EEA/AD/2020/17

Please send us your application by no later than 25 January 2021 at midnight (Copenhagen time), following the instructions in the ANNEX.

The European Environment Agency (EEA) is organising an open competition with a view to recruiting a temporary agent to work as Head of Programme - Coordination and Strategy 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 in Europe’s environment, through the provision of timely, targeted, relevant and reliable information to policymaking agents and the public.

JOB DESCRIPTION:

Under the authority of the  ‘Executive Director of the EEA’ (see Organisational chart), the Head of

Programme (corresponding to Head of Unit) shall be responsible for managing and supporting the Executive Director and the EEA senior management towards coherent and effective governance of the Agency.  

The position will entail the following tasks:

Programme management and planning:

• Advising on and coordinate strategic and policy-related activities, enhancing EEA's overall operations and reputation;
• Identifying strategic organisational improvement projects with senior management and ensure their implementation;
• Acting as the central point of contact with the EU and international institutions as well as member countries on strategic and policy matters;
• Providing leadership for strategic decisions, taking into account the impact on the EEA's key stakeholders;
• Representing the EEA at institutional fora. Working closely with key institutional stakeholders to co-create solutions and deliver value-adding outcomes;
• Organising the functioning of the Programme and ensuring that expertise and capacity for executing and completing activities is available;
• Promoting a collaborative working environment across EEA and networks, seeking opportunities for knowledge and practice sharing between key stakeholders, internally and externally; 
• Seting quality standards, anticipating and resolving organisational issues, engaging in the solving of complex issues across the EEA and beyond;
• Building an organisational culture that fosters innovation and continuous improvement, adaptive to change.

HR management

• Leading leaders (Head of Group and knowledge leaders), providing coaching and support to directly managed staff;
• Providing advice and guidance on the future development requirements of the organisation, ensuring support and structures in place so that team(s) are empowered and enabled to deliver;
• Strengthening the knowledge and talent of individuals across the organisation;
• Initiating when needed corrective and preventive actions concerning HR-related processes, human interrelations and staff well-being in the Programme.

Financial management

• Ensuring budget resources allocated to the Programme are used in the most efficient, effective and economic manner;
• Acting as authorising officer in particular for the financial and budgetary aspects (commitments and payments) of activities carried out within the Programme.

CONTRACTUAL CONDITIONS:

The successful candidate will be offered a Temporary Agent contract in accordance with Article 2f) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities. The selected candidate will be employed for an initial time period of four years, renewable. 

Successful candidates who are recruited undergo an initial probation period of 9 months and a management trial period of 9 months.

Should the successful candidate currently hold a Temporary Agent 2(f) contract and qualify for a transfer under the terms of the CEOS, the band width for this position which can be accommodated is in accordance with Annex I of the Staff Regulations. 

For information on salary, please see information published under Temporary 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.  

In a spirit of transparency, and in order to align our working methods with current practice in certain Member States, the administration has decided to proceed with the publication of names of Selection Committee members. 

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 to the interview and to the written test phase the best qualified candidates (maximum of 8). Should the case arise that there are various candidates scoring the same number of points in the 8th ranking, the number of candidates to be invited may be increased accordingly to accommodate this.

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. Should the situation not allow for this, the written test and interview may also take place remotely.

All applicants invited to the interview and written test shall take part in an evaluation with an assessment centre before the interview. The assessment centre shall evaluate the applicants' potential and shall provide an in-depth analysis of managerial skills, adaptability and other core competencies. It shall comprise individual and/or group exercises as well as in-depth interviews focused on management skills. The result of the assessment centre evaluation shall be taken into consideration by the Appointing Authority.

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 2022 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.

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 where the normal duration of university education is 4 years or more OR successful completion of university studies attested by a degree relevant to the field concerned where the normal duration of university education is at least 3 years;                                    

b)    A minimum of 15 years (with a 4 year diploma) OR 16 years (with a 3 year diploma) of relevant professional experience after award of the university degree. Please note that professional experience pursued on a part-time basis shall be calculated pro rata. A given period may only be counted once.

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 plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey);
• 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:

(In your application, please provide examples from current or past work experience where these competencies have been applied)

1. Professional experience of at least 5 years similar to the tasks listed above under “Job description”,
2. Professional experience of at least 5 years in leadership positions, including line-management and budget responsibility (e.g. Head of Unit, Head of Sector, Team Leader or equivalent). Please indicate (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;
3. Demonstrated familiarity with EU institutions and relevant policies, e.g. European Green Deal, Climate policies;
4. Demonstrated familiarity with the broader EU context and in particular the legislative and political process;
5. Capacity to share a compelling strategic vision to staff and stakeholders, seeking to build a shared purpose;
6. Ability to identify and incorporate trends to help shape future strategy and seek stakeholder buy-in*;
7. Awareness of own and others' perspectives and emotions to ensure a clear focus on outcomes, continually enhancing, with humility, own leadership capability*;
8. Excellent command of written and spoken* English language, at least at level C1 in all categories according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Language.

*These criteria will be subject to the next stage of the selection procedure and might be tested during interview, written test and/or assessment centre stage.

Advantageous:

1. Completed training in leadership and management.