Secretariat-General – Publication of a vacancy for the function of Director (Grade AD 14) (Article 29(2) of the Staff Regulations) – COM/2021/10409
Date: 2021-11-08
Institutions: Directorate-General for Human Resources and Security, European Commission
Subjects: administrator, competition (EU), job vacancy, managing director, protocol








CA2021451EN.01000101.xml










8.11.2021   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CA 451/1






Secretariat-General
Publication of a vacancy for the function of Director (Grade AD 14)
(Article 29(2) of the Staff Regulations)
COM/2021/10409
(2021/C 451 A/01)
 

We are

The Secretariat-General is the main service of the President. It closely coordinates its work with the other presidential services and central services, which, together with it, ensure the smooth operation of the institution. In agreement with the President, the Secretariat-General also provides advice and support to the Vice-Presidents in the performance of their role as deputies of the President and coordinators of Groups of Commissioners and Project Teams, as set up by the President.
In the Secretariat-General, the role of the Protocol Service is to organise in-coming visits to the Commission by high-level VIPs, including the signature of agreements; College-related events and visits both in Brussels and abroad; manage the Protocol aspects of conferences organised by the Commission and of the President’s visits to third countries and attendance at international summits and conferences.

We propose

A post of Director — Head of Protocol Service in the Secretariat-General, leading a service composed of 12 staff members.
The Director will be responsible for the organisation and smooth running of all protocol activities, including organisation and accompanying of visits and conferences, notably incoming visits of VIPs and outgoing visits of the President and College events, as well as supporting Executive Vice-Presidents and Vice-Presidents as appropriate. The Director will also be responsible for the management of human and financial resources in the Service.

We look for (selection criteria)

Candidates should have:

Management skills







—


An organised manager with sound judgment and the capacity to motivate staff.










—


Strong achievements as a manager and communicator with a proven capacity to lead a service in a high pressure, fast-moving environment, being able to set and follow up priorities.










—


Proven capacity for strategic thinking, showing strong analytical skills and a very good ability to coordinate, arbitrate and mediate.





Specialist skills and experience







—


Excellent, up to date knowledge of the EU’s foreign policy priorities.










—


Strong diplomatic skills and good understanding and knowledge of the role and mission of the Protocol service.





Personal qualities







—


Strong presentation and communication skills and ability to negotiate efficiently at high level with internal and external stakeholders.










—


A forward looking and dynamic approach to new challenges and a clear problem solving approach with a strong commitment to deliver.





Candidates must (eligibility requirements)

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 one 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 (1) at a level to which the qualifications referred to above give admission. At least 5 years of that professional experience must be in a field relevant for this position.










—



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










—



Languages: candidates must have a thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the European Union (3) 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 not have reached regular retirement age, which for officials of the European Union is defined as being the end of the month in which the person reaches the age of 66 years (see Article 52(a) of the Staff Regulations (4)).





Selection and appointment

The selection and appointment will be conducted according to the European Commission’s selection and recruitment procedures (see: Document on Senior Officials Policy (5)).
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 for the function.
Candidates on the CCA shortlist will be interviewed by the President of the Commission (6).
Following these interviews, the European Commission takes the appointment decision.
The selected candidate must 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.
The selected candidate should hold, or be in the position to obtain, a valid security clearance certificate from his/her national security authority. A personal security clearance is an administrative decision following completion of a security screening conducted by the individual’s competent national security authority in accordance with applicable national security laws and regulations, and certifying that an individual may be allowed to access classified information up to a specified level. (Note that the necessary procedure for obtaining a security clearance can be initiated on request of the employer only, and not by the individual candidate).
Until the personal security clearance has been granted by the Member State concerned and the clearance procedure completed with the legally required briefing from the European Commission’s Security Directorate, the candidate will not be able to access EU Classified Information (EUCI) at the level of CONFIDENTIEL UE/EU CONFIDENTIAL or above, nor attend any meetings at which such EUCI is discussed.

Equal opportunities

In accordance with Article 1d of the Staff Regulations, the European Commission pursues a strategic objective of achieving gender equality at all management levels by the end of its current mandate and applies an equal opportunities policy encouraging applications that could contribute towards more diversity, gender equality and overall geographical balance.

Conditions of employment

The salaries and conditions of employment are laid down in the Staff Regulations.
The selected candidate will be recruited as an official at grade AD 14. He/she will be classified depending on the length of his/her previous professional experience in step 1 or step 2 within that grade.
The selected candidate should note the requirement under the Staff Regulations for all new staff to complete successfully a nine-month probationary period.
The place of employment is Brussels, where the Secretariat-General is based.

Independence and declaration of interests

Before taking up his/her duties, the selected candidate 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, preferably using the Europass CV format (7), 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 on-line. 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 6 December 2021, 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 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. Any query has to be addressed to the secretariat of the respective 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 (8). This applies in particular to the confidentiality and security of such data.


(1)  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 part-time 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 three years maximum, provided that the PhD has been successfully completed. A given period may be counted only once.

(2)  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.

(3)  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A01958R0001-20130701

(4)  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A01962R0031-20140701

(5)  https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/compilation-of-the-senior-official-policy-at-the-european-commission_en.pdf (only exists in English).

(6)  The President may delegate the interview in accordance with the rules in force.

(7)  You can find information on how to create your Europass CV online at: https://europa.eu/europass/en/create-europass-cv

(8)  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, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39).