Publication of a vacancy for the function of Executive Director in Dublin, Ireland

(Temporary Agent — Grade AD 14)

COM/2019/20046

(2019/C 387 A/01)

 

We are

The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (‘Eurofound’) is an agency of the European Union (EU) based in Ireland. It is established by Regulation (EU) 2019/127 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1).

Eurofound’s objective is to provide the Commission, other Union institutions, bodies and agencies, the Member States and the social partners with support for the purpose of shaping and implementing policies concerning the improvement of living and working conditions, devising employment policies, and promoting the dialogue between management and labour.

To that end, Eurofound shall enhance and disseminate knowledge, provide evidence and services for the purpose of policy making, including research-based conclusions, and shall facilitate knowledge sharing among and between Union and national actors.

For further information, please consult following website: https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/

We propose

We propose a high-level position in a very prominent agency in the field of living and working conditions, employment policies and social dialogue.

The Executive Director is responsible for the overall management of Eurofound in accordance with the strategic direction set by the Management Board, including day-to-day administration as well as financial and human resources management. The Executive Director is the legal representative of Eurofound.The Executive Director’s role and responsibilities include the following:

—	the day-to-day administration of Eurofound;

—	the management of human resources in Eurofound;

—	taking into account the needs relating to Eurofound’s activities and sound budgetary management and deciding on Eurofound’s internal structures;

—	selecting and appointing the Deputy Director;

—	preparing and submitting the programming document to the Management Board for approval, after having consulted the Commission;

—	implementing the programming document and reporting on its implementation;

—	preparing the consolidated annual report on Eurofound’s activities and presenting it to the Management Board for assessment and adoption;

—	establishing an effective monitoring system to enable regular evaluations of Eurofound’s programmes and activities;

—	preparing draft financial rules applicable to Eurofound;

—	preparing Eurofound’s draft statement of estimates of revenue and expenditure and implementing Eurofound’s budget;

—	preparing an action plan following-up conclusions of audit reports and evaluations, as well as investigations by OLAF and reporting on progress;

—	aiming to ensure gender balance within Eurofound;

—	protecting the financial interests of the Union;

—	preparing an anti-fraud strategy for Eurofound;

—	where relevant, cooperating with other Union agencies and concluding cooperation agreements with them.

We look for (selection criteria)

The ideal candidate will be an outstanding and dynamic professional who should fulfil the following selection criteria:

a)

Management experience, and in particular: — Proven management skills, both at strategic and operational management level; — Excellent capacity to develop and implement a strategic vision, to set objectives and to motivate and lead teams in a multicultural and multilingual environment; — Proven decision-making skills, including the capacity to take decisions in a complex political environment and in emergency situations; — Hands-on experience of budgetary, financial and human resources management in a national, European and/or international context.

b)

Technical knowledge and experience, and in particular: — Very good knowledge of industrial relations, living and working conditions and employment policies; — Ability to interact and negotiate at the highest level of management with the EU institutions and bodies as well as public authorities and social partners; — Very good understanding of the EU institutions and how they operate and interact, as well as of EU administrative and financial procedures, EU policies and international activities of relevance to the activities of Eurofound.

c)

Communication/negotiations skills, and in particular: — Ability to communicate efficiently to the stakeholders and the public; — Excellent written and oral communication and negotiation skills; — A crucial part of the Executive Director’s tasks is to represent the agency in international fora and to interact with stakeholders in an international context. In order to be able to enter into the tasks of Executive Director immediately, a very good command of English is indispensable.

d)	Assets: — Experience gained in a multicultural environment; — Background in research.

Candidates must (eligibility requirements)

Candidates will only be considered for the selection phase on the basis of the following formal requirements to be fulfilled by the deadline for applications:

—	Nationality: candidates must be a citizen of one of the Member States of the European Union.

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University degree or diploma: candidates must have: — 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 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. At least 5 years of that professional experience must be in the area of the activities of the agency.

—	Management experience: at least 5 years of the post-graduate professional experience must have been gained in a high-level management function (2) in a field relevant for this position.

—

Languages: candidates must have a thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the European Union (3) 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: candidates must be able to complete, at the deadline for application, the full mandate of 5 years before reaching the retirement age. For temporary staff of the European Union, the retirement age is defined as being the end of the month in which the person reaches the age of 66 years (see Article 47 of the Conditions of Employment of other Servants of the European Union (4)).

In addition, candidates have to have fulfilled any obligations imposed by law concerning military service; produce appropriate character references as to their suitability for the performance of their duties and be physically fit to perform their duties.

Selection and appointment

The Executive Director will be appointed by the Management Board of Eurofound on the basis of a shortlist provided by the European Commission.

To establish this shortlist, the European Commission organises a selection in accordance with its selection and recruitment procedures (see the Document on Senior Officials Policy (5)).

As part of this selection procedure, the European Commission sets up a pre-selection panel. This panel analyses all applications, proceeds with a first eligibility verification and identifies candidates having the best profile in view of the selection criteria mentioned above, and who may be invited for an interview with the pre-selection panel.

Following these interviews, the pre-selection panel draws up its conclusions and proposes a list of candidates for further interviews with the European Commission’s Consultative Committee on Appointments (CCA). The CCA, taking into consideration the conclusions of the pre-selection panel, will decide on the candidates to be invited for an interview.

Candidates who are called for an interview with the CCA participate in a full-day management assessment centre run by external recruitment consultants. Taking account of the results of the interview and the report of the assessment centre, the CCA establishes a shortlist of candidates it considers suitable to exercise the function of Executive Director of Eurofound.

Candidates on the CCA shortlist will be interviewed by the Member(s) of the Commission responsible for the Directorate-General in charge of the relations with the Agency (6).

Following these interviews, the European Commission adopts a shortlist of the most suitable candidates, which will be communicated to the Management Board of Eurofound. The latter may decide to interview the candidates before appointing the Executive Director from among the candidates on the Commission shortlist. Inclusion on this shortlist does not guarantee appointment.

Candidates may be required to undergo further interviews and/or tests in addition to those indicated above.

The selected candidate shall be invited to make a statement before the European Parliament and to answer questions from Members of Parliament.

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 (7).

Equal opportunities

The European Commission and Eurofound apply a policy of equal opportunities and non-discrimination in accordance with Article 1d of the Staff Regulations (8).

Conditions of employment

The salaries and conditions of employment are laid down in the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants (9).

The successful candidate will be engaged by Eurofound as a Temporary Agent at grade AD14 (10). He/she will be classified depending on the length of his/her previous professional experience in step 1 or step 2 within that grade.

She/he will be appointed for an initial mandate of 5 years, with a possible prolongation for a maximum 5 years according to Regulation establishing the Agency as applicable at the time of appointment.

Applicants should note the requirement under the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants for all new staff to complete successfully a nine-month probationary period.

The place of employment is Dublin, Ireland, where Eurofound is based.

The post is available from 1 December 2020.

Independence and declaration of interests

Before taking up his/her duties, the Executive Director will be required to make a declaration of commitment to act independently in the public interest and to declare any interests, which might be considered prejudicial to his/her independence.

Application procedure

Before submitting your application, you should carefully check whether you meet all eligibility requirements (‘Candidates must’), particularly concerning the types of diploma, high-level professional experience as well as linguistic capacity required. Failure to meet any of the eligibility requirements means an automatic exclusion from the selection procedure.

If you want to apply, you must register via the internet on the following website and follow the instructions concerning the various stages of the procedure:

https://ec.europa.eu/dgs/human-resources/seniormanagementvacancies/

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 procedure. Therefore, please keep the European Commission informed about any change in your email address.

To complete your application, you need to upload a CV in PDF format and to fill out, online, a letter of motivation (maximum 8 000 characters). Your CV and your letter of motivation may be submitted in any of the official languages of the European Union.

Once you have finished your online registration, you will receive an electronic mail confirming that your application has been registered. 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 on-line. 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 email to: HR-MANAGEMENT-ONLINE@ec.europa.eu

Closing date

The closing date for registration is 13 December 2019, 12.00 noon Brussels time, following which registration is no longer possible.

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 candidates

Candidates are reminded that the work of the different selection panels is confidential. It is forbidden for candidates to make direct or indirect contact with their individual members or for anybody to do so on their behalf. All queries must be addressed to the secretariat of the relevant panel.

Protection of personal data

The Commission will ensure that candidates’ personal data are processed as required by Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council (11). This applies in particular to the confidentiality and security of such data.

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(1)  Regulation (EU) 2019/127 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 January 2019 establishing the European Foundation for the improvement of living and working conditions (Eurofound), and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 1365/75 (OJ L 30, 31.1.2019, p. 74), https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32019R0127

(2)  In their curriculum vitae, candidates should clearly indicate for all years during which 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; (4) numbers of hierarchical layers above and below; and (5) number of peers.

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

(4)  http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:1962R0031:20140101:EN:PDF

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

(6)  Unless the Member of the Commission concerned, in line with the Commission Decision of 5 December 2007 (PV(2007) 1811), has delegated this task to another Member of the Commission.

(7)  Selection panels will ensure that no undue advantage is given to native speakers.

(8)  http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:01962R0031-20140701&from=EN

(9)  http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:01962R0031-20140701&from=EN

(10)  The correction coefficient applicable to the remuneration and pensions of officials and other servants of the European Union for Ireland is set at 117,7 % as from 1 July 2018. This coefficient is subject to an annual revision.

(11)  Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data. This applies in particular to the confidentiality and security of such data (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39).