Vacancy for the Vice-President — Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) (Temporary Agent at grade AD 12) — COM/2016/20015
Date: 2016-09-01
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Community Plant Variety Office, competition (EU), job vacancy, servant (EU), vice-president of an institution








CA2016320EN.01000101.xml










1.9.2016   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CA 320/1





Vacancy for the Vice-President
Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO)
(Temporary Agent at grade AD 12)
COM/2016/20015
(2016/C 320 A/01)
 

We are

The Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) was established in 1994 by Council Regulation (EC) No 2100/94 of 27 July 1994 on Community plant variety rights (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 15/2008 of 20 December 2007 (2).
The purpose of the Office, a Community body, which has legal, administrative and financial autonomy, is to administer and to grant Community plant variety rights; these are a specific type of intellectual property rights in respect of new plant varieties. The Office has, in particular, to take decisions on applications for the granting of such rights, which afford uniform intellectual protection throughout the European Union (EU).
The Office is located in Angers, France, and it has a staff of 45 persons. Its annual budget is around EUR 15 million. The office is fully self-financed, mainly from fees paid by applicants.
For further information please consult the following website: http://www.cpvo.europa.eu

We propose

The Vice-President assists the President in his functions and powers, in particular as regards representing the Office and ensuring its leadership, management and strategic direction. If the President is absent or indisposed, the Vice-President takes his place.
The functions and powers of the President comprise amongst others the following:






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to take all necessary steps, including the adoption of internal, administrative instructions and the publication of notices, to ensure the functioning of the Office in accordance with EU provisions, rules and guidelines,










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to draw up the estimates of the revenue and expenditure of the Office, and implement its budget,










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to exercise in respect of the Office staff the powers delegated to the EU Institutions by the Staff Regulations of officials of the European Union and Conditions of Employment of other servants,










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to place before the Administrative Council draft amendments to Regulation (EC) No 2100/94, the Fees Regulations and other implementing rules, or any other rules relating to Community plant variety rights.




The President of the CPVO may delegate some of his duties to the Vice-President.

We look for (selection criteria)

Candidates should have:
(a)   Management and leadership experience, and in particular:







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capacity to temporarily lead an organisation the size of CPVO if the President is absent or indisposed, both at a strategic and at operational management level,










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very good capacity to develop and implement a strategic vision, to set objectives and to motivate and lead teams in a multicultural and multilingual environment,










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proven experience in budgetary, financial and human resources management in a national, European and/or international context.




(b)   Technical knowledge, and in particular:







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experience and very good knowledge of matters relating to plant variety rights, to plant variety registration or to associated fields,










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good understanding of EU policies in the field of intellectual property, plant variety rights, related international activities and other policies of relevance to the activities of the Office,










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good understanding of the European institutions and how they operate and interact.




(c)   Communication and negotiations skills, and in particular:







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ability to build good working relations and to communicate efficiently and fluently in a transparent and open manner with all stakeholders,










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solid experience of negotiating in an international environment,










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excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to maintain appropriate relations with EU institutions and with Member State’s competent authorities to ensure the proper functioning of the Office,










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very good knowledge of English.





Assets:







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The university degree mentioned below should ideally be in law or life sciences with specialisation in plant related matters, e.g. botany, genetics or plant breeding.










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Experience gained in a multicultural environment.










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Knowledge of French.





Applicants must (eligibility criteria)

In order to be considered for the selection phase, applicants must fulfil the following criteria by the closing date for applications:






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Nationality: applicants must be a national of a Member State of the European Union.










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University degree or diploma: applicants must have either:






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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 4 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 1 year when the normal period of university education is at least 3 years (this 1 year’s professional experience cannot be included in the postgraduate professional experience required below).














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Professional experience: Applicants must have at least 12 years postgraduate experience at a level to which the qualifications referred to above give admission; of these 12 years of professional experience, at least 5 years of the professional experience gained in the domain of the Office’s activities.










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Management experience: of these 12 years of professional experience, at least 5 years of the professional experience gained in a management or high-level advisory function (3).










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Languages: Applicants must have a thorough knowledge of one of the official European Union languages and a satisfactory knowledge of another of these languages to the extent necessary for the performance of their duties. Selection panels will verify during the interview(s) whether candidates comply with the requirement of a satisfactory knowledge of another official EU language. This may include part of the interview being conducted in this other language.










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Age limit: Applicants must be able to complete, at the deadline for application, the full mandate of 5 years before reaching the retirement age. For temporary staff of the European Union, the retirement age is defined as being the end of the month in which the person reaches the age of 66 years (see Article 47 of the Conditions of Employment of other Servants of the European Union (4)).





Independence and declaration of interests

The Vice-President will be required to make a declaration of commitment to act independently in the public interest and to make a declaration in relation to interests which might be considered prejudicial to his/her independence. Applicants must confirm their willingness to do so in their application.
Due to the particular nature of the function, applicants invited to pre-selection interviews will be required to sign a declaration relating to their current or future interests that might be considered prejudicial to their independence.
In accordance with Article 16 of the Staff Regulations (5), which provisions apply by analogy to temporary Agents, the Vice-President shall, after leaving the service, continue to be bound by the duty to behave with integrity and discretion as regards the acceptance of certain appointments or benefits.
This includes the obligation to inform the President of the Office (Appointing Authority) sufficiently in advance of the intention to engage in an occupational activity, whether gainful or not, within 2 years of leaving the service. If that activity is related to the work carried out during the last 3 years in service and could lead to a conflict with the legitimate interests of the Office, the Appointing Authority may, having regard to the interests of the service, either forbid from undertaking it or give its approval subject to any conditions it thinks fit.

Selection and appointment

According to Article 43 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2100/94, the Vice-President of the CPVO shall be appointed by the Council from a list of candidates which shall be proposed by the Commission after obtaining the opinion of the Administrative Council and after consulting the President of the CPVO.
The European Commission will establish this list in accordance with its selection and recruitment procedures (see also the Document on Senior Officials Policy). To this end, it sets up a pre-selection panel which will invite for an interview applicants fulfilling the eligibility requirements listed above and having the best profile with regards to the selection criteria listed above.
The pre-selection panel will propose the applicants best matching the above listed criteria for further interviews with the European Commission’s Consultative Committee on Appointments (CCA). They will undergo testing by an assessment centre run by external recruitment consultants. Applicants who are short-listed by the CCA, will afterwards be interviewed by the Member of the Commission responsible for Health and Food Safety.
Following these interviews, the European Commission will adopt a short list of the most suitable candidates, which will be communicated to the Council. The latter may interview the candidates before appointing the Vice-President from among the candidates short-listed by the Commission. 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.
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 (6).

Equal opportunities

The European Union applies a policy of equal opportunities and non-discrimination in accordance with Article 1d of the Staff Regulations (7). It takes great care to avoid any form of discrimination in its recruitment procedures and actively encourages applications from women.

Conditions of employment

The Vice-President of the Office will be appointed as a member of the temporary staff at grade AD 12 pursuant to Article 2(a) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union (8) for a 5-year period, which may be renewed once.
The place of employment is Angers (France), where the Office is based. The Vice-President is expected to take office on 1 April 2017.

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 as well as your linguistic capacity. Failure to meet any of the eligibility requirements means an automatic exclusion from the selection procedure.
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 there concerning the various stages of the procedure.
You must have a valid email address. This is 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 email address.
To complete your application, you will need to upload a CV in PDF format and to fill out, online, a letter of motivation (maximum 8 000 characters). 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, both the CV and motivation letter must be written in English, French or German.
Once you have finished your online registration, you will receive an electronic mail confirming that your application has been registered. The mail also contains a registration number which will be your reference number in all matters concerning your application. If you do not receive a confirmation mail, 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. The selection process, including correspondence with selection panels during this selection procedure is carried out in English (9).
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 to the following address: European Commission, Directorate-General for Human Resources and Security, Unit for Executive Staff and CCA Secretariat, SC11 8/59, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË, indicating clearly as a reference: Vacancy for a Vice-President of the CPVO (COM/2016/20015), and, postmarked no later than the closing date for registration. All subsequent communication between you and the European 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 or if you encounter technical problems, please send an email to: HR-MANAGEMENT-ONLINE@ec.europa.eu

Closing date

The closing date for registration is 29 September 2016, 12.00 noon Brussels time, after which online registration will no longer be possible.
It is your responsibility 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 the submission of registrations has passed, you will no longer be able to introduce any data. Late registrations are not accepted.

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 European Commission (during the preparatory phase) and later the Council and the CPVO 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 (10).


(1)  OJ L 227, 1.9.1994, p. 1.

(2)  OJ L 8, 11.1.2008, p. 2.

(3)  In their CVs applicants should indicate at least for these 5 years during which the management or high-level advisory experience has been acquired: (1) title and role, (2) numbers of hierarchical layers above and below and number of peers, and (3) for management functions, numbers of staff overseen in these positions and the size of budgets managed.

(4)  Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, page 206
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:1962R0031:20140101:EN:PDF

(5)  Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, page 21.

(6)  The selection panel will ensure that no undue advantage is given to native speakers.

(7)  Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, page 12.
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:1962R0031:20140101:EN:PDF

(8)  Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, page 187.

(9)  The selection panels will ensure that no undue advantage is given to native speakers.

(10)  OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1.