Vacancy for Executive Director (Grade AD 14) of the European Environment Agency, Copenhagen — COM/2012/10330
Date: 2012-05-16
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU environmental policy, European civil service, job vacancy, managing director








CA2012140EN.01000101.xml










16.5.2012   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CA 140/1





Vacancy for Executive Director (Grade AD 14) of the European Environment Agency, Copenhagen
COM/2012/10330
(2012/C 140 A/01)
Republication of the vacancy notice
This vacancy notice is a republication of the earlier notice, COM/2012/10325 published in 
Official Journal of the European Union C 37 A of 10 February 2012. The latter was cancelled because, due to a clerical error, it mistakenly indicated in the eligibility criteria that knowledge of only one EU language was sufficient, whereas it should have stated that in addition a satisfactory knowledge of a second language was necessary. This is a statutory requirement for all EU institution and agency posts. Due to this typographical error, the previous vacancy notice has been cancelled and is republished here with a corrected language requirement and some other minor alterations. Candidates to the previous vacancy notice will be contacted individually to inform them of the cancellation of the earlier notice and will be asked to confirm or resubmit their applications if they believe they meet the eligibility criteria.
We are
The European Environment Agency (‘the Agency’) is a European Union regulatory agency established under Council Regulation (EEC) No 1210/90 (1) (as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 933/1999 and Regulation (EC) No 1641/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council and, subsequently, codified through Regulation (EC) No 401/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009); it is located in Copenhagen.

The Agency: Since its establishment in 1994, the Agency has become a vital source of information for the European Commission, the European Parliament, EU Member States and other Agency member countries in developing and implementing environment and climate policies. As such, the Agency has a key role in providing the knowledge base to help Europe to make informed decisions about improving the environment and integrating environmental considerations into economic policies, so as to develop along a sustainable, low-carbon and resource-efficient path. The successful applicant will have to demonstrate the ability and leadership necessary to ensure that the Agency fulfils its strategic role. The Agency is supported by an environmental information and observation network which involves participants from EU Member States and a number of other countries. Alongside integrating environmental and climate considerations in key policy areas and developing and maintaining the knowledge base on those policies, such that it is fit for the purpose of supporting the challenges ahead, the Agency will be expected to collaborate closely with the European Commission, the European Parliament and EU Member States to provide them with objective information necessary for framing and implementing sound and effective environment and climate policies. It will also have to ensure the broad dissemination of reliable and comparable environmental and climate information, in particular on the state of the environment, to the general public.
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's responsibilities will include:






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working with the Management Board and the Scientific Committee to develop and achieve the Agency's strategic objectives in the environment and climate field,










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day-to-day management of the Agency's 200-plus staff and its annual budget of around EUR 50 million,










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the collection, collation and analysis of environmental and climate-related information and the management of its dissemination,










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the preparation and delivery of the multiannual and annual work programmes,










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optimising the knowledge-base support for the generation and implementation of EU environment and climate policy.




The post of Executive Director entails frequent travelling.
Candidates are invited to look at the Agency website at: http://www.eea.europa.eu

We look for
(selection criteria):

Preference will be given to candidates who possess the following attributes, evidenced by relevant experience:






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proven capacity to manage a large organisation and provide strategic leadership, so as to achieve the objectives of the Agency.










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very good understanding of EU institutions and their workings,










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in-depth understanding of EU environmental and climate strategies and policies, and of developments in the international arena and other relevant activities in these domains,










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ability to develop a strategy for enhancing the role of the Agency as a key environmental knowledge-base provider on environment and climate change in the EU and in this capacity its role in ensuring better implementation of EU law,










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being able to work effectively with stakeholders and build effective working relations with key partners,










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ability to represent the Agency and communicate coherent key messages to the media, public and other stakeholders,










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solid and proven capacity to manage resources, ensure sound financial management and internal control arrangements in a national, European and/or international context,










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English is the day-to-day working language of the Agency and thus would be an asset.





Applicants must
(basic eligibility criteria)

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 one of the member countries of the Agency (Member States of the European Union plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey),










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University degree or diploma: have:






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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, or










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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 acquired after the required qualifications referred to above were obtained, 10 years of which must have been in the environmental and climate fields, in either the business, academic or public sectors, preferably including significant experience of international organisations,










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Management experience: have at least five years of professional experience gained in a high-level management function (2),










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Languages: have a thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the European Union as defined in Article 1 of Regulation No 1 of 1958 (3) and a satisfactory knowledge of another official EU language.










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Age limit: be able to complete, at the date of taking up their duties as Executive Director of the Agency, the full five-year mandate before reaching retirement age. For temporary staff of the EU institutions and agencies, 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 respect of any interests which might be considered prejudicial to his/her independence. Applicants 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 applicants with the best profile for the specific requirements of the post to an interview, selected on the basis of their merits and the criteria set out above. Following these interviews, the pre-selection panel will suggest a number of candidates for a further interview with the Commission's Consultative Committee on Appointments (CCA). Candidates who are called for this interview will have to undergo testing by an assessment centre run by external recruitment consultants.
The CCA will propose to the Member of the Commission with responsibility for the Agency a list of candidates it considers suitable to exercise successfully the function of Executive Director.
The Member of the Commission with responsibility for the Agency, who may be accompanied by the Commissioner with responsibility for Climate Action, will interview these candidates and propose to the Commission a shortlist of successful candidates; this list will be communicated to the Management Board of the Agency. The latter will interview the shortlisted candidates and appoint the Executive 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 the Management Board appoints one of the shortlisted candidates, the proposed candidate may be asked to address the competent body of the European Parliament Committee and to reply to questions.
The post will be vacant as of 1 June 2013 and, subject to the timely completion of the selection procedure, the selected candidate will be expected to take up his/her duties as of this date.
Equal opportunities
The regulatory agency applies a policy of equal opportunities and non-discrimination in accordance with Article 1d of the Staff Regulations (4).
Conditions of employment
The Executive Director will be appointed as a staff of the Agency as a temporary agent at grade AD 14 pursuant to Article 2(a) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union (5) for a five-year period, which may be renewed once, as stated in the basic Act.
The place of employment is Copenhagen, where the Agency is based.
Application procedure

Before submitting your application, you should carefully check whether you meet all the eligibility criteria (‘Applicants must’), particularly concerning the types of diploma and professional experience required. Failure to meet any of the eligibility requirements means an automatic exclusion from the selection procedure.

For applications to be valid, candidates must submit:






1.


a motivation letter (maximum 2 pages). Applicants are invited to present their views on the main challenges for the Agency with respect to environment and climate policies and the vision on how to meet them in the next five years; and










2.


a free-format Curriculum Vitae (CV). The CV should preferably be drafted using the Europass CV format (6). 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.
In order to facilitate the selection process, all communication with applicants concerning this vacancy will be in English.
Applications, preferably in English, French or German, should be sent by e-mail to:
ENV-EEA-VACANCY@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 Environment, Shared Resources Directorate, Unit for Human Resources & Administration, COM/2012/10330, BU-5 3/140, 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: Robin Miège, Director, DG Environment (Directorate F — Strategy), BU-5 4/141, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË, Tel. +32 22958043 and E-mail: robin.miege@ec.europa.eu
Closing date
Applications must be sent either by e-mail or by registered mail no later than 6 June 2012 (date of e-mail or date as postmark for registered mail).
Applications sent by express courier service must be delivered on 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 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 (7).


(1)  OJ L 120, 11.5.1990, p. 1.

(2)  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.

(3)  OJ 17, 6.10.1958, p. 385/58.

(4)  OJ L 124, 27.4.2004, p. 1 (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/index.htm).

(5)  See previous footnote.

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

(7)  OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1.