Notice of open competition — EPSO/AD/294/14 — Administrators (AD 6) in the field of data protection
Date: 2014-11-06
Institutions: European Personnel Selection Office
Subjects: EPSO, administrator, competition (EU), data protection








CA2014391EN.01000101.xml










6.11.2014   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CA 391/1





NOTICE OF OPEN COMPETITION
EPSO/AD/294/14
Administrators (AD 6) in the field of data protection
2014/C 391 A/01
The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) is organising an open competition, based on qualifications and tests, to draw up a reserve list from which to recruit officials as ‘administrators’ (1) for the European Data Protection Supervisor.


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.




These rules 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.


ASSESSMENT CENTRE










VII.


VERIFICATION OF THE INFORMATION GIVEN BY CANDIDATES










VIII.


RESERVE LIST




I.   GENERAL BACKGROUND













1.


Number of successful candidates sought







20











2.


How to apply






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

Deadline (including validation): 9 December 2014 at 12.00 (midday), Brussels time.




II.   DUTIES

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) is an independent supervisory authority responsible for ensuring that European Union institutions and bodies respect privacy and personal data protection rights in their handling of personal data and development of new policies.
Acting under the authority of the Supervisor, the Assistant Supervisor and the Director, the officials recruited will carry out various tasks in accordance with the Head of Unit’s instructions.
The main duties involve:
preparation of reports, opinions and decisions with a view to ensuring the application of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 (2) of the European Parliament and of the Council and of other relevant Union legislation, and monitoring policy and legislative developments that could have an impact on the protection of personal data.
As regards that part of the duties relating to the application of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001, the posts to be filled may involve the following:






—


informing and advising the institutions and bodies on good practice in this area and informing and advising those responsible for processing data and data subjects about their rights and obligations,










—


hearing and examining complaints and other requests from data subjects and conducting inquiries in response to complaints or on the official’s own initiative,










—


cooperating with data protection officers in the other European institutions,










—


preparing or helping to prepare processing notifications to the Data Protection Officer, and contributing to or carrying out prior checks by the EDPS on processing operations likely to pose specific risks, and conducting consultations on the need for such prior checks,










—


performing inspection and audit activities,










—


developing and evaluating the security of computer and automated systems.




As regards the part of the duties relating to monitoring policy and legislative developments, the posts to be filled may involve one or more of the following:






—


devising, drafting, analysing, interpreting, commenting on, and following up opinions or other Community legislative acts and Union legislation in the field of data protection, and responding to or formulating recommendations in this field,










—


conducting research on national, Community and international legal issues,










—


advising the institutions responsible on legislative proposals and general administrative measures relating to the processing of personal data,










—


cooperating with the bodies responsible for overseeing data protection in the fields of judicial cooperation in criminal matters and police cooperation, in particular with a view to improving the consistency of the Union’s data protection regulations and policy,










—


performing various tasks in connection with litigation, drafting position statements and representing the institution in court cases, where necessary, before the Court of Justice, the European Civil Service Tribunal or the Court of First Instance,










—


monitoring developments in information and communication technologies that could have an impact on the protection of personal data,










—


promoting and reinforcing application of the ‘privacy by design’ principle.




These duties may require travel away from headquarters.
III.   ELIGIBILITY


On the closing date for online applications, you must meet 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

A level of education corresponding to completed university studies in law of at least three years, attested by a diploma,

or

a level of education corresponding to completed university studies of at least three years in another field, which must be accompanied by certified training in data protection (IAPP, EIPA, GDD or equivalent, attested by an exam).





2.2




Professional experience

You must have at least three years’ graduate-level professional experience in the legal field, of which at least half must have been primarily focused on data protection in public administration (in particular, as a data protection officer or in an independent data protection monitoring authority). This experience must be attested by supporting documents.
This professional experience is relevant only if acquired after the diploma giving access to the competition was obtained.





2.3




Knowledge of languages
 (3)






Language 1




Main language (minimum level required: C1)
A thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the European Union.





Language 2




Second language — must be different from language 1 (minimum level required: B2)
A satisfactory knowledge of English, French or German.
In the light of the judgment handed down 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 handling 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, i.e. 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 these 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. Moreover, this ensures consistency when comparing candidates and examining their applications.
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

The computer-based admission tests will be organised by EPSO 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; you will be informed of the threshold via your EPSO account.
If no admission tests are held, the aptitude tests will be taken at the assessment centre (see Section VI.2).
The selection board decides on the difficulty of the tests set out in the table below and approves their content based on the proposals made by EPSO.














1.


Invitation






You will be invited to sit the tests if you have validated your application on time (see Section I.2).

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 reasoning


Marking: out of 20
Pass mark: 10





Test (b)



Numerical reasoning


Marking: out of 10





Test (c)



Abstract reasoning


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 (see Section III).










(b)


The selection board will then screen the candidates eligible for the competition on the basis of their qualifications to identify those whose profile (particularly their diplomas and 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 provided in the ‘Talent Screener’ tab and takes place in two stages:






—


each selection criterion (see point 2 below) 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.


If prior admission tests are organised (see Section IV), compliance with the general and specific conditions will be checked in descending order of the marks obtained, until the number of candidates who:








—




have passed the admission tests with the highest marks, and












—




fulfil the conditions for admission to the competition








reaches the number set by the appointing authority

 (4).


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










The selection board will then draw up a list of candidates in the order of the overall scores awarded. The number of candidates invited to the assessment centre (4) will not exceed three times the number of successful candidates sought (see Section I) (5). The number to be invited will be published on EPSO’s website (http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/eu-careers.info/).
2.   Selection criteria


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







1.


A university degree in European law.










2.


A university degree including specialisation in the field of data protection.










3.


Certified training in data protection (IAPP, EIPA, GDD or equivalent, attested following an examination) in addition to the qualifications required for admission to the competition.










4.


Professional experience of at least one year and a half in data protection, acquired in the European institutions, a national data protection authority, or national public administration, in addition to the experience required for admission to the competition.










5.


Professional experience in drafting opinions, decisions or conclusions before the Court of Justice of the European Union in relation to European law on data protection.










6.


Professional experience in drafting reports on prior checks, consultations and complaints relating to data protection.










7.


Professional experience in drafting opinions relating to European law on data protection (must be different from the experience required in point 5 above).










8.


Professional experience in investigations or audits analysing compliance of personal data handling with the regulations in force.










9.


Professional experience in up-to-date information and communication technologies (ICT) in order to be able to assess their impact on data protection.




VI.   ASSESSMENT CENTRE













1.


Invitation






If you are one of the candidates:






—


who, according to the information given in their online application, meet 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, which will normally be held in Brussels (6) over the course of one or two days.





If you are invited to the assessment centre, you must bring your full application file (signed online application form and supporting documents) with you when you attend (7).

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










2.


Assessment centre






You will sit three types of assessment tests, the content of which 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.













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





Leadership


 



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 (parts (e), (f) and (g))

Marked out of a total of 80 for all general competencies (10 per competency).
Pass mark:
3 for each competency, and

an aggregate of 40 out of 80 for all eight general competencies

Weighting: 45 % of the overall mark





VII.   VERIFICATION OF THE INFORMATION GIVEN BY CANDIDATES

Following the assessment-centre test results, the information given by candidates in their online applications will be verified against the supporting documents they have provided; this will be done by EPSO for the general conditions, and by the selection board for the specific conditions.
The applications of candidates who have passed parts (d), (e), (f) and (g) with the highest aggregate marks will be verified in descending order of merit. These candidates must also have obtained pass marks in tests (a), (b), and (c), where applicable. Verification will continue until the number of candidates who can be placed on the reserve list and who actually fulfil all the conditions for admission reaches the threshold. The files of candidates below this cut-off point will not be examined.
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, candidates will be disqualified.
VIII.   RESERVE LIST













1.


Candidates placed on the reserve lists






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






—


if you have passed tests (a) to (g) with one of the highest aggregate marks in parts (d), (e), (f) and (g) (see number of successful candidates sought, Section I) (9)











—



and if your supporting documents show that you meet all the eligibility requirements (see Section III).














2.


Classification






The list will be drawn up in alphabetical order.






(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)  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 (OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1).

(3)  See the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) (http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/europass/home/hornav/Downloads/CEF/LanguageSelfAssessmentGrid.csp)

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

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

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

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

(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.