Publication of a vacancy for the function of Director in Stockholm (Temporary Agent — Grade AD 14) — COM/2023/20093
Date: 2023-05-26
Institutions: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
Subjects: Stockholm, Sweden, administrator, competition (EU), job vacancy, managing director, recruitment, servant (EU)








CA2023185EN.01000101.xml










26.5.2023   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CA 185/1






Publication of a vacancy for the function of Director in Stockholm
(Temporary Agent — Grade AD 14)
COM/2023/20093
(2023/C 185 A/01)
 

We are

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is an independent EU agency, established by Regulation (EU) 2022/2370 of the European Parliament and the Council (1) (Founding Regulation).
The ECDC’s aim is to strengthen Europe’s defenses against infectious diseases.
The ECDC’s mission is to identify, assess and communicate current and emerging threats to human health posed by infectious diseases, special disease issues and outbreaks of unknown origin.
To achieve this mission, the ECDC works in partnership with the European Commission and with national health protection bodies across Europe to strengthen and develop continent-wide disease surveillance and early warning systems. By working with experts throughout Europe, the ECDC pools Europe’s health knowledge to develop authoritative, robust and independent scientific opinions about the risks posed by current and emerging infectious diseases, special health issues and outbreaks of unknown origin.
Within the field of its mission, the ECDC shall:






a)


search for, collect, collate, evaluate and disseminate relevant scientific and technical data;










b)


provide scientific opinions and scientific and technical assistance including training;










c)


provide timely information to the Commission, the Member States, Community agencies and international organizations active within the field of public health;










d)


coordinate the European networking of bodies operating in the fields within the Centre’s mission, including networks that emerge from public health activities supported by the Commission and operating the dedicated surveillance networks;










e)


exchange information, expertise and best practices, and facilitate the development and implementation of joint actions.




A description of the ECDC’s mission and tasks can be found in the Regulation establishing the centre. Further information can be found on the ECDC’s website https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en.

We propose

The function of Director of the ECDC.
The Director is the legal representative and public face of the ECDC and is accountable to the ECDC Management Board. She/he will lead and manage the ECDC and take overall responsibility for its operations ensuring the achievement of the ECDC’s objectives. In 2023, the ECDC’s budget amounted to approximately EUR 86 million with a total staff of 370.
The Director’s responsibilities include:






—


the day-to-day administration of the ECDC in line with applicable legislation in force and with the decisions of its Management Board,










—


responsibility for managing the ECDC’s staff, fostering team spirit and a good working environment,










—


drawing up a proposal for the ECDC’s Strategy and Work Programmes in consultation with the Commission, and reporting on their implementation to the Management Board,










—


ensuring that the ECDC carries out its tasks in accordance with the legal requirements and that all requests from its users are addressed with services of adequate level and in line with the expected timelines,










—


responsibility for the overall performance of the tasks assigned to the ECDC including supervising the quality of its internal control and management systems,










—


preparing and executing the ECDC’s budget and ensuring that it is managed efficiently and in accordance with the principle of sound financial management,










—


responsibility for the financial matters of the ECDC including, inter alia, final accounts and financing decisions,










—


representing the ECDC and engaging with the range of stakeholders and the public in relation to all matters within its mission,










—


ensuring cooperation between the ECDC, the Commission, the European Parliament, the EU agencies, the Member States as well as with the relevant actors at international level,










—


ensuring the coordination of the European networking of bodies operating in the fields within the Centre’s mission, including networks arising from public health activities supported by the Commission and operating the dedicated surveillance networks,




A full description of the responsibilities of the Director is provided in Article 16 of the ECDC’s Founding Regulation.

We look for (selection criteria)

The candidates should have:






(a)



Management skills:







—


proven capacity to lead a large and complex organisation, both at a strategic and at operational management level;










—


capacity to develop and implement a strategic vision, to set objectives and to lead and motivate a large team in a multicultural, multilingual and multidisciplinary environment;










—


strong decision-making skills, including the capacity to take decisions on complex issues including in uncertain, unforeseen or changing circumstances;










—


clear vision for promoting the ECDC’s mission at EU and international level.














(b)



Specialist knowledge:







—


good understanding of the relevant European agencies and institutions, as well as international agencies dealing with health such as WHO/UN, and how they operate and interact;










—


sound knowledge of issues relating policy and practice for prevention and control of communicable disease, related international activities and other policies of relevance to the activities of the ECDC;










—


good understanding and/or practice of risk assessment and risk communication activities;










—


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














(c)



Personal qualities and skills:







—


ability to behave with integrity and communicate efficiently and fluently at all levels, in a transparent and open manner, with national and local authorities, stakeholders, general public, European and international, organisations, the press, and to represent the agency in international fora;










—


excellent interpersonal, organisational and negotiating skills and the ability to build trusted working relationships with the European Union’s institutions, the EU agencies, the Member States and with stakeholders;










—


very good understanding and adherence to the ECDC’s guiding principles of openness, transparency, independence and scientific excellence.









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 (2) 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 ECDC’s activities.










—



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 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 (5)).





Selection and appointment

The Director will be appointed by the Management Board of the ECDC 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 Director of the ECDC.
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 ECDC.
Following these interviews, the European Commission adopts a shortlist of the most suitable candidates, which will be communicated to the Management Board of the ECDC. Inclusion on this shortlist does not guarantee appointment.
The Management Board of the ECDC will interview these candidates and appoint a candidate. Before appointment, the nominated candidate will be asked to make a statement before the European Parliament and to reply to questions.
Candidates may be required to undergo further interviews and/or tests in addition to those indicated above.

Equal Opportunities

The Commission and the ECDC pursue a strategic objective of achieving gender equality at all management levels by the end of its current mandate and apply a policy of equal opportunities and non-discrimination accordance with Article 1d of the Staff Regulations (7) 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 Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union.
The successful candidate will be engaged by the Management Board of the ECDC as a Temporary Agent at grade AD 14 (8). She/he will be classified depending on the length of her/his 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 prolongation for a maximum five years according to Regulation establishing the ECDC as applicable at the time of appointment.
Applicants should note the requirement under the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union for all new staff to complete successfully a nine-month probationary period.
The place of employment is Stockholm (Sweden), where the ECDC is based.
The post is available from 16 June 2024.

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 (9). This applies in particular to the confidentiality and security of such data.

Independence and declaration of interests

The candidates will be required to make a declaration of commitment to act independently in the public interest and to make a declaration of any interests which might be considered prejudicial to their 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 (10), 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.
It is in your interest to ensure that your application is accurate, thorough and truthful.
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.

Applications sent by email will not be accepted. If you require more information and/or encounter technical problems, please send an email to: HR-MANAGEMENT-ONLINE@ec.europa.eu
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 will not be accepted.

Closing date

The closing date for registration is 26 June 2023, 12.00 noon Brussels time, following which registration is no longer possible.


(1)  Regulation (EU) 2022/2370 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 November 2022 amending Regulation (EC) No 851/2004 establishing a European centre for disease prevention and control (OJ L 314, 6.12.2022, p. 1).

(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 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.

(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)  Regulation No 1 determining the languages to be used by the European Economic Community (OJ 17, 6.10.1958, p. 385). Consolidated text: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A01958R0001-20130701

(5)  Regulation No 31 (EEC), 11 (EAEC), laying down the Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community (OJ 45, 14.6.1962, p. 1385). Consolidated text: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A01962R0031-20230101

(6)  https://commission.europa.eu/jobs-european-commission/job-opportunities/managers-european-commission_en#vacancies (only exists in English).

(7)  Regulation No 31 (EEC), 11 (EAEC), laying down the Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community (OJ 45, 14.6.1962, p. 1385). Consolidated text: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A01962R0031-20230101

(8)  The correction coefficient applicable to the remuneration and pensions of officials and other servants of the European Union for Sweden is set at 124,9 % as from 1 July 2022. This coefficient is subject to an annual revision.

(9)  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).

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