EEA Job Vacancy

EEA/CA/2015/9

EEA Job Vacancy Published 20 May 2015

15 min read

Project Manager - Regional marine state of the environment assessments - Contract Agent (FG IV)

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The European Environment Agency (EEA) is organising an open competition with a view to recruiting a contract agent to work as Project Manager within the area of integrated marine state of the environment and further with a view to establishing a reserve list.

THE AGENCY

The EEA is an Agency of the European Union (EU) and one of the decentralised Union bodies. The EEA aims to support sustainable development and to help achieve significant and measurable improvement inEurope’s environment, through the provision of timely, targeted, relevant and reliable information to policy-making agents and the public.

JOB DESCRIPTION

The EEA is seeking to recruit an experienced marine analyst with expertise to further developing its capacity to perform state of the environment assessments in the context of cooperating with Regional Seas Conventions. The successful candidate will support both the strategic planning, as well as the execution of developing regional marine assessments in the context of an overarching European assessment. As part of its mandate to develop policy relevant assessments, the EEA supports the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). This Directive contains a legal obligation to develop a review of the status of the marine environment in the Community, undertaken in coordination with the European Environment Agency, and the relevant regional marine and fisheries organisations and conventions by 2019 (MSFD, art 20.3b), and EEA is engaged in numerous activities to develop a system and process that allows this to happen. Particular focus will be on developing specific assessment contributions, that are related to the 11 descriptors of good environmental status of the MSFD and putting them into the context of the ecosystem based approach (as defined by EEA). Contributions are to be developed in collaboration with EEA Member Countries (Eionet) in particular regions as well as the relevant Regional Sea Conventions. They should be based on observations made in the marine environment and associated with indicators, maritime statistics, geographic information, and processed information such as that stemming from Member State marine assessments. Part of the task will be to support the development of a marine information platform under WISE (WISE-Marine) which is based on the principles of the Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS), and is intended to encompass data, indicators and reported information stemming from the MSFD.

Suitable candidates should be familiar with the activities of the Common Implementation Strategy of the MSFD, as well as those of the Marine Expert Group. Furthermore, technical capacities related to analysis and synthesis of data and information will be requested. The assessment contributions will be developed in collaboration with multiple stakeholders from the Eionet and EU Member States, the European Commission and International organisations, and will require networking with them.

The main tasks will involve developing a strategic plan for engagement with the Eionet countries in particular regions of European relevance, as well as Conventions such as the Barcelona and Bucharest ones, and General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean, to establish a mechanism that can deliver marine assessments suitable for the EEA SoE assessment framework. Focus will also be on the actual implementation of the plan which will include analysis, visualisation and interpretation of regional indicators and other statistics. The post will require specific knowledge of the marine environment and pressures acting upon it, as well as considerable networking skills.

Under the responsibility of the Head of Group responsible for Marine Environment, reporting to the Head of Programme, Natural systems and vulnerability, the Project Manager shall be responsible for developing state of the environment assessment contributions relevant for improving EEA assessments, in particular of the Mediterranean and Black Seas.

The position will entail the following tasks:

Development of a strategic plan for engagement with the Eionet countries in the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions, the Bucharest and Barcelona Conventions, and the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean to provide regional marine assessments in the context of EEAs marine state of the environment assessments.
Implementation of the plan to deliver Mediterranean and Black Sea contributions first to WISE-Marine (especially regional indicators and indicator assessments) and secondly provide holistic and integrated DPSIR regional assessment contributions to EEAs MSFD art 20.3b assessment.
Support and develop regional data exchange mechanisms agreed with the Eionet or in the context of the Barcelona and Bucharest Conventions.

Organise meetings and workshops with experts from across Europe (including the European topic centres), in support of the implementation of the above activities.
Support EEA activities in MSFD Common Implementation Strategy, Regional Sea Conventions and the Eionet.
Steer contributions from the relevant European Topic Centre on Inland, Coastal and Marine Water to the above functions;
Provide contributions to EEA marine assessments and maritime sector reports and contribute to communication activities towards EEA clients and the general public, e.g. in the form of reports, briefings, web and oral presentations.
Support EEA in developing GIS products and implementing GIS based assessment tools
Initiate and maintain the necessary networks and partnerships with key external institutional partners, such as the European Commission (DGs MARE, ENV, JRC and Eurostat), ICES, the Regional Sea Conventions, UN bodies, as well as EEA member countries (Eionet) and stakeholders in the field of maritime policy and marine environment;

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Candidates applying must satisfy the following eligibility criteria on the closing date for the submission of applications:

a) Successful completion of university studies attested by a degree relevant to the field concerned (e.g. marine biology, oceanography, environmental science or environmental engineering) of at least 3 years, plus 1 year of appropriate professional experience;

b) A minimum of 3 years of relevant professional experience in the field of analysing the marine environment and contributing to assessments or other publication types after achieving the qualification set out above.

In addition, in order to be eligible a candidate must:

Be a national of one of the member countries of the EEA (Member States of the European Union plusIceland,Liechtenstein,Norway,SwitzerlandandTurkey);
Enjoy full rights as a citizen;
Have fulfilled any obligations imposed by law concerning military service;
Have a thorough knowledge of one of the languages of the EEA member countries and a satisfactory knowledge of another of these languages (corresponding to level B.2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for languages CEFR);
Meet the character requirements for the duties involved;
Be physically fit to perform the duties linked to the post.

Candidates should assess carefully and check before submitting their application whether they fulfil all the conditions for admission laid down in the vacancy notice, particularly in terms of qualifications and relevant professional experience.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Essential

A minimum of 3 years’ experience of technical analysis using GIS, mathematical models, or statistical tools in support of environmental analyses, indicator development, or assessments.
A thorough understanding and documented experience working with the Drivers-Pressures-State-Impacts-Response framework, and its interpretation to an ecosystem based approach.
Documented experience in collaborating with Europe’s Regional Sea Conventions. Other relevant experience in international collaboration will be a plus.
Documented experience in managing own projects as well as placing those own projects into a team context.
Experience with the MSFD implementation process, as well as the Eionet marine and coastal NRC network and processes related to the activities of the Bucharest and Barcelona Conventions;
Documented writing skills.
Very good knowledge of written and spoken English;
Ability to prioritise work and manage his/her responsibilities;
Good organisational and interpersonal skills;
Excellent communication skills;

Advantageous

Good knowledge of European policies and related environmental policies.

CONTRACTUAL CONDITIONS

The successful candidate will be offered a Contract Agent contract in accordance with Article 3a) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union. The duration of the contract will be for a limited period of four years with the possibility of being renewed once for up to the same period.

Successful candidates who are recruited undergo an initial probation period of 9 months.

Please note that recruitment is done in the first step of the grade within Function Group IV to which the successful candidate qualifies, depending on the duration of the acquired professional experience.

For information on salary, please see information published under Contract Agents.

The place of work will be Copenhagen, Denmark.

It is brought to the particular attention of candidates that the provisions of Articles 11 to 26 of the Staff Regulations, concerning the rights and obligations of officials, shall apply by analogy to Temporary Agents. These rules specify that:

“An official shall carry out his duties and conduct himself solely with the interests of the Union in mind. He shall neither seek nor take instructions from any government, authority, organization or person outside his institution. He shall carry out the duties assigned to him objectively, impartially and in keeping with his duty of loyalty to the Union.

An official shall not without the permission of the appointing authority accept from any government or from any other source outside the institution to which he belongs any honour, decoration, favour, gift or payment of any kind whatever, except for services rendered either before his appointment or during special leave for military or other national service and in respect of such service.

Before recruiting an official, the appointing authority shall examine whether the candidate has any personal interest such as to impair his independence or any other conflict of interest. To that end, the candidate, using a specific form, shall inform the appointing authority of any actual or potential conflict of interest. In such cases, the appointing authority shall take this into account in a duly reasoned opinion. If necessary, the appointing authority shall take the measures referred to in Article 11a(2).”

For further information on the Staff Regulations and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union see: Staff Regulations

SELECTION PROCEDURE

A Selection Committee is set up for the selection procedure. It consists of members designated by the Appointing Authority and the Staff Committee. The Selection Committee is bound by the principle of confidentiality as enshrined in Article 6 of Annex III to the Staff Regulations. This works in two ways: first, it imposes obligations to ensure equal treatment for candidates; and second, it seeks to protect the Selection Committee to ensure that its decisions are totally impartial.

The Selection Committee adheres strictly to the conditions of admission laid down in the vacancy notice when deciding whether or not candidates are eligible. Candidates admitted to a previous selection procedure will not automatically be eligible. Candidates are strictly forbidden to make any contact with the members of the Selection Committee, either directly or indirectly. Any infringement of this rule will lead to disqualification from the selection procedure.

Should the Selection Committee discover at any stage in the procedure that the candidate does not meet one or more of the general or special conditions for admission to the selection procedure, the candidate will be disqualified.

The Selection Committee decides on those candidates who are admitted to the selection procedure in accordance with the requirements as specified under eligibility criteria. The applications of the candidates admitted to the selection procedure are reviewed to establish whether or not they show evidence of all requirements as specified under selection criteria. The Selection Committee will invite for an interview up to a maximum of 10 candidates that they deem best qualified. The interview will be held in English and the candidate’s knowledge of other languages will also be assessed during the interview. Candidates invited for an interview will be asked to undergo a written test in the area of expertise required for the post. The test and the interview will take place in Copenhagen (Denmark) where the EEA has its seat and where the place of employment is.

At the end of the interviews the Selection Committee will submit the list of suitable candidates to the Appointing Authority who will decide on the appointment of the successful candidate and the establishment of a reserve list for the post advertised or similar posts that may become available. This usually follows from follow-up recruitment interviews conducted by the Appointing Authority with the suitable candidates. Candidates shall note that inclusion on the reserve list does not guarantee recruitment. Recruitment will be based on availability of posts and budget.

The reserve list for this post will be valid until 31 December 2016 and may be extended at the discretion of the Appointing Authority.

Prior to contract signature, the successful candidate will be asked:

to provide original or certified copies of all relevant documents proving his/her eligibility, including a police certificate confirming the absence of any criminal record;
to undergo a compulsory medical examination to establish that he/she meets the standard of physical fitness necessary to perform the duties involved.

PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION

Any personal data provided by the applicant shall be processed pursuant to European Regulation related to personal data protection, in particular Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions and bodies and on the free movements of such data. This applies in particular to the confidentiality and security of such data.

Personal data shall be processed solely for the purposes of this selection procedure.

The applicant shall have the right of access to his/her personal data and the right to rectify or update any such data that is inaccurate or incomplete at any time during the application procedure. The right to rectify can only be exercised up to the closing date for submission of applications. However, inaccurate identification data may be rectified at any time during and after the application procedure. Any request for access or rectification of personal data shall be addressed in writing to the Human Management Resource Group at the address: European Environment Agency, Kongens Nytorv 6, 1050 Copenhagen K, Denmark, or at the e-mail address: recruitment.enquiries@eea.europa.eu.

The applicant can, upon request, be provided with their evaluation results at all stages of the selection procedure. The request must be submitted to the Human Management Resource Group at the address: European Environment Agency, Kongens Nytorv 6, 1050 Copenhagen K, Denmark, or at the e-mail address: recruitment.enquiries@eea.europa.eu.

The Agency does not make public the names of successful candidates on reserve lists. However, it is possible that, for the purposes of recruitment and related planning purposes, members of the Agency’s senior management team may have access to reserve lists and in specific cases, to the application of a candidate.

Should the applicant have any queries concerning the processing of his/her personal data, s/he shall address them to the European Environment Agency at the following e-mail address: dataprotectionofficer@eea.europa.eu

Applicants are entitled to have recourse at any time to the European Data Protection Supervisor (http://www.edps.europa.eu; EDPS@edps.europa.eu) if they consider that their rights under Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 have been infringed as a result of the processing of their personal data by the EEA.

For further detailed information please refer to the privacy statement available on the EEA website at the following address: http://www.eea.europa.eu/about-us/documents/data-protection-inventory (Annex 1 to selection procedure for TA and CA – HR1).

EQUAL TREATMENT

EEA is an equal opportunities employer and accepts applications without distinction on the grounds of gender, colour, racial, social or ethnic origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation, marital status or family situation, or any other status. Staff is recruited on the broadest possible geographical basis from among nationals of all EEA member countries.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Interested candidates must apply by filling in electronically the application form below.

Please note that the address indicated on the form will be used as the location for travel for candidates invited to an interview.

To the application form must be attached:

The European CV below duly filled in
A letter of motivation

Application documents

NB: Failure to submit any of the required documents will lead to exclusion from the procedure.

Closing date for application: Monday 22 June 2015, at 12.00 (Central European Time)

Applications sent after this date will be rejected.

Please ensure that you observe the following:

Remember to take time zones into consideration when sending your application.
Remember to fill in the application form below.
Include a CV using the Europass template attached and a letter of motivation.
Ensure to specify in your CV exact starting and end dates of professional experiences (date/month/year) as well as percentage of work activity in case the experience is not full time.
Once your application has been submitted, you will receive an automatic reply.
It is your responsibility to keep the automatic reply message as proof of submission of your application.
Should you not receive an automatic reply message, please check whether the e-mail has been filtered by the spam filter set up on your e-mail account. Please re-submit your application if this is not the case, or contact Human Resources on the e-mail address indicated at the end of this vacancy notice.
Please do not leave it until the last minute to submit your application. Experience has shown that the system can become overloaded as the deadline for applications approaches and you may find it difficult to submit your application in time. Applications not submitted in time cannot be considered valid.
You may apply in any of the official languages of the European Union but the use of English is encouraged to facilitate the selection process.

REQUEST FOR REVIEW

A candidate who feels that a mistake has been made regarding eligibility may ask to have his/her application reconsidered by sending, within 10 calendar days of the date of notification, a request for review, quoting the number of the selection procedure concerned to the Chairperson of the Selection Committee at the following address: European Environment Agency, Kongens Nytorv 6, 1050 Copenhagen K, Denmark, or electronically at the e-mail address: recruitment.enquiries@eea.europa.eu.

The Selection Committee will reconsider the application and notify the candidate of its decision within 15 working days of receipt of the request for review.

APPEAL PROCEDURES

If a candidate considers that he/she has been adversely affected by a particular decision, he/she can lodge a complaint under Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations of Officials and Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Union, at the following address:

Executive Director

European Environment Agency

Kongens Nytorv 6

1050CopenhagenK

Denmark

The complaint must be lodged within 3 months. The time limit for initiating this type of procedure starts to run from the time the candidate is notified of the act adversely affecting him/her.

If the complaint is rejected the candidate may bring a case under Article 270 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 91 of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union before:

The European Union Civil Service Tribunal

Postal address:

L – 2925 Luxembourg

Please note that the Appointing Authority does not have the power to amend the decisions of a Selection Committee. The Court has consistently held that the wide discretion enjoyed by the Selection Committee is not subject to review by the Court unless rules which govern the proceedings of Selection Committee have been infringed.

It is also possible to complain to the European Ombudsman pursuant to Article 228(1) of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union and in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Decision of the European Parliament of 9 March 1994 on the regulations and the general conditions governing the performance of the Ombudsman’s duties, published in Official Journal of the European Union L 113 of 4 May 1994:

European Ombudsman

1 avenue du Président Robert Schuman – CS 30403

F-67001 Strasbourg Cedex

Please note that complaints made to the Ombudsman have no suspensive effect on the period laid down in Article 90(2) and 91 of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union for lodging, respectively, a complaint or an appeal with the European Union Civil Service Tribunal under Article 270 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.