Directorate-General Eurostat

Publication of a vacancy for the function of Director ESTAT.D ‘Government Finance Statistics (GFS) and quality’ (AD 14) (Luxembourg)

(Article 29(2) of the Staff Regulations)

COM/2018/10381

(2018/C 353 A/01)

 

We are

Eurostat is a Directorate-General of the European Commission. It provides the European Union with a high quality statistical information service, serving the European Institutions, Member States, financial markets, the business community, media and the general public.

Eurostat is in charge of coordinating and strengthening the governance of the European Statistical System (ESS) with the objective of providing easy access to all users of timely, reliable and comparable statistics at EU level. It is responsible for proposing all EU statistical legislation. Eurostat also coordinates the improvement of statistical systems in candidate countries and in the wider international community.

The Directorate D ‘Government Finance Statistics (GFS) and quality’ comprises 4 units with around 60 staff (permanent and non-permanent) and has an operating budget of approximately 1 million euros.

The Offices of Eurostat are located in Luxembourg.

We propose

Directorate D has the responsibility to ensure high quality government finance statistics in Member States in order to ensure proper implementation of the Excessive Deficit Procedure.

The challenging and high-profile position of Government Finance Statistics and Quality Director in Eurostat comprises the following main responsibilities:

—	Leadership in the essential areas of government finance statistics and quality;

—	The strategic management of all key statistical processes and outputs in the Directorate;

—	Management of and representation in key relationships with external stakeholders such as the relevant bodies of the ESS, the national statistical institutes, ministries of finance, national central banks and international bodies such as the ECB, the IMF, UN and the OECD;

—	Management and representation of the Directorate in key relationships with other Commission departments and other European Union institutions such as the European Court of Auditors.

In collaboration with the Director-General and other senior managers, the Director will contribute towards developing Eurostat and the European Statistical System, draw up the work programme of the Directorate and contribute towards drawing up a coherent statistical programme for the Commission.

He/she will also be responsible for the supervision and authorisation of financial operations initiated by the Units under his/her control.

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 success in a management position, involving management of teams and of financial resources; — strong ability to manage and direct an administrative body both from the strategic and internal management perspective; — understanding of the planning, the execution and the monitoring of the work in Eurostat within the procedures that are applied in the European Commission. The candidate will be part of the management team of the Directorate-General. In this context solid experience of working in a management team is an advantage.

b)

Technical knowledge and experience, and in particular: — a very good knowledge and experience in the area of national accounts and statistical treatment of various financial instruments; — a very good knowledge of Commission priorities and relevant EU programmes and policies; — an acute and sharp sense of judgement in politically sensitive issues.

c)

Communication / negotiations and other skills, and in particular: — strong communication, interpersonal and negotiation skills, enabling the candidate to lead discussions, communicate clearly, act effectively to represent the Commission and establish good working relations with other European and non-European institutions; — very sound judgement and a demonstrable drive to generate and implement new ideas; — excellent analytical skills and the ability to solve organisational and operational problems via a results- oriented approach.

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).

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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 national accounts and statistical treatment of various financial instruments.

—	Management experience: at least 5 years of the post-graduate professional experience must have been gained in a high-level management function (1) in a field relevant for this position.

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Languages: candidates must 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: candidates must not 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)).

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 European Commission will select and appoint the Director according to its selection and recruitment procedures (see: Document on Senior Officials Policy (4)).

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 a Director.

Candidates on the CCA shortlist will be interviewed by the Member of the Commission responsible for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour mobility, who has Eurostat as part of the portfolio.

Following these interviews, the European Commission takes the appointment decision.

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).

Equal opportunities

The European Commission applies a policy of equal opportunities and non-discrimination in accordance with Article 1d of the Staff Regulations (6).

Conditions of employment

The salaries and conditions of employment are laid down in the Staff Regulations (7).

The successful candidate will be recruited as an official at grade AD 14. He/she will be classified depending on the length of his/her previous professional experience in step 1 or step 2 within that grade.

Applicants should note the requirement under the Staff Regulations for all new staff to complete successfully a nine-month probationary period.

The place of employment is Luxembourg, where Eurostat is based.

Independence and declaration of interests

Before taking up his/her duties, the 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 e-mail 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 e-mail 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).

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 e-mail to: HR-MANAGEMENT-ONLINE@ec.europa.eu

Closing date

The closing date for registration is 30 October 2018, 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 committees 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. Any query has to be addressed to the secretariat of the respective panels

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 (8). This applies in particular to the confidentiality and security of such data.

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(1)  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.

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

(3)  http://eurlex.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)  Selection panels will ensure that no undue advantage is given to native speakers of these languages.

(6)  See footnote 3.

(7)  See footnote 3.

(8)  OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1.