Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) – Angers (France) – Publication of a vacancy for the function of Vice-President (Temporary Agent – Grade AD 12) – COM/2022/20084
Date: 2022-06-07
Institutions: Directorate-General for Human Resources and Security, European Commission
Subjects: Community Plant Variety Office, administrator, competition (EU), job vacancy, recruitment, servant (EU), vice-president of an institution








CA2022221EN.01002601.xml










7.6.2022   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CA 221/26






Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) – Angers (France)
Publication of a vacancy for the function of Vice-President
(Temporary Agent – Grade AD 12)
COM/2022/20084
(2022/C 221 A/05)
 

We are

The Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) is an independent EU Agency, established by Council Regulation (EC) No 2100/94 (1). The CPVO is responsible for the management of the Community Plant Variety Rights System. This system protects with an intellectual property right for new plant varieties on the European Union (EU) level. The mission of the CPVO is to deliver and promote an efficient Intellectual Property Right system that supports the creation of 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 website of the CVPO (2).

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. In particular, the Vice-President supports the President in managing and further developing the interinstitutional relations and networks, and in ensuring coordination within the CPVO on matters related to the European Commission (including its Directorates-Generals), other EU Agencies, and relevant CPVO stakeholders.
The Vice-President will support the President in coordinating and fostering CPVO’s strategic interactions with the European Institutions, including advising on strategic inter-institutional matters, coordination of the CPVO’s technical support to the EU institutions during legislative processes, in particular the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE); monitoring and analyzing strategic new policy trends and developments at EU institutional level, relevant for the CPVO; promoting the use of CPVO’s expertise during new EU policy development and maintaining effective networking within EU institutions and agencies; advising the President on strategic political interinstitutional matters and contributing to the activities of the Heads of EU Agencies network.
If the President is absent or indisposed, the Vice-President takes his/her 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)

The ideal candidate should fulfill the following selection criteria:


Management skills








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










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good 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;










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a sense of diplomacy, and maintaining attention to detail without losing sight of the overall picture;










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






Specialist skills and experience








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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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very 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,










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










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university degree in life sciences with specialisation in plant related matters, e.g. botany, genetics, or plant breeding would be an advantage






Personal qualities








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ability to build very good working relations and to communicate efficiently and fluently in a transparent and open manner with all internal and external international stakeholders, and to represent the Office in international fora,










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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 States’ competent authorities to ensure the proper functioning of the Office,










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experience gained in a multicultural environment would be an asset.





Candidates must (eligibility requirements)

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






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










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University degree or diploma: candidates must have:






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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;










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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).














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Professional experience: candidates must have at least 12 years postgraduate professional experience (3) at a level to which the qualifications referred to above give admission. At least 5 years of that professional experience must be in the area of the activities of the Office.










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Management experience: at least 5 years of the post-graduate professional experience must have been gained in a high-level management function (4) in a field relevant for this position.










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Languages: candidates must have a thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the European Union (5) and 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.










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Age limit: candidates must be able to complete, at the deadline for application, the full mandate of five 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 (6)).





Selection and appointment

The Vice-President will be appointed by the Council 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 (7)).
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 Vice-President of 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 (8).
Following these interviews, the European Commission adopts a shortlist of the most suitable candidates, which will be communicated to the Council after obtaining the opinion of the Administrative Council and after consultation of the President. The Council may decide to interview the candidates before appointing the Vice-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.

Equal opportunities

The European Commission and CPVO apply a policy of equal opportunities and non-discrimination in accordance with Article 1d of the Staff Regulations (9). CPVO is an equal opportunities employer and accepts applications without distinction on the grounds of gender, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, age or sexual orientation, marital status or family situation. All applicants to selection procedures will be given an equal opportunity to demonstrate their abilities. The staff members are recruited on the broadest possible geographical basis from among nationals of all Member States of the European Union.

Conditions of employment

The salaries and conditions of employment are laid down in the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants.
The successful candidate will be engaged by the CPVO as a Temporary Agent at grade AD 12 (10). He / she will be classified depending on the length of his / her previous professional experience in step 1 or step 2 within that grade.
She/he will be appointed for an initial mandate of five years, with a possible renewal for a maximum five 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 nine-month probationary period.
The place of employment is Angers, France.

Independence and declaration of interests

Before taking up his/her duties, the Vice-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 and professional experience 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 (11), 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 7 July 2022, 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)  Council Regulation (EC) No 2100/94 of 27 July 1994 on Community plant variety rights (OJ L 227, 1.9.1994, p. 1)

(2)  http://www.cpvo.europa.eu

(3)  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.

(4)  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.

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

(6)  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:01962R0031-20140501&from=EN

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

(8)  Unless the Member of the Commission concerned, in line with the Commission Decision of 5 December 2007 (PV(2007) 1811) and 30 September 2020 (PV(2020) 2351), has delegated this task.

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

(10)  The correction coefficient applicable to the remuneration and pensions of officials and other servants of the European Union for France is set at 119,9 % as from 1 July 2021. This coefficient is subject to an annual revision.

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

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