7.6.2018

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CA 195/1

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Directorate-General for Budget (DG BUDG)

Publication of a vacancy notice for a Director function (AD 14), Brussels

(Article 29 § 2 of the Staff Regulations)

COM/2018/10380

(2018/C 195 A/01)

 

We are

The Directorate-General for Budget (DG BUDG) is the central service of the European Commission in charge of the management of the EU budget throughout the annual and multiannual cycle; from the preparation of the annual draft budget and Multiannual Financial Framework to its implementation and the final discharge by the European Parliament. DG BUDG is also responsible for the legal framework applicable to the implementation of the EU budget by the different institutions, agencies and Member states, and it plays a key role in promoting sound financial management and a performance culture that focuses on maximising the results of public expenditure on the ground.

The Director of Budget Execution is responsible for ensuring the effective and efficient operation of the central accounting and treasury department and to lead the work of the Directorate towards the achievement of the overall objectives of the Directorate-General and indeed the Commission. The Directorate includes 6 units with around 130 permanent staff combined.

We propose

DG BUDG is seeking to recruit a Director to head up its Directorate ‘Budget Execution’. The Director of Budget Execution will report directly to the Deputy Director-General — Accounting Officer and will provide support of the highest standard to the Directorate-General so as to enable it to properly accomplish its duties.

The main responsibilities and challenges currently include:

—	assuring the quality of financial data in the Commission spending departments via the provision of adequate systems, reporting tools, guidance and support to maintain the objective of a positive DAS (Declaration of Assurance) of the Court of Auditors on the reliability of the accounts;

—	the management of the treasury function and executing all payments and receipts of income for both the Commission, the European Development Fund and around 15 other EU bodies. The treasury carried out 2,5 million payments for a total amount of around EUR 160 billion per year;

—	the preparation of the annual accounts and other official financial reporting of the European Commission;

—	recovery of debts and contacts with the authorising officers and the Commission’s Legal Service to ensure the Union’s interests are protected. The Directorate plays an important role in the recovery of the competition fines imposed by the Commission.

—	In the framework of the evolution of the central accounting (ABAC) system, the Directorate, as a key business user, plays an important role oi the definition, design and implementation of the successor system.

—	providing advice to all Commission spending departments, Institutions, EU agencies and accounting services to a growing number of these entities.

The Director may be called to represent the Directorate-General in relevant inter-service meetings as well as the Commission in Parliament and the Council on matters in the Directorate’s field of competence.

We look for

The ideal candidate should have:

—	An excellent knowledge and proven experience in public finances, treasury management, budgetary rules and procedures, international accounting standards and financial reporting;

—	A proven experience dealing with Financial and Accounting Information Systems and capacity to understand and apply IT project management methodologies;

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A good knowledge of the issues and procedures linked to the external audit, internal control and to the European commission discharge procedure (the decision taken by the authority empowered — Parliament — releasing the executive — Commission — from its duty to implement the budget, thus marking the final closure of the budget cycle);

—	Proven success in a management position having shown strong leadership skills and being able to lead, motivate and inspire large multidisciplinary teams of highly-qualified staff, to set priorities and to take decisions;

—	Excellent problem-solving skills and intellectual ability;

—	Sound judgement and excellent analytical and conceptual skills, demonstrating a well-developed capacity for strategic and creative thinking and the ability to generate innovative, coherent and practical action plans;

—	Strong communication and inter-personal skills, being able to discuss effectively and efficiently with internal and external stakeholders, as well as solid experience in coordinating and negotiating at high level.

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 a citizen of one of the EU Member States of the European Union.

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University degree or diploma: candidates must 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; (ii) 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 one year’s professional experience cannot be included in the postgraduate professional experience required below).

—	Professional experience: candidates must have at least 15 years’ postgraduate professional experience at a level to which the qualifications referred to above give admission.

—	Management experience: at least 5 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 a satisfactory 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 lit (a) of the Staff Regulations) (3).

Independence and declaration of interests

Before taking up their duty, 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 Director is based in Brussels.

Equal opportunities

The European Commission applies an active policy of equal opportunities aimed of further increasing the share of women in management functions and it 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 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 e-mail address. This will be used to identify 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 e-mail 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).

Once you have finished your online registration, you will receive an electronic mail confirming that your application has been registered. The mail also contains 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 require more information and/or encounter technical problems, please send an e-mail to: HR-MANAGEMENT-ONLINE@ec.europa.eu

Closing date

The closing date for registration is 5 July 2018, 12.00 noon Brussels time, after which online registrations will not be possible anymore.

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 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 candidates

Candidates 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 5 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://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:01958R0001-20130701&qid=1408533709461&from=EN

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

(4)  https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/compilation-of-the-senior-official-policy-at-the-european-commission_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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