Vacancy notice CONS/AD/189/23
Date: 2024-01-11
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: administrator, competition (EU), digital technology, job vacancy, managing director, recruitment, secretariat of an Institution








C_202400576EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
Series C













C/2024/576


11.1.2024






Vacancy notice CONS/AD/189/23
(C/2024/576)


          
      

GENERAL INFORMATION







Department


DIGITAL SERVICES




Place of work


Brussels, Justus Lipsius Building




Title of post


Deputy Director-General




Function group and grade


AD 15




Security clearance required


SECRET UE/EU SECRET





DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS




1 February 2024 — 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. Under authority of the Secretary-General, it provides advice and support to the European Council and the Council and to their Presidents in all areas of activity, including policy and legal advice, coordination with other institutions, drawing up of compromises and drafting, supervising as well as attending to all the practicalities that are necessary for the smooth preparation and running of the European Council and the Council.
The Digital Services (SMART) works in partnership with delegates and staff to make information and documents accessible through smart and secure services. It helps transform work by innovating and promoting a digital first mindset. Accordingly, its main purpose is to offer digital solutions for information and document management in the GSC and to deliver high quality, state-of-the-art and secure digital services in line with the GSC’s digital strategy to ensure that the work of the GSC and its stakeholders remains relevant, efficient and effective.
SMART delivers modern solutions and operates a complex IT infrastructure for more than 3 000 staff and 30 000 delegates, working with the Digital Transformation Officer and all GSC departments to deliver on the GSC’s digital strategy. SMART is the principal provider of solutions for digital services. It manages and coordinates a range of programmes and projects covering administrative activities and supporting the political and decision-making mission of our institutions. It has an active portfolio of around 100 digital projects comprising four major strategic initiatives accounting for 50 % of our IT investment budget. These include an Information and Knowledge Management programme, a Document and File Management Implementation programme; a new system for handling RESTREINT UE/EU RESTRICTED classified information (RCI) and a secure videoconferencing system for the Council and the European Council.
SMART currently comprises two directorates: directorate 1 — Digital Solutions; and directorate 2 — Digital Platforms. It also has a Resources Unit and a Digital Transformation cell. Each of these entities reports to the Deputy Director-General. SMART may be subject to modification in the near future, notably due to potential changes in the IT governance of the GSC.

We propose

The post of Deputy Director-General (DDG) for Digital Services is a highly attractive and challenging position in a politically interesting and technologically fast-changing environment. You will lead and motivate a team of around 350 highly-qualified staff, and manage a significant budget of more than EUR 53 million for securely operating a substantial IT infrastructure and for drawing on the services of more than 200 external contractors and managed service providers.
Under the authority of the Secretary-General and in cooperation with SMART managers, you will manage and coordinate SMART and its resources in a professional manner, organise its activities and support and motivate staff in their work. You will develop and implement SMART strategy and work programme. You will define SMART objectives and ensure their achievement by setting required deadlines and quality standards. You will foster a culture of effective communication and cooperation both across SMART and with the other Directorates-General, with other GSC departments and with external stakeholders.
You will provide high-level and strategic policy and procedural advice to the Secretary-General as well as to the President of the European Council, to the presidency of the Council and its preparatory bodies on all aspects of dossiers falling within SMART’s remit.
You will also be required to represent the General Secretariat of the Council in various senior interinstitutional bodies, in public fora and in negotiations with other EU institutions, agencies and other bodies in the areas within SMART’s remit. You will chair the Council’s Coordination Committee for Communication and Information Systems.
You will ensure overall strategic coordination, including with other Directorates-General, on policy and objectives to be met.
Occasional missions abroad, usually within the EU, are required.

We look for

We are looking for a manager with the ability to deliver on the GSC’s digital ambitions by drawing on recent active experience of promoting the use of modern digital tools and infrastructure to further an organisation’s effectiveness and help it better achieve its objectives. You will have the ability to set clear priorities in the context of the quickly shifting technological landscape and evolving cybersecurity challenges while fostering a culture which encourages identifying opportunities for resource optimisation. In addition, you will be expected to have a knowledge of EU policymaking and a good understanding of EU institutional issues and of the areas and activities covered by the service. Sound experience in IT project management, the management of significant budgets, and leading large-scale digitalisation campaigns in the private sector or public administration would be an advantage.
All GSC managers are expected to advise their hierarchy and stakeholders, manage their staff and financial resources, and represent the GSC. These expectations are set out in the GSC horizontal manager’s profile (1).
Furthermore, the jobholder will need to possess:






—


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










—


excellent communication skills, including interpersonal communication skills,










—


the ability to maintain good working relationships with a range of internal and external interlocutors and the ability to demonstrate diplomacy,










—


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










—


the ability to plan and organise the overall work of the service so as to meet critical deadlines and ensure a fair distribution of workload within the team, as well as the ability to manage change and support staff through change,










—


the ability to reach agreements, ensure impact and pursue common goals, by providing targeted advice to stakeholders and by effectively and constructively facilitating discussions.




Given that the GSC has a policy of mobility for its managers, who are expected to have 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 fifteen years of relevant professional experience,










—


have at least three years’ experience in a senior management role in the domain of EU policies,










—


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 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, the advisory selection board will shortlist those candidates who, in its opinion, are most suitable to be invited to the first interview. As this first selection is based on a comparative assessment of the applications, the fulfilment of the requirements of this vacancy notice does not guarantee an invitation to the first interview. From among the interviewed candidates, the advisory selection board will pre-select candidates to attend the assessment centre as well as a second interview with the advisory selection board.
The provisional planning for the selection procedure is as follows:






—


it is expected that candidates selected for the interviews will be informed in the first half of February 2024,










—


the first interviews are foreseen to take place in the second half of February 2024,










—


the assessment center is expected to take place in the first half of March 2024,










—


the second round of interviews is foreseen in the second half of March 2024.




NB: The above schedule is purely indicative and may be modified.

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 (4).

HOW TO APPLY

The closing date for applications is 1 February 2024 at 12:00 (noon) Brussels time.
Applications will be only accepted by email and must be sent to applications.management@consilium.europa.eu (5) no later than the closing date and time. 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 the following reference in the subject line: CONS/AD/189/23 SMART).
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.
To be valid, the application file must include the following documents in pdf (NB: locked, password protected or electronically signed documents will not be accepted):






(a)


the application form duly completed and dated (file to be named ‘XXX (YOUR FAMILY NAME) — Application form.pdf’); to download the electronic application form (EN or FR), click on the appropriate link below or copy and paste it into your browser (6):
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/68640/gsc-application_form_senior_management_en.docx
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/68641/gsc-application_form_senior_management_fr.docx










(b)


a detailed curriculum vitae in English or French (no photographs included), preferably in the Europass format (https://europa.eu/europass/en/create-europass-cv; https://europa.eu/europass/fr/create-your-europass-cv), 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’).





Failure to include these documents will render the application invalid.


NB: Copies of diplomas certifying education and copies of documents and certificates relating to professional experience will be requested from the preselected candidates invited for the first round of interviews. Supporting documents must have been issued by a third party.
The supporting documents should be numbered (Annex 1, 2, etc.) and must be grouped together in a single pdf document (file to be named ‘XXX (YOUR FAMILY NAME) — Supporting documents.pdf’). This should include an index.

Failure to submit all supporting documents at latest the day before the first interview, may be considered as ground for disqualification.

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 above documents.
Candidates will receive an email acknowledging receipt of their application. However, technical difficulties affecting the sending of emails can occur. Therefore, if no email acknowledging receipt of the application is received, candidates are asked to contact applications.management@consilium.europa.eu. Since the advisory selection board will begin its work shortly after the closing date for applications, any correspondence about 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

For information about the procedures relating to requests for complaints, appeals and referrals to the European Ombudsman you may consult: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/56631/complaint-en.pdf

DATA PROTECTION

The rules governing the processing of personal data in connection with this selection procedure are spelled out in the privacy statement: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/56660/jobs-data-protection-083r00-en.pdf


(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)  Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and the Conditions of Employment of other servants of the European Union, laid down by Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 (OJ L 56, 4.3.1968, p. 1), consolidated text available at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A01962R0031-20220101

(5)  This email address is linked to a functional mailbox and can only process messages with sensitivity option set to ‘Normal’; emails sent with other sensitivity options (e.g. ‘Personal’, ‘Private’, ‘Confidential’ or encrypted mails) cannot be processed. Please therefore select the ‘Normal’ sensitivity option. Your email must not be greater than 25 MB. If your email, together with its attachments, exceeds this maximum size, please split your attachments over a number of emails.

(6)  If you need more information and/or encounter technical problems, please send an email to: applications.management@consilium.europa.eu


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/576/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)