Publication of a vacancy for the Executive Director of the Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy (Temporary Agent grade AD14) — COM/2015/20007
Date: 2015-06-09
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU office or agency, administrator, competition (EU), job vacancy, managing director, nuclear industry








CA2015191EN.01000101.xml










9.6.2015   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CA 191/1





Publication of a vacancy for the Executive Director of the Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy
(Temporary Agent grade AD14)
COM/2015/20007
(2015/C 191 A/01)
 

We are

The Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy (Fusion for Energy — F4E) was established by decision of the Council of the European Union of 27 March 2007 (1) for a period of 35 years.
The main role of F4E is to provide the European contribution to the construction of ITER, on time and in conformance with the ITER requirements. Other components are provided by the other signatories to ITER (the USA, Japan, Russia, China, the Republic of Korea and India). It also contributes to the Broader Approach activities with Japan and coordinates activities in preparation for the construction of a demonstration fusion reactor (DEMO) and related facilities.
F4E is based in Barcelona, Spain. The indicative resources for F4E over the period from 2014 to 2020 are of the order of € 4 billion.

We propose

The Director is the chief executive officer, responsible for the day-to-day management of F4E under the guidance of the F4E Governing Board and in close coordination with the European Commission as the representative of Euratom in the ITER Council. He/she is responsible for the leadership of the organisation and represents F4E within the ITER Organisation.
The Director is accountable to the F4E Governing Board, is the F4E’s legal representative and manages the F4E staff. The number of staff has been progressively growing during construction, but overall F4E comprises around 250 professionals and 150 support staff.
The Director's responsibilities include:






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Participating in a fully integrated ITER project and contribute to acceleration of the pace of the project execution and completion of the project in a timely fashion;










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Contributing to the overall direction of the ITER project and working effectively with all stakeholders, in particular the ITER Organisation, other ITER Domestic Agencies and the European Commission;










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Ensuring the achievement of the F4E’s objectives in accordance with its mission, and in particular that the European contributions to the ITER Organisation are provided on time and in conformance with the ITER requirements and within agreed cost;










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Reporting to and seeking approval from the F4E Governing Board on strategic and budgetary matters related to F4E;










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Presenting reports to relevant European Institutions as well as to national parliamentary bodies in close coordination with the Commission;










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Appointing and directing F4E’s staff and fostering a good team spirit and working environment;










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Preparing and implementing an overall Project Plan setting out the work programme of F4E, defining performance indicators to track the progress of the project in line with the ITER objectives and ensuring the most effective use of its resources;










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Developing and implementing strategies to procure components by F4E on the required timescale and budget, including all related R&D activities;










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Awarding and monitoring of procurement contracts according to the relevant procedures;










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Ensuring that F4E’s budget is managed efficiently and according to the principles of sound financial management and in line with its financial regulation;










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Implementing and following up recommendations deriving from audits carried out by the European Commission services or the European Court of Auditors;










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Communicating with the public in relation to all matters within the mission of F4E;










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Ensuring that the activities of the organisation generate synergy with the integrated European Fusion Programme (EUROfusion).




The Director is appointed for a mandate of five years, which may be extended once for a further period of not more than five years.

We look for

The successful candidate should have:






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Proven and successful experience at senior management levels of a major organisation with an international reach;










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Excellent capability to provide leadership to an organisation which is engaged in international scientific cooperation of unparalleled dimension and significance;










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Very good ability and experience in the area of construction and/or management of large manufacturing or technology projects, in a European or international environment;










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Good capacity to manage large procurement activities in accordance with the highest standards of accountability and transparency requirement;










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Ability to communicate effectively with institutional stakeholders as well as with the broader public and to build good working relations with all relevant actors;










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Excellent knowledge of English which is the working language of F4E.




The following skills and experience would be an advantage:






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Experience in construction and/or management of nuclear facilities including interactions with a nuclear safety authority;










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Understanding of the technologies of fusion devices and of the European and international fusion research activities, policies and programmes.




The above criteria will be used as the basis for selection.

Candidates must (eligibility criteria)

Applicants must meet the following criteria by the closing date for applications:






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Nationality: be a national of a Member States of the European Union or of a third state Member of F4E (Switzerland).










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University Degree or Diploma: Have:






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either a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies in a scientific, engineering or economic discipline giving entitlement to undertake postgraduate studies, attested by a diploma when the normal period of university is four years or more;










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or a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies in a scientific or engineering or economic discipline 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 post-graduate professional experience required below);














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Professional Experience: candidates must have at least 15 years’ postgraduate experience at the level to which the qualifications referred to above give admission.










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Management Experience: of the 15 years of professional experience at least 5 years must have been gained in a high-level management function (2).










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Languages: have an excellent knowledge of, one of the official languages of the Union and a satisfactory knowledge of another of these languages (3) to the extent necessary for the performance of his/her duties.










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Age Limit: be able to complete, at the deadline for application, the full five-year mandate before reaching retirement age. For temporary staff of the European Union, retirement age is defined as being the end of the month in which the person reaches the age of 66 (see Article 47 (a) of the Conditions of Employment of other Servants of the European Union (CEOS) and Article 52(a) of the Staff Regulations).





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 declare any interests which might be considered prejudicial to her/his independence.

Selection and appointment

Selection and appointment of the Executive Director takes place in accordance with the Guidelines on the Appointment of Agency Directors:
The European Commission will set up a preselection panel, which analyses all applications and identifies candidates who have the strongest profiles with regard to the selection criteria mentioned above. These candidates may be invited for an interview with the preselection panel.
Following the interviews, the preselection panel draws up its conclusions and proposes a list of candidates for further interviews with the European Commission’s Consultative Committee on Appointments (CCA). Candidates called for an interview with the CCA have to participate in a full-day assessment centre run by external human resources experts. On the basis of the interview and results of the assessment centre report, the CCA establishes a shortlist of candidates it considers suitable to exercise the function of the Director.
This shortlist is submitted to the relevant Member of the European Commission who will interview these candidates.
The European Commission then adopts a shortlist of the most suitable candidates, which will be communicated to the F4E Governing Board. The latter may interview the shortlisted candidates and subsequently appoints the Director. Inclusion on the European Commission’s shortlist does not guarantee appointment.
For functional reasons and in order to complete the selection procedure as quickly as possible in the interest of the candidates as well as that of the institution, the selection procedure will be carried out in English (4).

Equal opportunities

The Joint Undertaking applies a policy of equal opportunities and non-discrimination in accordance with Article 1d of the Staff Regulations (5).

Conditions of employment

The Director will be appointed by the F4E Governing Board as a Temporary Agent at grade AD14, pursuant to Article 2(a) and 10 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union (5) for a period of five years. After an evaluation of the Director’s performance, the Board may extend the term of office once for a further period of not more than five years, as foreseen in Article 8 of the Annex to the Decision establishing the Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy.
Candidates should note the requirement under the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants for all new staff to successfully complete a probationary period.
The place of employment is Barcelona, Spain, where F4E has its seat.

Application procedure



Before submitting your application, you should carefully check whether you meet all the conditions for eligibility criteria, in particular those regarding the required type of diplomas and professional experience.


If you want to apply, you must apply via the internet by going to the website:
https://ec.europa.eu/dgs/human-resources/seniormanagementvacancies/
and follow the instructions concerning the various stages of the procedure. Applications received by electronic mail will not be taken into consideration.
You need a valid e-mail address. This will be used to confirm the creation of your account and to keep you informed about the outcome of the selection procedure. Please, inform the European Commission about any change in your e-mail address.
You will have to upload a CV in PDF format and enter, online, a motivation letter (maximum 8  000 characters).
Both the CV and letter should be written in English.
On completion of your application, you will receive a registration number, please keep this number, since it will be used for further contacts during the selection procedure. When you receive this number, the application process is finished — it is the confirmation that you have registered your data correctly.

If you do not receive a registration number, your application has not been registered!

Please note that it is not possible to monitor progress of your application online. You will be contacted directly regarding the status of your application.

If you have a disability that prevents you from registering online, you may submit your application (CV and motivation letter) on paper by registered mail
 (6)
, postmarked no later than the closing date for registration. All subsequent communication between you and the Commission will be by post. In this case, you must enclose with your CV and motivation letter, a certificate attesting your disability, issued by a recognised body. You should also set out on a separate sheet of paper any special arrangements you think are needed to make it easier for you to take part in the selection process.

If you require additional information of, if you encounter technical problems, please send an e-mail to: HR-A2-MANAGEMENT-ONLINE@ec.europa.eu

Closing date

The closing date for registration is 7 July 2015. Online registration will not be possible after 12.00 noon Brussels time.

The Commission reserves the right to extend the closing date of this vacancy by publication in the Official Journal of the European Union only.
You have to complete your online registration in time. We strongly advise you not to wait until the last few days before applying, since heavy internet traffic or a fault with your internet connection could lead to the online registration being terminated before you complete it, thereby obliging you to repeat the whole process. Once the deadline for submission of applications has passed, you will not be able to apply. Late registrations are not accepted.

Important information for applicants

Candidates 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 European Commission and F4E 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 Union institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data (7). This applies in particular to the confidentiality and security of such data.
The privacy statement can be consulted at http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/human-resources/privacystatement_agencies_en.htm


(1)  Council decision 2007/198/Euratom (OJ L 90, 30.3.2007, p. 58).

(2)  In their CVs, 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) number of hierarchical layers above and below and number of peers.

(3)  http://ec.europa.eu/languages/policy/language-policy/official_languages_en.htm

(4)  Selection panels will ensure that no undue advantage is given to native speakers of languages of the selection procedure.

(5)  Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:1962R0031:20140101:EN:PDF

(6)  European Commission, Directorate-General for Human Resources and Security, Unit for Executive Staff and CCA Secretariat, COM/2015/20007 SC11 8/30 1049 Brussels, BELGIQUE/BELGIË.

(7)  Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 (OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1).