Publication of a vacancy for the function of Executive Director of the European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA)
Date: 2024-09-30
Institutions: Directorate-General for Human Resources and Security, European Commission
Subjects: European Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, administrator, competition (EU), job vacancy, managing director, recruitment, servant (EU)








C_202405864EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/5864


30.9.2024






Publication of a vacancy for the function of Executive Director of the European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA)
(Temporary Agent – Grade AD 14)
(COM/2024/20111)
(C/2024/5864)


          
      

We are

The European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA) established in 2011 is governed by Regulation (EU) 2018/1726 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1).
eu-LISA is responsible for the operational management of the Schengen Information System (SIS II) (2), the Visa Information System (VIS) (3), Eurodac (4), DubliNet (5), the ECRIS Reference Implementation (6) and e-CODEX (7).
The Agency has also been entrusted with the preparation, development or operational management of the Entry/Exit System (EES) (8), the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) (9), the ECRIS-TCN (10), a revised version of the Eurodac (11), as well as development of interoperability (12) solutions between large-scale IT systems.
eu-LISA is also tasked with the development and operation of a collaboration platform to support the functioning of joint investigation teams (JITs CP) (13), the EU Visa Application Platform (14), and the Prüm II router (15), the update of DubliNet for the purpose of the Regulation on asylum and migration management (16), and for ensuring national connections and access to specific data for the screening of third country nationals at the external border (17). eu-LISA is also responsible for the tasks relating to the communication infrastructure of the systems conferred on it, except for those systems using EuroDomain for this purpose (18).
The objective of eu-LISA is to ensure the development of large-scale IT systems, the effective, secure and continuous operation of large-scale IT systems; the efficient and financially accountable management of large-scale IT systems; an adequately high quality of service for users of large-scale IT systems; continuity and uninterrupted service; a high level of data protection and an appropriate level of data and physical security.
The seat of the Agency is Tallinn, Estonia. The tasks relating to development and operational management are carried out at the technical site in Strasbourg, France. A backup site is installed in Sankt Johann im Pongau, Austria.
eu-LISA is allocated 399 staff members and has a budget of EUR 265,44 million for the year 2024.

We propose

We propose the function of the Executive Director of eu-LISA.
The Executive Director will manage the Agency, be its legal representative and be responsible for the implementation of tasks assigned to the Agency by the establishing Regulation. They will assist and be accountable to the Management Board and will report to the European Parliament on the performance of their duties when invited to do so. The Council may invite the Executive Director to report on the performance of their duties.
The Executive Director will lead and manage the Agency and take overall responsibility for its operations, ensuring the achievement of the Agency’s objectives. Specific responsibilities include:






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the day-to-day administration of the Agency and the operation of the Agency;










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preparing and implementing the procedures, decisions, strategies, programmes and activities adopted by the Management Board, within the limits set out by the establishing Regulation, its implementing rules and the applicable Union law;










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preparing the draft budget for the following year, the Agency’s draft statement of estimates of revenue and expenditure, and the single programming document;










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reporting on implementation of the work programmes, the development or the technical functioning of each large-scale IT system;










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protecting the financial interests of the Union by applying preventive measures against fraud, corruption and any other illegal activities, by effective checks and, if irregularities are detected, by recovering amounts wrongly paid and, where appropriate, by imposing effective, proportionate and dissuasive administrative, including financial, penalties;





We look for (selection criteria)

The candidates should have:






 




Management skills








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A proven track record of successfully managing large teams and projects, including the ability to lead, motivate and develop the potential of a team with multinational and multidisciplinary backgrounds. Experience gained in a multicultural environment would be an asset.










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Experience in the management of significant financial resources in a national, European and/or international environment, including administrative, budgetary planning and internal control.














 




Specialist skills and experience








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Proven experience in the field of large-scale IT systems acquired in a national, European or international public administration or private sector, including through non-technical functions.










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Knowledge in the field of data protection.










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A good understanding of Union legislation on information exchange and large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice would be an asset.










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A thorough understanding of the EU context and of the interaction between national administrations and EU institutions would be an asset.














 




Personal qualities








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Excellent interpersonal, analytical, decision-making, organisational and negotiation skills.










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Ability to communicate fluently and efficiently and build good working relations with the European Union’s institutions and with various external stakeholders, as well as to represent the agency in international 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 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 1 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 (19) 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 (20) 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 (21) 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 5 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 (22)).





Selection and appointment

The Executive Director will be appointed by the Management Board of eu-LISA on the basis of a shortlist of at least three candidates 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 (23)).
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 eu-LISA.
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 (24).
Following these interviews, the European Commission adopts a shortlist of at least three candidates, which will be communicated to the Management Board of eu-LISA. 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. Before appointment, the candidates proposed by the Commission shall be invited to make a statement before the competent committee or committees of the European Parliament and answer questions from the committee members. After hearing the statement and the responses, the European Parliament shall adopt an opinion setting out its view and may indicate a preferred candidate.
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.

Equal opportunities

The Commission and the Agency pursue a strategic objective of achieving gender equality at all management levels by the end of its current mandate and applies a policy of equal opportunities and non-discrimination accordance with Article 1(d) of the Staff Regulations 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 (25).
The successful candidate will be engaged by the Management Board of the Agency as a Temporary Agent at grade AD14 (26). 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 5 years, with a possible prolongation for a maximum 5 years according to the Regulation establishing the Agency 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 9-month probationary period.
The place of employment is Tallinn, Estonia.

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 (27). 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 e-mail 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 e-mail address.
To complete your application, you need to upload a CV in PDF format, preferably using the Europass CV format (28), 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 e-mail 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 are not accepted.

Closing date

The closing date for registration is 
               30 October 2024, 12.00 noon Brussels time, following which registration is no longer possible.


(1)  
            OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 99, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/1726/oj.

(2)  
            OJ L 312, 7.12.2018, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/1860/oj.

OJ L 312, 7.12.2018, p. 14, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/1861/oj.

OJ L 312, 7.12.2018, p. 56, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/1862/oj.

(3)  
            OJ L 218, 13.8.2008, p. 60, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2008/767/oj.

(4)  
            OJ L 180, 29.6.2013, p.1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2013/603/oj.

(5)  
            OJ L 222, 5.9.2003, p. 3, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2003/1560/oj.

(6)  
            OJ L 135, 22.5.2019, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2019/816/oj.

(7)  
            OJ L 150, 1.6.2022, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2022/850/oj.

(8)  
            OJ L 327, 9.12.2017, p. 20, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2017/2226/oj.

(9)  
            OJ L 236, 19.9.2018, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/1240/oj.

(10)  
            OJ L 135, 22.5.2019, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2019/816/oj.

(11)  
            OJ L, 2024/1358, 22.5.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1358/oj.

(12)  
            OJ L 135, 22.5.2019, p. 27, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2019/817/oj.

OJ L 135, 22.5.2019, p. 85, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2019/818/oj.

(13)  
            OJ L 132, 17.5.2023, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/969/oj.

(14)  
            OJ L, 2023/2667, 7.12.2023, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/2667/oj.

(15)  
            OJ L, 2024/982, 5.4.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/982/oj.

(16)  
            OJ L, 2024/1351, 22.5.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1351/oj.

(17)  
            OJ L, 2024/1352, 22.5.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1352/oj;

OJ L, 2024/1356, 22.5.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1356/oj.

(18)  Currently Eurodac uses EuroDomain, and in the future also ECRIS-TCN and the Prüm II router.

(19)  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 3 years maximum, provided that the PhD has been successfully completed. A given period may be counted only once.

(20)  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.

(21)  
            https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A01958R0001-20130701.

(22)  
            OJ 45, 14.6.1962, p. 1385/62, consolidated text: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A01962R0031-20240101.

(23)  
            https://commission.europa.eu/jobs-european-commission/job-opportunities/managers-european-commission_en#vacancies.

(24)  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.

(25)  
            OJ 45, 14.6.1962, p. 1385/62, consolidated text: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A01962R0031-20240101.

(26)  The correction coefficient applicable to the remuneration and pensions of officials and other servants of the European Union for Estonia is set at 95,5 % as from 1 January 2024. This coefficient is subject to an annual revision.

(27)  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, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/1725/oj).

(28)  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/2024/5864/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)