Vacancy for the Executive Director of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) (Grade AD 15) — COM/2010/10286
Date: 2010-10-30
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European Commission, European Medicines Agency, administrative procedure, job vacancy








CA2010296EN.01000101.xml










30.10.2010   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CA 296/1





Vacancy for the Executive Director of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) (Grade AD 15)
COM/2010/10286
(2010/C 296 A/01)
We are
Established by Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 136 of 30 April 2004), the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is responsible for coordinating the authorisation, supervision and pharmacovigilance of medicinal products for human and veterinary use in the European Union through the work of six scientific committees and a large expert network put at its disposal by Member States.
For further information please consult the following website: http://www.EMA.europa.eu/
We propose
The Executive Director is the legal representative and public face of the Agency and is accountable to the Management Board.
The Executive Director will lead and manage the Agency and take overall responsibility for its operations ensuring the achievement of the Agency's objectives. In 2011, the Agency's budget will be EUR 250 million with a total staff of 650.
The Executive Director's specific responsibilities will include:






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managing all the Agency resources necessary for conducting the activities of its committees, including making available appropriate scientific and technical support,










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responsibility, under Parliament and Council Regulation No 1901/2006, for paediatric investigation plans and waivers,










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ensuring that the time-limits laid down in Community legislation for the adoption of opinions by the Agency are complied with,










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ensuring appropriate coordination between its committees on matters such as orphan medicines, scientific advice, and support for Small and Medium Sized enterprises,










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submitting a draft work programme for the coming year, a draft report covering the activities of the Agency in the previous year and the Annual Activity Report to the Management Board for approval,










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the preparation of the draft statement of estimates of the Agency's revenue and expenditure, and execution of its budget,










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communicating directly and indirectly with the public on all matters within the Agency's remit,










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providing the secretariat for the Management Board,










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the day-to-day administration of the Agency,










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all staff matters.




We look for (selection criteria)
Candidates must have:






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a proven record of managing large teams at a senior level; experience gained in a multicultural environment would be considered an advantage,










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experience in budgetary planning and in financial management,










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a solid experience of negotiating in an international environment,










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a thorough knowledge of European pharmaceutical legislation,










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a good understanding of the European institutions as well as EU administrative and financial procedures,










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ability to communicate with the press, with the public and with other stakeholders (European, international, national and local authorities, international organisations, etc.),










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ability to maintain appropriate relations with EU institutions and with Member State's competent authorities to ensure the proper functioning of the European medicines network.




In addition, candidates will also preferably satisfy the following criteria:






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the university degree mentioned below should ideally be as a physician, a pharmacist or a veterinarian,










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the professional experience mentioned below should ideally have been acquired in a national, European or international public administration involving contacts with the pharmaceutical industry.




Applicants 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.






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Nationality: be a national of a Member State of the European Union or be a national of a country from the European Economic Area.










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University degree or diploma:






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either have a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma when the normal period of university education is four years or more,










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or a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma and appropriate professional experience of at least one year when the normal period of university education is at least three years (this one year's professional experience cannot be included in the postgraduate professional experience required below).














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Professional experience: have at least 15 years' postgraduate experience at a level to which the qualifications referred to above give admission.










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Management experience: have at least five years of the professional experience gained in a high-level management function (1).










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Languages: have a thorough knowledge of one of the official Union languages (2) and a satisfactory knowledge of a second of these languages to the extent necessary for the performance of his/her duties.










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Age limit: be able to complete the full five-year mandate before reaching retirement age. For temporary staff of the European Union, retirement age is defined as being the end of the month in which the person reaches the age of 65.




Independence and declaration of interests
The Executive Director will be required to make a declaration of commitment to act independently in the public interest and to make a declaration in relation to interests which might be considered prejudicial to his/her independence. Candidates must confirm their willingness to do so in their application.
Selection and appointment
A pre-selection panel will be set up for the selection process. This panel will invite those candidates who have the best profile for the specific needs to an interview, selected on the basis of their merits relevant to the post according to the criteria set out above. Candidates short-listed by the pre-selection panel will then be called for an interview with the Commission's Consultative Committee on Appointments (CCA) and will have to participate in an evaluation at an assessment centre run by external recruitment consultants. Candidates, who have been short-listed by the CCA, will afterwards be interviewed by the relevant Commissioners.
Following these interviews, the Commission adopts a short list of the most suitable candidates, which will be communicated to the Management Board of the EMA. The latter will interview the short-listed candidates and nominate the Director from among them. Inclusion on the shortlist does not guarantee appointment.
Candidates may be required to undergo further interviews and/or tests in addition to those indicated above.
Before appointment, the nominated applicant will be invited to make a statement before the European Parliament and to answer questions put by members of that institution.
Equal opportunities
EMA applies a policy of equal opportunities and non-discrimination in accordance with Article 1d of the Staff Regulations (3).
Conditions of employment
The Executive Director will be appointed at grade AD 15, pursuant to Articles 2a and 10 of the Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities (3), for a five-year period or until the expiration of the mandate of the Agency, whichever comes first. Under the EMA Regulation, his mandate may be renewed once.
The place of employment is London, where the Agency is based.
Application procedure
For applications to be valid, candidates must submit:






1.


a letter of motivation; and










2.


a curriculum vitae (CV) preferably drafted using the European CV format (4).




The application will be rejected if the dossier is incomplete.
Supporting documents (e.g. certified copies of degrees/diplomas, references, proof of experience, etc.) should not be sent at this point but must be submitted at a later stage of the procedure, if requested.
In order to facilitate the selection process, all communications to candidates concerning this vacancy will be in the English language.
Applications, preferably in English, French or German, should be sent by e-mail to:
SANCO-VACANCY-EMA@ec.europa.eu
Applicants who are not able to send their application by e-mail may send it by registered post or by express courier service to:





European Commission




Directorate General for Health and Consumers




COM/2010/10286 — Post of Executive Director EMA




Unit SANCO.A.5 ‘Human Resources’




Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 200




1049 Bruxelles/Brussel




BELGIQUE/BELGIË




Contact person for additional information:





Mr Tapani Piha, Head of the Human Resources Unit




Tel. +32 22985487




E-mail: tapani.piha@ec.europa.eu




Closing date
Applications must be sent either by e-mail or by registered post no later than 24.11.2010 (date of e-mail or date of postmark for registered mail).
Applications sent by express courier must be delivered before 17.00 (Brussels time), on the closing date mentioned above.
The Commission reserves the right to prolong the closing date of this vacancy by publication in the Official Journal of the European Union only.
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 members or to ask anybody else to do so on their behalf.
Protection of personal data
The Commission (during the preparatory phase) and later EMA 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 Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data (5).


(1)  In their CVs applicants should indicate at least for these five 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://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/lang/languages/index_en.html

(3)  OJ L 124, 27.4.2004, p. 1; http://ec.europa.eu/civil_service/docs/toc100_en.pdf

(4)  The European CV can be downloaded from the website http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/htm/index.htm; concerning the structure and content of the CV, please see also footnote 1.

(5)  OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1.