Vacancy for an Executive Director (Grade AD 14) of a European Agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice — COM/2011/10318
Date: 2011-11-24
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU office or agency, appointment of members, area of freedom, security and justice, information technology applications








CA2011344EN.01000101.xml










24.11.2011   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CA 344/1





Vacancy for an Executive Director (Grade AD 14) of a European Agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice
COM/2011/10318
(2011/C 344 A/01)
We are
Upon a proposal of the European Commission (1), the European Parliament and the Council have adopted on 25 October 2011 a Regulation establishing a European Agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice (2) (hereinafter called ‘the Agency’). The Regulation was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 1 November 2011 and entered into force on the 20th day following its publication.
According to the Regulation, the Agency shall be a Union body having legal personality. The Agency will be responsible for the long-term operational management of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) (3), the Visa Information System (VIS) (4) and Eurodac (5). In the future, the Agency may also be made responsible for the preparation, development and operational management of other large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice, if so entrusted by means of separate legal instruments.
The Agency's core task will be to ensure the long-term operational management of SIS II, VIS and Eurodac, keeping the systems functioning 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, thus ensuring the effective, secure and continuous operation of the IT systems. The Agency will also be responsible for the adoption of the necessary measures to ensure the security of the systems and the security of data. Beyond these operational tasks, the Agency shall be responsible for the tasks related to reporting, publishing, monitoring, organising specific trainings on the technical use of the systems, implementing pilot schemes upon the specific and precise request of the Commission and monitoring of research relevant for the operational management of the systems.
The seat of the Agency will be Tallinn, Estonia. The tasks related to development and operational management of the current and future systems will be carried out in Strasbourg, France. A backup site shall be installed in Sankt Johann im Pongau, Austria.
It is expected that the Agency will employ a staff of approximately 120 persons by 2013.
The commitment of appropriations for the 2011-13 period was estimated at the level of EUR 107,8 million. The final figure will be set by the Budgetary Authority as part of the annual budgeting exercise.
We propose
The Executive Director will manage and represent the Agency. He/she shall be the legal representative and public face of the Agency. He/she shall be independent in the performance of his/her duties and shall be accountable for his/her activities to the Management Board. The Management Board shall be composed of one representative of each Member State and two representatives of the Commission.
The Executive Director will have a central role in setting up the Agency. He/she will be responsible for establishing the administrative, operational and financial measures necessary for the proper operation of the Agency, including the recruitment of key staff.
Without prejudice to the powers of the Management Board, the Executive Director shall assume full responsibility for the tasks entrusted to the Agency and shall be subject to the procedure for annual discharge by the European Parliament for the implementation of the budget. The European Parliament or the Council may invite the Executive Director to report on the performance of his/her tasks.
The Executive Director's responsibilities will include, in particular:






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ensuring the day-to-day administration of the Agency,










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ensuring the Agency's operation in accordance with its founding Regulation,










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preparing and implementing the procedures, decisions, strategies, programmes and activities adopted by the Management Board, within the limits specified by the founding Regulation, its implementing rules and any applicable law,










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establishing and implementing an effective system enabling regular monitoring and evaluations of the IT systems, including statistics, and of the Agency, also in terms of effective and efficient achievement of the Agency's objectives,










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participating, without the right to vote, in the meetings of the Management Board,










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exercising in respect of the Agency staff the powers laid down in the founding regulation and managing staff matters, in particular recruitment and supervision of staff, while ensuring efficient, motivating and team-oriented staff management,










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establishing confidentiality requirements to comply with the requirements of the legal instruments governing the IT systems,










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negotiating and, after approval by the Management Board, signing a Headquarters Agreement and Agreements on the technical and backup sites with the Governments of the host Member States,










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ensuring that the budget is managed efficiently and in accordance with the principles of sound financial management,










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submitting, for adoption by the Management Board, inter alia, the drafts for the following:






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the Agency's financial rules,










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the Agency's budget for the coming year, and the multiannual Staff Policy Plan,










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the Agency's multiannual work programme and its annual activity report, and implementing the annual work programme,














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communicating with relevant stakeholders, including the general public, in the areas of the Agency's activity.




For further information, please refer to the text of the Regulation.
We look for
Applicants should have:






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solid and proven administrative and management skills, in particular experience of budgetary, financial and human resources management in a national, European and/or international context,










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capacity to set up and manage an Agency of ca 120 staff both at strategic and internal management level,










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a thorough understanding of the EU context and of the interaction between national administrations and EU institutions. A good understanding of Union legislation on information exchange and large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice would be an asset,










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a solid professional experience in the field of large-scale IT systems, ideally acquired in a national, European or international public administration,










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knowledge in the field of data protection,










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the ability to lead and motivate a large team in a European, multicultural and multilingual environment,










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










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excellent written and oral communication and negotiation skills.




Applicants must
Applicants will be considered for the selection phase on the basis of the following formal criteria to be fulfilled by the closing date for applications:






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Nationality: be a national of a Member State of the EU,










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University Degree or Diploma: have:






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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,










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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 1 year when the normal period of university education is at least 3 years (this 1-year's professional experience cannot be included in the post-graduate professional experience required below),














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Professional Experience: have at least 15 years' post-graduate professional experience acquired after the required qualification referred to above was obtained,










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Relevant Professional Experience: of the 15 years professional experience, at least 5 years must have been acquired in a domain of direct relevance to the Agency's activities, preferably in the field of information exchange or large-scale IT systems,










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Management Experience: at least 5 years of professional experience gained in a high-level management function (6),










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Languages: have a thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the Union and a satisfactory knowledge of a second,










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Age Limit: be able to complete the full 5-year mandate before reaching retirement age. For temporary staff of the EU, 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 Director will be required to make a declaration of commitment to act independently in the public interest and to make a declaration in respect of any interests which might be considered prejudicial to his/her independence. Applicants must confirm their willingness to do so in their application.
The successful applicant will be required to undergo a security vetting and clearance procedure.
Selection and appointment
The selection is carried out subject to the availability of appropriations in the Agency's budget and of the relevant posts in its establishment plan.
A pre-selection panel will be set up for the selection process. This panel will invite applicants with the best profile for the specific requirements of the post to an interview. These applicants will be selected on the basis of their merits within the criteria set out above. Candidates shortlisted by the pre-selection panel will then be called for interview with the Commission's Consultative Committee on Appointments (CCA) and will have to undergo testing by an assessment centre run by external recruitment consultants. Candidates who are shortlisted by the CCA will then be interviewed by the relevant Commissioners.
Following these interviews, the Commission will adopt a list of eligible candidates, which will be communicated to the Management Board of the Agency. The latter will interview the candidates and select a candidate from among them. Inclusion on the list does not guarantee appointment. Candidates may be required to undergo further interviews and/or tests in addition to those indicated above. The Management Board could require a repeated selection procedure if it is not satisfied with the suitability of any of the candidates retained in the initial list.
Before appointment, the candidate selected by the Management Board shall be invited to make a statement before the competent committee or committees of the European Parliament and answer questions from its/their members. After this statement, the European Parliament shall adopt an opinion setting out its view of the selected candidate. The Management Board shall inform the European Parliament of the manner in which this opinion has been taken into account. The opinion shall be treated as personal and confidential until the appointment of the candidate.
The Management Board shall take the final decision on the appointment of the Executive Director.
Terms of office
The Executive Director will be appointed by the Management Board as a member of the staff of the Agency, as a temporary agent at grade AD14 pursuant to Article 2(a) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union (7), for a 5-year period. In the course of the 9 months preceding the end of the 5-year period the Management Board, in close consultation with the Commission, shall undertake an evaluation. In the evaluation, the Management Board shall assess in particular the results achieved in the first term of office and the way they were achieved.
The Management Board may extend the mandate of the Executive Director once for up to 3 years, taking into account the evaluation report and only in those cases where it can be justified by the duties and requirements of the Agency. In such case, the Management Board shall inform the European Parliament about its intention to extend the Executive Director's term of office. Within a month before the extension of his/her term of office, the Executive Director shall be invited to make a statement before the competent committee(s) of the European Parliament and answer questions from its/their members.
The Executive Director shall be accountable to the Management Board.
Dismissal
The Executive Director may be dismissed by the Management Board. The Management Board shall take the decision by a two-thirds majority of all its members with a right to vote.
Equal opportunities
The Agency applies a policy of equal opportunities and non-discrimination in accordance with Article 1d of the Staff Regulations (7).
Conditions of employment
The place of employment is Tallinn, where the seat of the Agency will be located.
The Executive Director is expected to take office in the autumn of 2012.
Application procedure
For applications to be valid, candidates must submit:






1.


a covering letter;










2.


and a free-format Curriculum Vitae (CV). The CV should preferably be drafted using the Europass CV format (8). Applicants are explicitly requested to highlight and give a brief account of the experience and expertise relevant to the job as well as details on the size — number of staff -, budget and nature of the departments they have previously managed.





Applications that are incomplete will be rejected.
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.
Applications, preferably in English, French or German, should be sent by e-mail to:
HOME-selections-IT-AGENCY-ED@ec.europa.eu
Applicants who are not able to send their applications by e-mail may send them by registered mail or express courier service to:





European Commission




Directorate-General for Home Affairs




Shared Resources Directorate, Unit 02 (Human Resources)




1049 Bruxelles/Brussel




BELGIQUE/BELGIË




Applicants are asked to report any change of address in writing without delay to the address above.
Contact person for additional information:





Ioan-Dragos Tudorache




Head of Unit




Unit C 2 — IT Projects: Infrastructure and legal matters




Directorate-General for Home Affairs




European Commission




Ioan-Dragos.Tudorache@ec.europa.eu




Closing date
Applications must be sent either by e-mail or by registered mail no later than Thursday 22 December 2011 (date of e-mail or date as postmark for registered mail).
Applications sent by express courier service must be delivered by the same date before 17.00 (Brussels time) to the address above.
The Commission reserves the right to extend the closing date of this vacancy by publication in the Official Journal of the European Union only.
Important information for applicants
Applicants are reminded that the work of the selection committees is confidential. It is forbidden for applicants to make direct or indirect contact with members of these committees, or for anybody to do so on their behalf.
Protection of personal data
The Commission and the Agency will ensure that candidates' personal data are processed as required by the Regulation 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 (9).


(1)  Amended proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on establishing an Agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice — COM (2010) 93 final.

(2)  Regulation (EU) No 1077/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 establishing a European Agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice (OJ L 286, 1.11.2011, p. 1).

(3)  Regulation (EC) No 1987/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 on the establishment, operation and use of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) (OJ L 381, 28.12.2006, p. 4) and Council Decision 2007/533/JHA of 12 June 2007 on the establishment, operation and use of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) (OJ L 205, 7.8.2007, p. 63).

(4)  Regulation (EC) No 767/2008 of 9 July 2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the Visa Information System (VIS) and the exchange of data between Member States on short-stay visas (VIS Regulation) (OJ L 218, 13.8.2008, p. 60).

(5)  Council Regulation (EC) No 2725/2000 of 11 December 2000 concerning the establishment of ‘Eurodac’ for the comparison of fingerprints for the effective application of the Dublin Convention (OJ L 316, 15.12.2000, p. 1).

(6)  In their CV applicants should indicate at least for these 5 years during which high-level management experience has been acquired: (1) title and role of management positions held; (2) number 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.

(7)  OJ L 124, 27.4.2004, p. 1.

(8)  The Europass CV can be downloaded from the website: http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/htm/index.htm

(9)  Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1).