European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) – Publication of a vacancy for the function of Executive Director (Temporary Agent – grade AD 14) (COM/2024/20103)
Date: 2024-06-05
Institutions: European Union Agency for Railways
Subjects: administrator, competition (EU), job vacancy, managing director, rail transport, recruitment, servant (EU)








C_202403408EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/3408


5.6.2024






European Union Agency for Railways (ERA)
Publication of a vacancy for the function of Executive Director
(Temporary Agent – grade AD 14)
(COM/2024/20103)
(C/2024/3408)


We are

The European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) was established in 2004 and is currently operating under the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2016/796 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1) (thereafter ‘ERA Regulation’) or other relevant European Union legislation (2). Its mandate under the ERA Regulation, amongst other matters, is to guarantee a high level of rail safety and enhanced interoperability, while improving the competitive position of the European rail sector and its rail supply industry, contributing to the development and effective functioning of the single European rail area without frontiers (SERA).
The Agency makes recommendations to the Commission, for example on further harmonisation and modernisation of the EU technical specifications for interoperability and the EU common safety methods, for which, once adopted, the Agency ensures EU wide implementation by the rail sector. The Agency monitors the national safety authorities (NSA) and notified bodies that verify compliance with EU rail legislation. It is the system authority for (i) ERTMS; (ii) telematics applications; and (iii) a number of registers and databases. In addition, the Agency has an important and growing role as the EU-wide authority for Vehicle Authorisation, Single Safety Certification, and ERTMS Trackside Approval. It also issues opinions to the European Commission.
ERA is based in Valenciennes and Lille, France.
In 2023, the Agency had a total budget of EUR 28,2 million and about 200 staff.
For further information please consult the following website: http://www.era.europa.eu


We propose

The Executive Director is the chief executive responsible for the day-to-day management of the Agency and shall be independent, impartial and avoid any conflict of interest in the performance of his or her duties. She/he shall be accountable to the Management Board of the Agency for his or her activities.
The Executive Director is the legal representative of the Agency and is responsible for the administrative management of the Agency and for the implementation of tasks assigned to it under the ERA Regulation.
The Executive Director is responsible for:






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the preparation, the submission to the Management Board and the implementation of the Single programming document










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the delivery on the Agency’s statutory and legal tasks and ensures it reaches the goals set out above. She/he shall report on their request to the European Parliament and the Council.




A more detailed description of the tasks of the Executive Director can be found in Article 54 of the ERA Regulation.

We look for (selection criteria)

The candidates should have:

Management skills







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Solid leadership skills, ability to lead a large organisation, both at a strategic and at operational management level, in a dynamic and changing technical and operational environment.










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Proven ability to maintain effective working relations with EU institutions, Member States’ competent authorities, and the rail industry, to ensure the proper functioning of the Agency.










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Proven ability in managing and steering financial and human resources of a service, in a national, European and/or international context; managerial experience gained in a multicultural and multilingual environment would be an advantage.





Specialist skills and experience







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Sound knowledge of and/or experience with Union rail transport policy and its future challenges, as well as of the rail industry.










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Deep understanding of the needs, processes and developments in the field of railways at national or European level.










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Very good understanding and/or experience of the European Union institutions, bodies and decentralised agencies, and how they operate and interact.





Personal qualities







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Ability to focus on priorities, create synergies, and manage scarce resources as well as to promote the Agency’s guiding principles of openness, transparency, independence and technical excellence.










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Ability to communicate effectively and fluently in a transparent and open manner with internal and external stakeholders, including press, the public, European, national, and international authorities, international organisations, as well as to represent the Agency in external fora.





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:






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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 four 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 one year when the normal period of university education is at least three 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 15 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 Agency.










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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 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.










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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 Executive Director will be appointed by the Management Board of ERA 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 Compilation 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 Executive Director of ERA.
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 Agency (8).
Following these interviews, the European Commission adopts a shortlist of at least three candidates, which will be communicated to the Management Board of ERA. The latter may decide to interview the candidates before appointing the Executive Director 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. They could also be required to deliver a statement before the relevant committee(s) of the European Parliament and to answer questions put by its members.
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.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Agency recognises that a healthy work-life balance is an important motivational factor for many people and that flexible working is increasingly expected to be part of a modern working environment. As an employer, the Agency is committed to ensuring gender equality and to preventing discrimination on any grounds. It actively welcomes applications from all qualified candidates from diverse backgrounds, across all abilities and from the broadest possible geographical basis amongst the EU Member States. To promote gender equality, the Agency encourages applications in particular from women. Assistance can be provided to persons with disabilities during the recruitment procedure.

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 Agency as a Temporary Agent at grade AD 14 (9). She/he 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 prolongation for another five years maximum according to the ERA Regulation 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 Valenciennes, France.
The post is available from 1 January 2025.

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

Independence and declaration of interests

Before taking up his/her duties, the Executive Director 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 (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.
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 online. 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 e-mail 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 
               5 July 2024, 12.00 noon Brussels time, following which registration is no longer possible.


(1)  Regulation (EU) 2016/796 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on the European Union Agency for Railways and repealing Regulation (EC) No 881/2004 (OJ L 138, 26.5.2016, p. 1).

(2)  Directive (EU) 2016/797 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on the interoperability of the rail system within the European Union (OJ L 138, 26.5.2016, p. 44); Directive (EU) 2016/798 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on railway safety (OJ L 138, 26.5.2016, p. 102);

Directive 2007/59/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on the certification of train drivers operating locomotives and trains on the railway system in the Community (OJ L 315, 3.12.2007, p. 51).

(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/?uri=CELEX%3A01962R0031-20140701.

(7)  
            https://commission.europa.eu/jobs-european-commission/job-opportunities/managers-european-commission_en#vacancies (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)  The correction coefficient applicable to the remuneration and pensions of officials and other servants of the European Union for France is set at 115,6 % as from 1 January 2023. This coefficient is subject to an annual revision.

(10)  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).

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


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/3408/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)