Vacancy notice CONS/AD/106
Date: 2015-01-21
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: administrator, job vacancy, manager








CA2015018EN.01000101.xml










21.1.2015   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CA 18/1





Vacancy notice CONS/AD/106
(2015/C 018 A/01)

IDENTIFICATION OF THE JOB







Entity


General Secretariat of the Council of the EU, Directorate-General for Justice and Home Affairs (DG D)




Job Title


Director-General




Function group and grade


AD 15




Security clearance required


EU Secret




Place of work


Brussels





SUBMISSION DEADLINE




17 February 2015






WHO WE ARE

The General Secretariat of the Council (GSC) provides assistance to the Council of the EU and the European Council. Directorate-General D (DG D) of the GSC is responsible for policy in the area of justice and home affairs. It has two Directorates with approximately 80 staff members. Directorate 1 is dedicated to home affairs and deals with matters related to Schengen, visa and borders, external relations, asylum, migration as well as police and customs cooperation. Directorate 2 is dedicated to ‘justice’ issues and deals with files related to judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters, e-Justice, as well as fundamental rights, data protection and drugs policies.
Within the GSC, DG D provides direct support to the Council, its preparatory bodies, the rotating Presidency and, where appropriate, to the President of the European Council (PEC) on all matters relating to the areas of freedom, security and justice and in coordination with other directorates-general in the GSC.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

This is a highly challenging role in a politically complex and multicultural environment. We are looking for a manager with substantial experience in a senior management position, with strong political sense and with a confirmed professional background relevant to the areas covered by the directorate-general. You are able to provide an overall strategic orientation and ensure effective management of the directorate-general activities and staff. You are able to provide advice at the highest level to the Presidency and the Council, to the PEC and to the Secretary-General. Moreover, you have the ability to establish excellent relations and ensure cooperation and communication with other EU institutions, GSC departments and external stakeholders (Member State ministries, administrations and permanent representations, EU agencies, third States and international organisations).

OVERALL PURPOSE OF THE JOB







—


Provide high-level policy and procedural advice, orally or in writing, in the areas within the directorate-general’s remit










—


Lead his/her directorate-general under the authority of the Secretary-General





TASKS







—


Provide high-level advice on policy and institutional questions, on his/her own initiative or upon request, to the Secretary-General, the Council, the rotating Presidency and, where appropriate, to the PEC on all aspects of dossiers in order to contribute to finding solutions










—


Contribute to finding compromises and prepare briefings for the negotiations at the level of the European Council, the Council and the Committee of Permanent Representatives










—


Represent his/her directorate-general at DG level both within the GSC and externally, in particular in its relations with the rotating Presidency, and in its relations with the other institutions and agencies










—


Ensure seamless cooperation and communication within the DG and with other GSC departments and promote service orientation towards the DG’s internal and external stakeholders










—


Contribute, as a member of senior management, to determining the GSC’s future direction










—


Develop and implement the DG strategy and work programme










—


Define objectives of the DG and ensure their attainment according to required deadlines and quality standards










—


Manage and coordinate the work of the Directorates in cooperation with the Directors, and support and motivate senior and middle managers in attaining their objectives





EDUCATION







—


Education: hold a university degree





SPECIFIC COMPETENCIES


Professional competencies







—


A good knowledge of English and French and the ability to communicate in both languages. Knowledge of other official languages of the EU (1) is an asset.










—


Extensive knowledge of EU policies. A good knowledge in the areas of freedom, security and justice is an asset.










—


Extensive knowledge of the functioning and of the decision-making process of the European Council and Council.





Personal qualities







—


An outstanding sense of responsibility and initiative










—


Ability to develop creative and effective solutions





Interpersonal skills







—


Excellent communication and presentation skills










—


Excellent negotiating skills










—


Ability to build trusting working relationships with high-level representatives of relevant internal and external stakeholders










—


Strong political sense





Management competencies







—


Ability to initiate and manage change within his/her own areas of responsibility










—


Ability to plan, organise, monitor and delegate work and use resources appropriately to reach defined goals










—


Ability to lead and motivate multicultural teams and to build and maintain team cohesiveness and cooperation in an international and multicultural environment










—


Ability to develop and implement a strategic vision










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Sound judgement in critical and complex situations and proven ability to take difficult and challenging decisions at strategic level










—


Awareness of the structure and culture of the GSC as well as a very good awareness of the political, social and economic context in which it operates





JOB ENVIRONMENT







—


Variable working hours depending on the requirements of the service, in particular linked to European Council meetings, including justice and home affairs issues, and linked to meetings of the Justice and Home Affairs Council










—


Work-related travel mainly within the EU, approximately twice a month and generally for 2-day missions





WHO CAN APPLY

Applicants must fulfil the following conditions for admission at the time of applying.

General conditions

Applicants must:






—


be nationals of one of the Member States of the European Union;










—


enjoy their full rights as citizens;










—


have fulfilled any obligations imposed by the laws concerning military service.





Specific conditions







(a)


Education and experience
Applicants must:






—


have completed a full university education attested by a diploma (2);










—


have at least 15 years’ professional experience, including at least 5 years’ professional experience in a senior management role.














(b)


Knowledge of languages
Applicants must have a good knowledge of English and French and the ability to communicate in both languages.





REMARKS

The selection procedure is conducted in accordance with Article 29(2) of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union (3). In order to assist the Appointing Authority in its choice, an advisory selection board will be set up with instructions to draw up a list of the best candidates.
The advisory selection board will initially examine the qualifications, experience and motivation of the applicants and draw up a first list of candidates who will be invited to attend an interview. Following that interview, the advisory selection board will pre-select candidates who will go through an assessment centre run by external recruitment consultants and a second interview with the advisory selection board. The interviews and the assessment centre will take place in Brussels. The languages of the selection procedure will be French and English.
The provisional planning of the selection is as follows:






—


It is expected that candidates selected for the interviews will be informed by the end of February 2015










—


The first interviews are foreseen for the beginning of March 2015










—


The assessment centre is foreseen for mid-March 2015










—


The second round of interviews are foreseen for the end of March 2015




This post requires security clearance allowing access to classified documents (SECRET EU level). Already having such clearance would be an advantage. Otherwise, those applying for the post will be understood to be prepared to undergo security screening under Council Decision 2013/488/EU (4).
The General Secretariat of the Council is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from male and female candidates from broadest possible geographical basis amongst the EU Member States. The GSC offers measures to reconcile professional and private life and can provide adjustments at the workplace for persons with disabilities (for more details see Annex I).
Given the low representation of women at the higher management levels, it would particularly welcome applications from female candidates for this position.

HOW TO APPLY

The closing date for applications is 17 February 2015.
Applications should be sent by e-mail to: selection.of.officials-applications.management.posts@consilium.europa.eu no later than the closing date.
In order to be valid, applications must include:






(a)


the application form (Annex IV) duly completed and dated;










(b)


a letter of motivation accompanied by a detailed curriculum vitae, in English or French, preferably in the Europass format (http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu), covering the applicant’s entire career, listing, inter alia, the applicant’s qualifications, language knowledge, experience, and current duties; and










(c)


photocopies of diplomas certifying education and photocopies of documents and certificates relating to professional experience. Supporting documents must come from a third party and it is not sufficient simply to send the CV mentioned in (b).




All supporting documents attached to the application must be:






—


in pdf, word or jpg format










—


named in EN or FR










—


numbered in sequence (Annex 1, 2, etc.)










—


listed in a table of annexes




Applications sent via cloud based data storage solution or file-share platforms will not be considered.
Shortlisted candidates will be asked to provide the originals of the aforementioned documents.

RE-EXAMINATION OF APPLICATIONS

The procedures relating to requests for review, appeals and referral to the European Ombudsman are set out in Annex II to this vacancy notice.

DATA PROTECTION

The rules governing the processing of personal data in connection with this selection procedure are set out in Annex III to this notice.


(1)  The languages of the EU are: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish.

(2)  Article 5(3) of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union (the Staff Regulations) require applicants to have at least:






(i)


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, or










(ii)


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.





(3)  Staff Regulations of Officials and Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, laid down by Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 and last amended by Regulation (EU) No 1023/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2013 (http://eur-lex.europa.eu).

(4)  OJ L 274, 15.10.2013, p. 1.


ANNEX I

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES IN THE GENERAL SECRETARIAT OF THE COUNCIL

As an employer, the GSC is responsible for ensuring equality of opportunity between men and women and for prohibiting discrimination on any grounds.
The main aims of its Equal Opportunities policy are to:






—


ensure that its human resources and personnel management policies respect the principles of equality and non-discrimination;










—


achieve a balanced representation of men and women, especially in management posts;










—


improve the situation of persons with disabilities, in terms of accessibility of its buildings and a work environment that is inclusive and adapted to their needs:

Adjustments for people with disabilities (‘reasonable accommodation’) may involve the rearrangement of duties or responsibilities, provision of technical aids and other adjustments to the working environment. Such measures will be taken unless they would impose an undue burden on the resources of the institution.











—


protect its staff from harassment at work;










—


take into account the needs of staff to strike a balance between their work and family commitments by offering a good package of family-friendly measures, including flexitime, telework and job-sharing.





WORK-LIFE BALANCE MEASURES

A Flexitime system operates throughout the GSC in accordance with a 40-hour working week, flexileave being possible for non-managerial staff. In many job environments, an individual timetable, falling within the framework hours of 07.00 to 20.00, can be agreed.

Part-time work can be granted, for example to care for a dependent child up to the age of 12, or 14 when the official is a single parent.

Statutory maternity leave is 20 weeks and on return to work up to 2 hours per day can be granted for breastfeeding. Fathers have the right to paid paternity leave of 10 days. Parental leave of up to 6 months per child can be granted with a flat-rate allowance. In the case of serious illness or disability of a child, maternity, paternity and parental leaves are longer. Family leave with a flat-rate allowance is also possible in the case of family members with a serious illness or disability. Special leave is granted in such cases as marriage, birth or adoption of a child, and death or serious illness of a family member. In exceptional circumstances, unpaid leave on personal grounds (CCP) can be accorded.
Depending on tasks and job environment, teleworking may be possible under the standard teleworking scheme (60 % at home and 40 % at the office) or under the occasional teleworking scheme (up to 20 days per year).
The following childcare facilities are available for staff with children, according to priority criteria: GSC crèche for children from 0-4 years, after-school care and holiday-time facilities organised by the European Commission and after-school activities at the European schools.

For further information, send an e-mail to: egalite-des-chances@consilium.europa.eu



ANNEX II
REQUEST FOR REVIEW, APPEAL PROCEDURES,
COMPLAINTS TO THE EUROPEAN OMBUDSMAN
If, at any stage of the selection procedure, you consider that a decision adversely affects you, you may use the following means:






—



Request for review of the decisions taken by the advisory selection board

Within 10 days of the date of the letter notifying you of a decision taken by the advisory selection board, you may submit a written request for a review of such a decision, setting out the reasons for your request, to:





Council of the European Union




Office for Selection of Officials




Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 175




1048 Bruxelles/Brussel




BELGIQUE/BELGIË




e-mail address: selection.of.officials@consilium.europa.eu














—



Appeal procedure







—


You may lodge a complaint against a decision of the Appointing Authority, under Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union, within 3 months of the notification of the decision, to:





Council of the European Union




Advisers Unit, DGA 1




Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 175




1048 Bruxelles/Brussel




BELGIQUE/BELGIË




Please note that the Appointing Authority does not have the power to modify the decisions of the advisory selection board. According to settled case-law the wide discretion enjoyed by selection boards is not subject to review by the Court unless the rules which govern their proceedings have clearly been infringed.










—


You may submit a judicial appeal under Article 91 of the Staff Regulations or Article 270 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to:





European Union Civil Service Tribunal




Rue du Fort Niedergrünewald




2925 Luxembourg




LUXEMBOURG


















—



Complaints to the European Ombudsman

Like any other citizen of the Union, you may lodge a complaint with:





The European Ombudsman




1, avenue du Président Robert Schuman — BP 403




67001 Strasbourg Cedex




FRANCE




under Article 228(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Decision of the European Parliament of 9 March 1994 on the regulations and general conditions governing the performance of the Ombudsman’s duties (94/262/ECSC, EC, Euratom) (1).
You should note that complaints lodged with the European Ombudsman have no suspensive effect on the period of time laid down in Article 90(2) and Article 91 of the Staff Regulations for the lodging of complaints or appeals with the European Union Civil Service Tribunal under Article 270 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.






(1)  OJ L 113, 4.5.1994, p. 15.



ANNEX III
DATA PROTECTION
As the institution responsible for organising the selection procedure, the General Secretariat of the Council ensures that applicants’ personal data are processed in accordance with 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 (1).
The legal basis for the selection procedure is the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and the Council Decision of 23 September 2013 on the security rules for protecting EU classified information (2013/488/EU). The selection procedure is conducted under the responsibility of the Human Resources Directorate (DG A I A), Staffing and Mobility Unit, and the controller is the head of that unit. The information provided by the applicants will be accessible to members of the office for the selection of officials and their superiors, to members of the Advisory Selection Committee, and, if necessary, to the legal advisers’ unit. Administrative information identifying the candidate and/or the practical organisation of the procedure may be forwarded to an assessment centre.
The purpose of the processing operation is to collect data identifying all the applicants for a post with the Secretariat General of the Council and to select one of those applicants.
The data in question are:






—


personal data which make it possible to identify the applicants (surname, first name, date of birth, sex, nationality);










—


information supplied by the applicants to facilitate the practical organisation of the procedure (postal address, e-mail address, telephone number);










—


information supplied by the applicants to make it possible to assess whether they meet the admission conditions laid down in the notice of vacancy (nationality; languages; applicants’ qualifications and the year they were awarded, type of diploma/degree, name of awarding institution, professional experience);










—


where applicable, information on the type and duration of applicants’ security clearance;










—


the results of the selection tests taken by the applicants, including the evaluations drawn up by the assessment centre’s advisers on behalf of the selection board.




The processing begins on the date of receipt of the application. Applications are filed and stored in archives for 2 years.
All applicants may exercise their right of access to and right to rectify personal data. Substantiated requests should be e-mailed to the office for selection of officials at: selection.of.officials@consilium.europa.eu
Applicants may have recourse at any time to the European Data Protection Supervisor (edps@edps.europa.eu).


(1)  OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1.



ANNEX IV