 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 professional experience of 1 year cannot be included in the postgraduate professional experience required below).

3.

Have at least 15 years’ postgraduate professional experience at a level to which the qualifications referred to above give admission. At least 5 years of that professional experience must have been gained in an advisory function at high level in a field related to this post. Candidates should clearly indicate for each high level function its title and the exact role they have exercised.

4.

Have a thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the European Union and an adequate knowledge of another of these official languages (1). 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.

5.	Not yet have reached regular retirement age; for staff entering the service of the European Commission as from 1 January 2014, retirement age 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) (2).

Independence and declaration of interests

Candidates are required to act independently in the public interest and declare any interests which might be considered prejudicial to their independence.

Appointment and conditions of employment

The Principal Adviser will be selected and appointed by the Commission according to its selection and recruitment procedures (see also: Compilation Document on Senior Officials Policy (3)). The selection process includes interviews with different selection panels, including the Commission’s Consultative Committee on Appointments, as well as participation in an assessment centre run by external recruitment consultants.

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

For functional reasons and to complete the selection procedure as quickly as possible in the interest of the candidates as well as that of the institution, the European Commission will carry out the selection procedure in English and/or French only (4).

The successful candidate will be recruited as an official under the terms of the Staff Regulations.

Equal opportunities

The Commission applies an active equal opportunities policy with the aim to further increase the share of women in management functions and particularly encourages applications from women.

Application procedure

Before submitting your application, you should carefully check whether you meet all the eligibility criteria (‘Candidates must’), particularly those concerning the types of diploma and professional experience required 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 confirm your registration as well as to remain in contact with you during the different stages 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 to complete the selection procedure as quickly as possible in the interest of the candidates as well as that of the institution, 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 progress of your application online. The European Commission will contact you directly 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 Brussels, Belgium, indicating clearly as a reference: Vacancy for the function of Principal Adviser in DG Budget (COM/2016/10366), 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-MANAGEMENT-ONLINE@ec.europa.eu

Closing date

The closing date for registration is 24 June 2016. Online registration will not be possible after 12.00 noon Brussels time.

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 (5).

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(1)  http://ec.europa.eu/languages/policy/language-policy/official_languages_en.htm

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

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

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

(5)  OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1.

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