Vacancy Notice CONS/AD/177/22
Date: 2022-01-05
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Council of the European Union, European Council, Secretary General of an Institution, administrator, competition (EU), job vacancy, managing director, recruitment








CA2022004EN.01000101.xml










5.1.2022   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CA 4/1






Vacancy Notice CONS/AD/177/22
(2022/C 4 A/01)
 

GENERAL INFORMATION







Department


Private Office of the Secretary-General — CAB




Place of work


Brussels, Europa Building




Title of post


Director




Function group and grade


AD 14




Security clearance required


SECRET UE/EU SECRET





DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS




21 January 2022 — 12:00 noon (Brussels time)





We are

The General Secretariat of the Council (GSC) assists the European Council and the Council of the EU and their preparatory bodies in all fields of their activities. It provides advice and support to members of the European Council and the Council and to their Presidents in all areas of activity, including policy and legal advice, coordination with other institutions, elaboration of compromises, supervising as well as attending to all the practicalities that are necessary for the good preparation and running of the European Council and the Council.
The Secretary-General heads the General Secretariat of the Council. He carries responsibility for the organisation and execution of the services provided by the General Secretariat to the Presidencies of the Council and the President of the European Council. He is also responsible for the administrative management of the General Secretariat in terms of human and financial resources.
The Secretary-General attends the European Council and Council meetings, ensures the smooth running of the GSC and budget administration, represents the Council before the European Parliament and is the GSC security authority.
The Private Office supports the Secretary-General in his duties of assisting the European Council and the Council, in managing the GSC and in ensuring horizontal coordination between Directorates-General.
The Private Office of the Secretary-General comprises the Head of the Office, two members (AD officials) and three assistants.

We propose

The post of Head of the Private Office of the Secretary-General is a highly challenging position in a politically interesting environment.
You will advise and support the Secretary-General in the performance of his duties, in particular by supporting the President of the European Council (PEC) and the PEC’s Private Office and liaising with the Presidency and other institutions.
You will support the Secretary-General in managing and further developing the GSC, inter alia, in his capacity of Appointing Authority and Authorising Officer, and in ensuring horizontal coordination between Directorates-General, in particular meetings of Directors-General.
You will be responsible for the management of the services directly attached to the Secretary-General: Internal Audit, Data Protection Office, Analysis and Research Team (ART) and the administrative management of the Office of the Counter-Terrorism Coordinator.
You will be responsible for the overall management and coordination of the Private Office and of its resources.
You will be a member of the following bodies: the Advisory Management Board, the Audit Committee, the Crisis Management Team and the Steering Committee of the Business Continuity Planning.
The position entails atypical working hours. You and your staff will benefit from the GSC’s flexible working arrangements, including occasional teleworking.

We look for

We are looking for a dynamic and very committed manager with a high level of loyalty and discretion, who has substantial experience in EU policymaking and the EU legislative process and extensive knowledge of the internal structure and functioning of the Council and the European Council as well as of EU institutional issues.
You will have a good political insight and understanding of the current challenges of the EU and the demands they put on the GSC.
Given the wide range of issues to be covered, you should have a high degree of organisational awareness and interest in organisational development.
Due to the nature of the duties, you should also be resilient, flexible and willing to work outside of normal working hours when necessary.
All GSC managers are expected to advise their hierarchy and stakeholders, manage their staff and financial resources and to represent the GSC. These expectations are set out in the GSC horizontal manager’s profile (1).
Furthermore, the jobholder will need to possess:






—


a sense of diplomacy, knowing when to be flexible and when to be firm and maintaining attention to detail without losing sight of the overall picture;










—


the ability to promote and maintain good working relationships with a range of high-level internal and external interlocutors;










—


leadership skills and the ability to give guidance, motivate and empower staff in a multicultural and diverse environment, with a strong emphasis on staff development;










—


the ability to think and plan strategically, to anticipate and identify potential problems and propose workable solutions and compromises;










—


the ability to reach common agreements or goals by providing targeted advice to stakeholders and by effectively and constructively facilitating discussions;










—


the ability to organise the overall work of the Private Office so as to meet critical deadlines and ensure a fair distribution of workload within the team as well as succession planning;










—


the ability to manage change and support staff through change;










—


excellent communication skills, including interpersonal communication skills.




Given that the GSC has a policy of mobility for its managers, who should have a broad experience, candidates should be willing and able to work in different areas of activity during their career at the GSC.

RECRUITMENT POLICY

Applicants must meet the following requirements at the time of applying:






a)



General conditions







—


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.














b)



Specific conditions







—


hold a university degree (2);










—


have at least 15 years of relevant professional experience, out of which they have during at least three years effectively exercised management and organisational responsibilities. Three years spent in a post with significant coordination responsibilities would be equivalent to the required management experience;










—


given that English and French are used extensively for communication within the GSC and with other institutions, an excellent knowledge of one of the two languages and a good knowledge of the other language is required. Knowledge of other official languages of the EU would be an asset.









NB:







(1)


This post requires security clearance allowing access to classified documents (SECRET UE/EU SECRET level). Candidates applying for the post must be prepared to undergo security screening under Council Decision 2013/488/EU (3). Appointment to the post will only take effect on condition that the selected candidate has obtained a valid security clearance certificate. A candidate without security clearance will be offered a temporary contract until the result of the security clearance procedure is obtained.










(2)


The successful candidate must be prepared to follow the GSC management training.





SELECTION PROCEDURE

In choosing the successful candidate, the Appointing Authority shall be assisted by an advisory selection board. The advisory selection board will be supported by an assessment centre, run by external recruitment consultants. The reports established by the assessment centre for the same type of post will cease to be valid two years after the date on which the relevant exercises took place or upon termination of the framework contract between the GSC and the assessment centre in question — whichever date is the earliest.
The advisory selection board will initially evaluate and compare the qualifications, experience and motivation of all the applicants, on the basis of their applications. Based on that comparative assessment and the report of the assessment centre, the advisory selection board will shortlist those candidates who, in its opinion, are most suitable to be invited to an interview. As this first selection is based on a comparative assessment of the applications, the fulfilment of the requirements of this vacancy does not guarantee invitation to the interview.
The provisional planning of the selection is as follows:






—


it is expected that candidates selected for the assessment centre will be informed by the end of January 2022;










—


the assessment centre is expected to take place beginning of February 2022;










—


the interviews are foreseen to take place in the second half of February 2022.





NB: The above schedule is purely indicative and in particular subject to the implications of the restrictive measures put in place to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

LEGAL BASIS

This post is published in all institutions of the European Union and outside the institutions, in conformity with Article 29, paragraphs (1) and (2) of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union.

HOW TO APPLY

The closing date for applications is 21 January 2022 at 12:00 noon (Brussels time).
Applications will be accepted by email only and must be sent to: applications.management@consilium.europa.eu (4) no later than the closing date. Late applications will not be considered.

The email address indicated above must be used for any correspondence concerning the selection procedure (the email must have in the subject the following title: CONS/AD/177/22 CAB).
Before submitting their application, candidates should carefully check whether they meet the requirements listed above under ‘Recruitment policy’, in order to avoid automatic exclusion from the selection procedure.
In order to be valid, the application file must include the following documents in pdf (NB: locked, password protected or electronically signed documents are not accepted):






(a)


the application form duly completed (in either English or French) and dated. The form can be found on the Council’s website under the following link: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/general-secretariat/jobs/job-opportunities/ (file to be named ‘XXX (YOUR FAMILY NAME) — Application form.pdf’) (5);










(b)


a detailed curriculum vitae (6), 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 (file to be named ‘XXX (YOUR FAMILY NAME) — CV.pdf’);










(c)


a motivation letter, in English or French (file to be named ‘XXX (YOUR FAMILY NAME) — Motivation letter.pdf’);










(d)


grouped in one pdf document, copies of diplomas certifying education and copies of documents and certificates relating to professional experience. It is not sufficient to simply send the curriculum vitae mentioned under (b). Supporting documents must have been issued by a third party (file to be named ‘XXX (YOUR FAMILY NAME) — Supporting documents.pdf’).





Failure to include these documents will make the application invalid.

All supporting documents referred to under (d), must be numbered in sequence (Annex 1, 2, etc.) and grouped as mentioned above.
Applications that arrive by post, or via cloud-based data storage solutions or file-share platforms will not be considered.
The successful candidate will be asked to provide the originals of the aforementioned documents.
Candidates will receive an email acknowledging receipt of their application. However, technical difficulties related to the transmission of emails can never be completely eliminated. Therefore, if no email that acknowledges receipt of the application has been received, candidates are encouraged to contact applications.management@consilium.europa.eu. Since the advisory selection board will begin its work shortly after the closing date for applications, any necessary verifications as to the receipt of the application should be made in the week following that date.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

The GSC is committed to diversity and inclusion. For more information please see the relevant statement: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/general-secretariat/jobs/diversity-and-inclusion/

REEXAMINATION OF APPLICATIONS

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


(1)  https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/53279/gsc-manager-profile-en.pdf

(2)  Article 5(3)(c) 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 four 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 one year when the normal period of university education is at least three years.





(3)  Council Decision 2013/488/EU of 23 September 2013 on the security rules for protecting EU classified information (OJ L 274, 15.10.2013, p. 1).

(4)  This email address is linked to a functional mailbox and can only process messages with the ‘Normal’ Sensitivity Option; emails sent with other Sensitivity Options (e.g. ‘Personal’, ‘Private’, ‘Confidential’) cannot be processed. Please therefore select the ‘Normal’ sensitivity option. Maximum size of your email must be 25MB. If your email, together with its attachments, exceeds this maximum size, please split your attachments over a number of e-mails.

(5)  https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/53249/gsc-application_form_senior_management_en.docx
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/53248/gsc-application_form_senior_management_fr.docx

(6)  Candidates are requested not to put photos on their CV.




ANNEX I
INTERNAL COMPLAINT — JUDICIAL APPEAL — COMPLAINT TO THE EUROPEAN OMBUDSMAN
If, at any stage of the selection procedure, you are dissatisfied with how your application is handled you have the right to complain.

Internal complaint

Where you receive a decision that you are dissatisfied with you may, within 3 months of the notification of the decision, lodge a complaint under Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union, to:





Council of the European Union




Legal Advisers to the Administration Unit, ORG 1.F




Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 175




1048 BRUXELLES/BRUSSEL




BELGIQUE//BELGIË




Email address: legal.advisersHR@consilium.europa.eu




Replies to such complaints are given in writing by the Appointing Authority within 4 months of the receipt of the complaint. However, if your complaint arrives sufficiently early, it may be possible to have the advisory selection board review the decision that is the object of your complaint and to reply to you on that basis.

Judicial Appeal

If you are dissatisfied with the reply you receive from the Appointing Authority under the internal complaints procedure, you may submit a judicial appeal under Article 91 of the Staff Regulations to:





General Court of the European Union




Rue du Fort Niedergrünewald




L-2925 Luxembourg




LUXEMBOURG





Complaint to the European Ombudsman

After having exhausted all the possibilities for redress at the GSC, in particular the internal complaints procedure under Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations, then like any other citizen of the Union, you may lodge a complaint with:





The European Ombudsman




1, avenue du Président Robert Schuman — BP 403




F-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 94/262/ECSC, EC, Euratom of the European Parliament of 9 March 1994 on the regulations and general conditions governing the performance of the Ombudsman’s duties (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 General Court of the European Union under Article 270 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.


(1)  OJ L 113, 4.5.1994, p. 15.





ANNEX II
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 (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 (1).
The legal basis for the selection procedure is the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and the Council Decision 2013/488/EU of 23 September 2013 on the security rules for protecting EU classified information (2). The selection procedure is conducted under the responsibility of the Human Resources Directorate (ORG.1), 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 the members of the Advisory Selection Committee, and, if necessary, to the Legal Advisers’ unit. Administrative information identifying the candidate and/or necessary for 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, email 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 consultants 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 two 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.officials@consilium.europa.eu.
Applicants may have recourse at any time to the European Data Protection Supervisor (edps@edps.europa.eu).


(1)  OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39.

(2)  OJ L 274, 15.10.2013, p. 1.