Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) — Angers (France) — Publication of a vacancy for the function of President (Temporary Agent — Grade AD 14) — COM/2020/20052
Date: 2020-11-10
Institutions: Directorate-General for Human Resources and Security, European Commission
Subjects: Community Plant Variety Office, France, Loire Region, administrator, competition (EU), job vacancy, president of an institution, servant (EU)








CA2020379EN.01000101.xml










10.11.2020   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CA 379/1






Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) — Angers (France)
Publication of a vacancy for the function of President
(Temporary Agent — Grade AD 14)
COM/2020/20052
(2020/C 379 A/01)
 

We are

The Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) is an independent EU Agency, established by Council Regulation (EC) No 2100/94 (1) on 27 July 1994. The CPVO is responsible for the management of the Community Plant Variety Rights System. This system provides protection with an intellectual property right for new plant varieties on European Union level. The mission of the CPVO is to deliver and promote an efficient Intellectual Property Right system that supports the creation on new plant varieties for the benefit of society.
The Office is located in Angers, France. It has around 50 Staff members and a budget of approximately EUR 20 million yearly, financed mainly by the proceeds of the various fees it levies.
For further information please consult the following website: http://www.cpvo.europa.eu

We propose

The President represents the Office and is responsible for its management. In particular, he or she has the following functions:






—


taking 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,










—


drawing up the estimates of the revenue and expenditure of the Office, and implementing its budget,










—


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










—


placing 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,










—


representing CPVO and communicating with the range of stakeholders and the public on all matters within the Office’s remit.





We look for (selection criteria)

The ideal candidate will be an outstanding and dynamic professional who should fulfil the following selection criteria:






a)



Management experience, and in particular:






—


solid leadership skills, being able to lead at a strategic and operational management level, in a dynamic and changing scientific environment,










—


excellent capacity to develop and implement a strategic vision, to set objectives and to motivate and lead highly qualified teams in a multicultural and multilingual environment,










—


very good decision-making skills, including the capacity to take decisions in a complex political environment and in emergency situations,










—


a demonstrable appreciation the CPVO’s guiding principles of openness, transparency, independence and scientific excellence as well as its commitment to people, innovation and excellence.














b)



Technical knowledge and experience, and in particular:






—


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










—


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,










—


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










—


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














c)



Communication/negotiations skills, and in particular:






—


ability to communicate efficiently and fluently in a transparent and open manner with stakeholders, including press, the public, European, international, national and local authorities, international organisations, etc.,










—


excellent skills in relation to interpersonal relations, partnership dialogue, coordination and negotiation,










—


solid experience of negotiating at high level in an international environment.








Assets:






—


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.










—


Experience gained in a multicultural environment.










—


Knowledge of French, since the Agency is based in France.





Candidates must (eligibility criteria)

Candidates will only be considered for the selection phase on the basis of the following formal requirements to be fulfilled by the deadline for applications:






—



Nationality: candidates must be a citizen of one of the Member States of the European Union.










—



University degree or diploma: candidates must have:






—


either 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 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).














—



Professional experience: candidates must have at least 15 years postgraduate professional experience (2) at a level to which the qualifications referred to above give admission. At least 5 years of that professional experience must have been gained in the area of the activities of the office.










—



Management experience: at least 5 years of the post-graduate professional experience must have been gained in a high-level management function (3) in a field relevant for this position.










—



Languages: candidates must have a thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the European Union (4) and a satisfactory knowledge of another of these official languages. 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.










—



Age limit: candidates 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 (5)).




In addition, candidates have to have fulfilled any obligations imposed by law concerning military service; produce appropriate character references as to their suitability for the performance of their duties and be physically fit to perform their duties.

Selection and appointment

The President will be appointed by the Council of the European Union on the basis of a shortlist provided by the European Commission.
To establish this shortlist, the European Commission organises a selection in accordance with its selection and recruitment procedures (see the Document on Senior Officials Policy (6)).
As part of this selection procedure, the European Commission sets up a pre-selection panel. This panel analyses all applications, proceeds with a first eligibility verification and identifies candidates having the best profile in view of the selection criteria mentioned above, and who may be invited for an interview with the pre-selection panel.
Following these interviews, the pre-selection panel draws up its conclusions and proposes a list of candidates for further interviews with the European Commission’s Consultative Committee on Appointments (CCA). The CCA, taking into consideration the conclusions of the pre-selection panel, will decide on the candidates to be invited for an interview.
Candidates who are called for an interview with the CCA participate in a full-day management assessment centre run by external recruitment consultants. Taking account of the results of the interview and the report of the assessment centre, the CCA establishes a shortlist of candidates it considers suitable to exercise the function of President of the CPVO.
Candidates on the CCA shortlist will be interviewed by the Member(s) of the Commission responsible for the Directorate-General in charge of the relations with the Office (7).
Following these interviews, the European Commission adopts a shortlist of the most suitable candidates, which, after obtaining the opinion of the Administrative Council of the CPVO, will be communicated to the Council. The latter may decide to interview the candidates before appointing the President from among the candidates on the Commission shortlist. Inclusion on this 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 and/or French only (8).

Equal opportunities

The European Commission and CPVO apply a policy of equal opportunities and nondiscrimination in accordance with Article 1d of the Staff Regulations (9).

Conditions of employment

The salaries and conditions of employment are laid down in the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants (10).
The successful candidate will be engaged by the CPVO as a Temporary Agent at grade AD 14 (11). He/she will be classified depending on the length of his/her previous professional experience in step 1 or step 2 within that grade.
He/she will be appointed for an initial mandate of 5 years, with a possible extension for a maximum period of 5 years according to Regulation establishing the Office as applicable at the time of appointment.
Applicants should note the requirement under the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants for all new staff to complete successfully a 9-month probationary period.
The place of employment is Angers, (France), where the Office is based.
The post is available from 1 September 2021.

Independence and declaration of interests

Before taking up his/her duties, the President 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 his/her independence.

Application procedure

Before submitting your application, you should carefully check whether you meet all eligibility requirements (‘Candidates must’), particularly concerning the types of diploma, high-level professional experience as well as linguistic capacity required. Failure to meet any of the eligibility requirements means an automatic exclusion from the selection procedure.
If you want to apply, you must register via the internet on the following website and follow the instructions concerning the various stages of the procedure:
https://ec.europa.eu/dgs/human-resources/seniormanagementvacancies/
You must have a valid email address. This will be used to confirm your registration as well as to remain in contact with you during the different stages of the procedure. Therefore, please keep the European Commission informed about any change in your email address.
To complete your application, you need to upload a CV in PDF format and to fill out, online, a letter of motivation (maximum 8 000 characters). Your CV and your letter of motivation may be submitted in any of the official languages of the European Union.
Once you have finished your online registration, you will receive an electronic mail confirming that your application has been registered. If you do not receive a confirmation mail, your application has not been registered!

Please note that it is not possible to monitor the progress of your application online. You will be contacted directly by the European Commission regarding the status of your application.
If you require more information and/or encounter technical problems, please send an email to: HR-MANAGEMENT-ONLINE@ec.europa.eu

Closing date

The closing date for registration is 10 December 2020, 12.00 noon Brussels time, following which registration is no longer 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 candidates

Candidates are reminded that the work of the different selection panels is confidential. It is forbidden for candidates to make direct or indirect contact with their individual members or for anybody to do so on their behalf. All queries must be addressed to the secretariat of the relevant panel.

Protection of personal data

The Commission will ensure that candidates’ personal data are processed as required by Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council (12). This applies in particular to the confidentiality and security of such data.


(1)  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:31994R2100&from=EN

(2)  Professional experience is only taken into consideration if it represents an actual work relationship defined as real, genuine work, on a paid basis and as employee (any type of contract) or provider of a service. Professional activities pursued parttime shall be calculated pro rata, on the basis of the certified percentage of full-time hours worked. Maternity leave/parental leave/leave for adoption is taken into consideration if it is in the framework of a work contract. PhDs are assimilated to professional experience, even when unpaid, but for a duration of 3 years maximum, provided that the PhD has been successfully completed. A given period may be counted only once.

(3)  In their curriculum vitae, candidates should clearly indicate for all years during which management experience has been acquired: (1) title and role of management positions held; (2) numbers of staff overseen in these positions; (3) the size of budgets managed; (4) numbers of hierarchical layers above and below; and (5) number of peers.

(4)  http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:01958R0001-20130701&qid=1408533709461&from=EN

(5)  http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:01962R0031-20140701&from=EN

(6)  https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/compilation-of-the-senior-official-policy-at-the-european-commission_en.pdf.

(7)  Unless the Member of the Commission concerned, in line with the Commission Decision of 5 December 2007 (PV(2007) 1811), has delegated this task to another Member of the Commission.

(8)  Selection panels will ensure that no undue advantage is given to native speakers of these languages.

(9)  http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:01962R0031-20140701&from=EN

(10)  http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:01962R0031-20140701&from=EN

(11)  The correction coefficient applicable to the remuneration and pensions of officials and other servants of the European Union for France is set at 117,7 % as from 1 July 2019. This coefficient is subject to an annual revision.

(12)  Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39).