Notice of open competition — EPSO/AST/133/14 — Information and Communication Technology (ICT) (AST 3)
Date: 2014-06-12
Institutions: European Personnel Selection Office
Subjects: EPSO, assistant, competition (EU), information technology








CA2014178EN.01000101.xml










12.6.2014   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CA 178/1





NOTICE OF OPEN COMPETITION
EPSO/AST/133/14
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) (AST 3)
2014/C 178 A/01
 
The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) is organising an open competition, based on qualifications and tests, to constitute a reserve from which to recruit assistants (1).
The purpose of this competition is to draw up reserve lists from which to fill vacant posts for officials in the institutions of the European Union.


Before applying, you should carefully read the General rules governing open competitions published in

Official Journal of the European Union

C 60 A of 1 March 2014 and on the EPSO website.




They are an integral part of the competition notice and will help you to understand the rules governing the procedure and how to apply.


CONTENTS






I.


GENERAL BACKGROUND










II.


DUTIES










III.


ELIGIBILITY










IV.


ADMISSION TESTS










V.


ADMISSION TO THE COMPETITION AND SELECTION BASED ON QUALIFICATIONS










VI.


OPEN COMPETITION










VII.


RESERVE LISTS










VIII.


HOW TO APPLY




I.   GENERAL BACKGROUND













1.


Number of successful candidates per field







1 = 57


2 = 21


3 = 18


4 = 44


5 = 11











2.


Remarks






This notice covers five fields. You may not apply for more than one field.
You must make your choice when you apply online and you will not be able to change it after you have confirmed and finally validated your online application form.




II.   DUTIES

The officials recruited will perform assistants’ duties such as:






—


Translating business needs into IT solutions, drafting business cases to assist decision-making.










—


Organising, setting up, and/or monitoring operational services in one of these fields (with or without partial outsourcing), in particular preparing reports and dashboards to monitor activities in line with requirements and drafting documentation for managing change and infrastructure development projects.










—


Supervising outside contractors, including drawing up work plans, monitoring contracts, handling reception and acceptance procedures and the associated invoicing.










—


Devising tests and/or validating technical solutions.










—


Managing IT project/service teams and contracts.










—


Preparing memos, reports, and presentations.





in one of the following fields:

Field 1 — Information systems







—


Functional and technical analysis (describing needs, analysing business processes, drawing up functional and technical specifications), designing software, database, and applications architectures.










—


Prototyping, development, testing, deployment, quality control, maintenance, and administration of information systems in a variety of architectures and environments (client-server, multi-tier, software packages such as SAP, or mobile or web oriented software).










—


Development, implementation, and maintenance of data warehouse and business intelligence systems.










—


Development, implementation, and maintenance of documentary systems.





Field 2 — Information systems security







—


Conducting systems risk analyses using recognised methodological tools (EBIOS, PILAR, etc.) and translating the conclusions into suitable security countermeasures to protect information systems.










—


Setting up security operating procedures for information systems, drawing up configuration guides (operating systems, databases, network filters, etc.), and helping to administer information systems security.










—


Performing IT and network security audits, information system penetration tests, and network security diagnostics.










—


Deploying and running automated log analysis tools, vulnerability analysis tools, network filters, IPS/IDS, and malware protection tools.










—


Deploying and running government-style encryption mechanisms (key management, accounting aspects, etc.).










—


Deploying and operating public key management infrastructures.





Field 3 — Networks and telecommunications







—


Defining solutions, implementing, managing, and supervising data network (LAN/WAN) services and voice/videoconferencing network services, and telecommunications services in general.










—


Administration, maintenance, and support for network and telecoms infrastructure services and equipment: active and passive equipment, routers, firewalls, proxies, load balancers, anti-spam, PABX, etc. Monitoring operation, performance, and security.










—


Managing and auditing network and telecom security.





Field 4 — Office IT infrastructure and data centre







—


Administration, maintenance, and support for the user environment. Configuring workstations, including mobile devices. Deploying updates to operating systems, software, and business applications. Configuring and monitoring workstation security.










—


Operating/managing data-processing centres: administration, maintenance, and support for services and equipment for authentication, management of file systems, databases, application servers, storage, backup, and archiving systems, virtualisation systems, directory and user provisioning services, management of mobile devices, e-mail, and other services normally provided by a data centre.










—


Project management, technology evaluation, and implementation of solutions in the sub-fields indicated.










—


User support in the subfields indicated.










—


Involvement in defining and testing the Business Continuity Plan (BCP) and Disaster Recovery Procedures (DRP).





Field 5 — Web







—


Technical architecture: defining technical web architectures (back office) taking account of the specific features of the content management tool used and of business needs.










—


Developing and configuring website and content management systems (CMS).










—


Configuration/development of validation workflows and publication of content.










—


Organising, setting up and/or monitoring operational website management services (with or without partial outsourcing). Drawing up procedures, statistics, reports and dashboards for monitoring activities as required.










—


Development work for social media (Facebook, etc.).










—


Graphic design and layout.




III.   ELIGIBILITY



On the closing date for online applications
, you must fulfil all the following general and specific conditions:












1.


General conditions














(a)


You must be a citizen of one of the Member States of the European Union.










(b)


You must enjoy your full rights as a citizen.










(c)


You must have fulfilled any obligations imposed on you by the laws on military service.










(d)


You must meet the character requirements for the duties involved.














2.


Specific conditions








2.1.



Qualifications/diplomas and professional experience

Post-secondary education attested by a diploma in information and communication technology, followed by at least 3 years’ experience in the candidate’s chosen field.

OR

Secondary (general or technical) education attested by a diploma giving access to post-secondary education, followed by at least 6 years’ professional experience in the candidate’s chosen field.




2.2.



Knowledge of languages
 (2)






Language 1




Main language

A thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the European Union.





Language 2




Second language (must be different from language 1)

A satisfactory knowledge of English, French or German
In the light of the judgment given by the Court of Justice of the European Union (Grand Chamber) in Case C-566/10 P, Italy v Commission, the EU institutions set out below the reasons for limiting the choice of the second language in this competition to a small number of official EU languages.
The second language options in this competition have been defined in line with the interests of the service, which require new recruits to be immediately operational and capable of communicating effectively in their daily work. Otherwise the efficient functioning of the institutions could be severely impaired.
It has long been the practice to use mainly English, French, and German for internal communication in the EU institutions and these are also the languages most often needed when communicating with the outside world and dealing with cases. Moreover, English, French, and German are the most common second languages in the European Union and the most commonly studied as a second language. This confirms what is currently expected of candidates for European Union posts in terms of their level of education and professional skills, namely that they have a command of at least one of these languages. Consequently, in balancing the interests of the service and the abilities of candidates, and given the particular field of this competition, it is legitimate to organise tests in these three languages so as to ensure that all candidates are able to work in at least one of them, whatever their first official language. Assessing specific competencies in this way allows the institutions to evaluate candidates’ ability to be immediately operational in an environment that closely matches the reality they would face on the job.
For the same reasons, it is reasonable to limit the language of communication between candidates and the institution, including the language in which application forms are to be drafted. Furthermore, this ensures uniformity when comparing candidates and checking their application forms.
To ensure equal treatment for all candidates, everyone — including those whose first official language is one of the three — must take some tests in their second language, chosen from among these three.
None of this affects the possibility of later language training to enable staff to work in a third language, as required under Article 45(2) of the Staff Regulations.




IV.   ADMISSION TESTS

Admission tests are organised by EPSO and are taken on a computer. The selection board decides on the difficulty of the tests and approves their subject matter on the basis of proposals made by EPSO.
Admission tests will be held only if the number of candidates exceeds a certain threshold. The threshold will be set by the Director of EPSO, as the appointing authority, after the deadline for applications. The threshold may differ from one field to another. You will be informed of the precise details via your EPSO account.
If no admission tests are held, these reasoning tests will be held at the assessment stage (see Section VI.2).













1.


Invitation






You will be invited to sit the tests if you have validated your application on time (see Section VIII).

NB:







1.


By validating your application you declare that you meet the general and specific conditions listed in Section III.










2.


You must reserve a date to sit the tests. This must be done by the deadline notified to you via your EPSO account.














2.


Nature and marking of tests






A series of tests comprising multiple-choice questions to assess your reasoning skills:





Test (a)



Verbal


Marking: out of 20
Pass mark: 10





Test (b)



Numerical


Marking: out of 10





Test (c)



Abstract


Marking: out of 10




 


The aggregate pass mark for tests (b) and (c) is 10.










3.


Language of the tests






Language 1




V.   ADMISSION TO THE COMPETITION AND SELECTION BASED ON QUALIFICATIONS

1.   Procedure

Initially, the checks for compliance with the general and specific conditions and the selection based on qualifications are made using the information given in your online application.






(a)


The selection board will process your responses to the questions concerning the general and specific conditions to determine whether you can be included in the list of candidates who fulfil all the conditions for admission to the competition.

If prior admission tests are organised, compliance with the general and specific conditions will be checked for each field in descending order of the marks obtained, until the number of candidates who:







—




have passed the admission tests with the highest marks, and












—




satisfy the eligibility conditions,








reaches the threshold defined by the appointing authority

 (3).

Where a number of candidates tie for the last available place, they will all be included in the selection phase based on qualifications. Online applications of candidates below the threshold will not be examined.











(b)


The selection board will then screen the candidates eligible for the competition on the basis of their qualifications to identify those whose professional experience best matches the duties and selection criteria set out in this competition notice. This selection is carried out solely on the basis of the information given in the ‘Talent Screener’ tab and takes place in two stages:






—


each selection criterion is weighted between 1 and 3, according to how important the board considers it to be,










—


the selection board then examines candidates’ responses and awards 0 to 4 points for each one, according to the candidate’s qualifications. The points are then multiplied by the weighting for each question and added together to give an overall score.








The selection board will then draw up a list of candidates in the order of the overall scores awarded. For each field, the number of candidates invited to the assessment tests will not exceed 3 times the number of successful candidates sought (4). The number to be invited will be published on EPSO’s website (http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/eu-careers.info/).
2.   Verification of the information given by candidates

In the light of the results of the assessment tests, the information given by candidates in their online applications will subsequently be verified against the supporting documents they have provided; for the general conditions this will be done by EPSO, while for the specific conditions it will be done by the selection board. In assessing qualifications, supporting documents will be taken into account only to confirm the information already given under the ‘Talent Screener’ tab. If verification shows that the information given is not borne out by the appropriate supporting documents (5), candidates will be disqualified.
The applications of candidates who have passed assessment tests (d), (e), (f), and (g) with the highest aggregate marks will be verified in descending order of merit (see Section VI.2). Those candidates must also have passed the reasoning tests (a), (b), and (c), where applicable. Verification will continue until the number of candidates who are actually eligible reaches the number that can be placed on the reserve lists. The files of candidates below that cut-off point will not be examined.
3.   Selection criteria


For the selection based on qualifications, the following criteria will be taken into consideration by the selection board:


Field 1 — Information systems







1.


Diploma in information and communications technology.










2.


Certification in service management (e.g. ITIL).










3.


Certification in project management (e.g. PMI, Prince2, etc.).










4.


Certification in the field of IT security (identity and access management, IS security, etc.).










5.


Technical certification in the field of business information systems (e.g. Java, Oracle, BO, Microsoft, etc.).










6.


Professional experience of (non-management) involvement in a project to design, develop, and implement a business information system.










7.


Professional experience of analysing business needs and processes.










8.


Professional experience of database design, including object-oriented databases.










9.


Professional experience of developing web/mobile/distributed (client-server) applications.










10.


Professional experience of installing ERP software packages (e.g. SAP).










11.


Professional experience of designing, developing, and implementing documentary systems, including implementing the XML standard.










12.


Professional experience of drafting technical specifications (ISO 26 514) or project documentation or of using a modelling language (e.g. UML).










13.


Professional experience of designing, developing, and implementing statistical systems (data warehouse and ETL) and/or business intelligence systems.










14.


Professional experience of testing and/or quality control in relation to information systems.










15.


Professional experience of monitoring the performance of outside contractors in this field.










16.


Professional experience of managing information systems projects.










17.


Professional experience in the field of information systems security.










18.


Professional experience of managing an IT team.










19.


Professional experience of implementing an information system development methodology (e.g. RUP, AGILE, SCRUM).





Field 2 — Information systems security







1.


Diploma in information and communications technology.










2.


Certification in service management (e.g. ITIL).










3.


Certification in project management (e.g. PMI, Prince2, etc.).










4.


Certification in the field of information systems security.










5.


Professional experience of conducting systems risk analyses using recognised methodological tools and translating the conclusions into suitable security countermeasures to protect information systems.










6.


Professional experience of setting up security operating procedures for information systems and drawing up configuration guides (operating systems, databases, network filters, etc.).










7.


Professional experience of administering information systems security.










8.


Professional experience of performing IT and network security audits, penetration tests, and network security diagnostics.










9.


Professional experience of deploying and running automated log analysis tools, vulnerability analysis tools, network filters, IPS/IDS, and malware protection tools.










10.


Professional experience of deploying and running government-style encryption mechanisms (key management, accounting aspects, etc.).










11.


Professional experience of deploying and operating public key management infrastructures.





Field 3 — Networks and telecommunications







1.


Diploma in information and communications technology.










2.


Certification in service management (e.g. ITIL).










3.


Certification in project management (e.g. PMI, Prince2, etc.).










4.


Certification in the field of IT security.










5.


Technical certification in the field of networks and telecommunications.










6.


Professional experience of building a network and telecommunications service.










7.


Professional experience of running a network and telecommunications service (adaptive/perfective maintenance, configuration).










8.


Professional experience of drafting technical specifications documentation in this field.










9.


Professional experience of technical support and maintenance in the field of IT networks.










10.


Professional experience in a project for deploying an enterprise network comprising network devices such as routers, firewalls, proxy servers, etc.










11.


Professional experience of monitoring the performance of outside contractors in this field.










12.


Professional experience in the field of network security.





Field 4 — Office IT infrastructure and data centre







1.


Diploma in information and communications technology.










2.


Certification in service management (e.g. ITIL, CDCP, CDCS, CDCE, DCE, etc.).










3.


Certification in project management (e.g. PMI, Prince2, etc.).










4.


Certification in the field of IT security.










5.


Technical certification in the field of office IT infrastructure and/or data centres.










6.


Professional experience of building an IT infrastructure.










7.


Professional experience in a project for deploying an enterprise IT network.










8.


Professional experience of technical support and maintenance in the field of server-based or data centre-based office IT infrastructures.










9.


Professional experience of user support (helpdesk) in the field of server-based or data centre-based office IT infrastructures.










10.


Professional experience of running an IT service (adaptive/perfective maintenance, configuration).










11.


Professional experience of database installation and administration.










12.


Professional experience in the field of IT infrastructure security.










13.


Professional experience of drafting technical specifications documentation in this field.










14.


Professional experience of monitoring the performance of outside contractors in this field.





Field 5 — Web







1.


Diploma in information and communications technology.










2.


Certification in service management (e.g. ITIL).










3.


Certification in project management (e.g. PMI, Prince2, etc.).










4.


Certification in the field of IT security.










5.


Technical certification in the field of the web.










6.


Professional experience of drafting technical specifications or documentation for web projects.










7.


Professional experience of defining and maintaining technical web architectures (back office, multi-tier, web services), mobile applications and/or multimedia architectures (streaming, downloads, Rich Media, VOD, RSS, Podcast emailing, etc.), including in multilingual projects.










8.


Professional experience of business analysis in web projects.










9.


Professional experience of developing and configuring one of the main website and content management tools (CMS).










10.


Professional experience of configuring/developing validation workflows and of content publishing (including any experience with internet analysis and statistics).










11.


Professional experience of developing for social media (networking, blogs, wikis, video-sharing, etc.) and collaborative tools.










12.


Professional experience of graphic design and layout (data/layout separation, XML-XHTML-CSS).










13.


Professional experience of coordinating and monitoring the performance of outside contractors and web project management.




VI.   OPEN COMPETITION













1.


Invitation






If you are one of the candidates:






—


who, according to the information given in their online application, fulfil the general and specific conditions listed in Section III,

and











—


who obtained one of the highest scores in the selection based on qualifications,




you will be invited to attend the assessment centre (7), which will normally be held in Brussels over the course of one or two days
 (6).










2.


Assessment centre






You will undergo three types of assessment. The content of the various items is validated by the selection board.






—




your reasoning abilities
, if not already assessed in admission tests, will be assessed by means of:






(a)


a verbal reasoning test










(b)


a numerical reasoning test










(c)


an abstract reasoning test.














—




your specific competencies
 will be assessed by means of:






(d)


a structured interview on your competencies in the field, based on the information provided in the ‘Talent Screener’ tab of your application















—




your general competencies

 (8) will be assessed by means of:






(e)


a case study










(f)


a group exercise










(g)


a structured interview on your general competencies
















These general competencies will be tested as shown in the following table:









 


Case study


Group exercise


Structured interview




Analysis and problem-solving



x




x



 




Communicating



x



 



x





Delivering quality and results



x



 



x





Learning and development


 



x




x





Prioritising and organising



x




x



 




Resilience


 



x




x





Working with others


 



x




x




















3.


Languages for the assessment centre






Language 1 for parts (a), (b) and (c)
Language 2 for parts (d), (e), (f) and (g)










4.


Marking and weighting







Reasoning ability







(a)


Verbal: marked out of 20
Pass mark: 10










(b)


Numerical: marked out of 10










(c)


Abstract: marked out of 10




Aggregate pass mark for tests (b) and (c): 10
Tests (a), (b), and (c) are eliminatory, but the marks are not added to the marks for the other parts of the assessment centre.

Specific competencies (d)

Marked out of 100
Pass mark: 50

Weighting: 55 % of the overall mark


General competencies (e, f and g)

Marked out of 10 for each general competency.
Pass mark:
3 for each competency, and

an aggregate of 35 out of 70 for all 7 general competencies

Weighting: 45 % of the overall mark





VII.   RESERVE LISTS













1.


Candidates placed on the reserve lists






The selection board will place your name on the reserve list:






—


if you passed (a) to (g) and obtained one of the highest aggregate marks in parts (d), (e), (f) and (g) of the assessment centre (9) (see number of successful candidates sought, Section I.1),










—



and if your supporting documents show that you meet all the eligibility requirements.














2.


Classification






A list will be drawn up for each field and names will be listed in alphabetical order.




VIII.   HOW TO APPLY













1.


Online application






You must apply online, following the instructions on the EPSO website and particularly in the online application manual.

Deadline (including validation): 15 July 2014 at 12.00 (midday), Brussels time.










2.


Submission of application files







If you are invited to the assessment tests, you must bring your full application file (signed online application form and supporting documents) with you when you attend (10).

Details: See point 2.1.7 of the General rules governing open competitions.






(1)  Any reference in this notice to a person of the male sex must be deemed also to constitute a reference to a person of the female sex.

(2)  See the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) — required level: language 1 = C1, language 2 = B2
(http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/europass/home/hornav/Downloads/CEF/LanguageSelfAssessmentGrid.csp)

(3)  This is the threshold referred to in the first paragraph of Section IV.

(4)  Candidates who are not invited to take the assessment tests will be sent the results of their assessment and the weighting applied by the selection board to each question.

(5)  The information given is verified against the supporting documents before the reserve lists are drawn up (see Section VII.1 and Section VIII.2).

(6)  Organisational constraints may make it necessary to hold the reasoning tests in centres in the Member States, separately from the other assessment centre items.

(7)  Where a number of candidates tie for the last available place, they will all be invited to the assessment tests.

(8)  More information on these competencies can be found in point 1.2 of the General rules governing open competitions.

(9)  Where a number of candidates tie for the last available place, they will all be placed on the reserve list.

(10)  You will be notified in good time via your EPSO account of the date when you have to attend.