EEA/CA/2010/4

The European Environment Agency (EEA) is organising an open competition with a view to recruiting a contract agent to work as Project Manager - Press Officer / Environmental Journalist and further with a view to establishing a reserve list.

THE AGENCY:

The EEA is an Agency of the European Union (EU) and one of the decentralised Community bodies. The EEA aims to support sustainable development and to help achieve significant and measurable improvement in Europe’s environment, through the provision of timely, targeted, relevant and reliable information to policy-making agents and the public.

JOB DESCRIPTION:

Under the responsibility of the Head of Media & Public Relations Group reporting to the Head of Communications Programme, the Press Officer / Environmental Journalist will be performing the following tasks:

• To research, write and disseminate press releases, web announcements, articles and other materials for media use;
• To establish relations with key environmental and other relevant journalists around Europe;
• To organise and follow up interviews between Agency’s staff and the media;
• To respond to media enquiries;
• To arrange press conferences, media briefings and other media events as necessary;
• To maintain and enhance the accuracy and reach of the Agency’s media contacts database;
• To inform member countries and the European Commission about planned EEA media activities and coordinate with them as needed;
• To inform EEA institutional networks and other staff about relevant media activities;
• To monitor media coverage of the Agency, including the effectiveness of its own media activities, and conduct periodic media monitoring analysis;
• To define and set-up framework contracts for external media monitoring services;
• To contribute to the work of the Group including the implementation and review of the EEA external communications strategy and the establishment of the annual communications plan;
• To take responsibility for preparing communications activities around the launch of EEA outputs.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:

Candidates applying must satisfy the following eligibility criteria on the closing date for the submission of applications:

a)      Successful completion of university studies attested by a degree relevant to the field concerned where the normal duration of university education is 4 years or more OR successful completion of university studies attested by a degree relevant to the field concerned, where the normal duration of university education is 3 years, plus 1 year of professional experience;

b)  A minimum of 3 years of relevant professional experience after achieving the degree set out above.

In addition, in order to be eligible a candidate must:

• Be a national of one of the member countries of the EEA (Member States of the European Union plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey);
• Enjoy full rights as a citizen;
• Have fulfilled any obligations imposed by law concerning military service;
• Have a thorough knowledge of one of the languages of the EEA member countries and a satisfactory knowledge of another of these languages to the extent necessary for the performance of the duties pertaining to the post;
• Meet the character requirements for the duties involved;
• Be physically fit to perform the duties linked to the post.

SELECTION CRITERIA:

Essential:

• Professional experience in handling media environment related enquiries;
• Experience in dealing with media monitoring and its analysis;
• Proven track record in writing news releases and other material for the media;
• Good understanding of working with strategic communications issues;
• Good knowledge and understanding of environmental issues and EU environmental policy;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills as well as presentation skills;
• Excellent written and spoken English;
• Good knowledge of the functioning of the European Union institutions.

Advantageous:

• Professional experience in working in a European and/or international environment;
• Good understanding of the EU financial regulations and procurement rules.

CONTRACTUAL CONDITIONS:

The successful candidate will be offered a Contract Agent contract in accordance with Article 3a) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities. The duration of the contract will be for a limited period of three years with the possibility of being renewed once for the same period.

The basic monthly salary of a Contract Agent before any deductions or allowances, on 1 July 2009 amounts to:

Function Group IV, grade 13 (step 1)                               EUR 3,086.25

Function Group IV, grade 14 (step 1)                               EUR 3,491.92

Function Group IV, grade 16 (step 1)                               EUR 4,470.24

To this basic salary a weighting factor is to be added (38.7%) for Denmark from 1 July 2009. The salaries of Contract Agents are subject to a community tax deducted at source. They are exempt from national tax.

The place of work will be Copenhagen, Denmark.

It is brought to the particular attention of candidates that the provisions of Articles 11 to 26 of the Staff Regulations, concerning the rights and obligations of officials, shall apply by analogy to Contract Agents. These rules specify that:

“An official shall carry out his duties and conduct himself solely with the interests of the Communities in mind; he shall neither seek nor take instructions from any government, authority, organization or person outside his institution. He shall carry out the duties assigned to him objectively, impartially and in keeping with his duty of loyalty to the Communities.

An official shall not without the permission of the appointing authority accept from any government or from any other source outside the institution to which he belongs any honour, decoration, favour, gift or payment of any kind whatever, except for services rendered either before his appointment or during special leave for military or other national service and in respect of such service.”

For further information on the Staff Regulations and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities see:

http://ec.europa.eu/civil_service/docs/toc100_en.pdf

SELECTION PROCEDURE:

Eligibility of candidates will be assessed according to compliance with all eligibility criteria by the closing date for the submission of applications.

Eligible candidates whose application shows evidence of all required competences and skills listed under “Selection criteria” may be invited for an interview, which will be held for the most part in English. Candidates invited for an interview will be asked to undergo a written test in the area of expertise required for the post.

At the end of the interviews the Selection Committee will submit the list of suitable candidates to the Appointing Authority who will decide on the appointment of the successful candidate and the establishment of a reserve list for the post advertised. Candidates shall note that inclusion on the reserve list does not guarantee recruitment. Recruitment will be based on availability of posts and budget.

The reserve list for this post will be valid until 31 December 2011 and may be extended at the discretion of the Appointing Authority.

Prior to contract signature, the successful candidate will be asked:

• to provide original or certified copies of all relevant documents proving his/her eligibility, including an extract from his/her police file;
• to undergo a compulsory medical examination to establish that he/she meets the standard of physical fitness necessary to perform the duties involved.

PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION:

Any personal data provided by the User shall be processed pursuant to European Regulation related to personal data protection, in particular Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movements of such data. It shall be processed solely for the purposes of the performance, management and follow-up of information requested by the User. The User shall have the right of access to his personal data and the right to rectify any such data that is inaccurate or incomplete. Should the User have any queries concerning the processing of his personal data, he shall address them to the European Environment Agency.

EQUAL TREATMENT:

EEA is an equal opportunities employer and accepts applications without distinction on the grounds of sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, age or sexual orientation. Staff is recruited on the broadest possible geographical basis from among nationals of all EEA member countries.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE:

Interested candidates must apply by filling in electronically the application form below. To the application form must be attached:

• The European CV below duly filled in;
• A letter of motivation; and
• The eligibility and selection criteria grid below duly filled in.

Application Documents:

• Template Europass CV
  
• Instructions for Europass CV
  
• Eligibility and selection criteria grid
  

NB: Failure to submit any of the required documents will lead to exclusion from the procedure.

Closing date for application: 18 October 2010 at 12.00 (Central European Time)

Applications sent after this date will be rejected.

Please ensure that you observe the following:

1. Remember to take time zones into consideration when sending your application.
2. Remember to fill in the application form below.
3. Include a CV using the Europass template attached, a letter of motivation and the duly filled in eligibility and selection criteria grid.
4. Ensure to specify in your CV exact starting and end dates of professional experiences (date/month/year) as well as percentage of work activity in case the experience is not full time.
5. Once your application has been submitted, you will receive an automatic reply.
6. It is your responsibility to keep the automatic reply message as proof of submission of your application.
7. Should you not receive an automatic reply message, please submit your application again.
8. Please do not leave it until the last minute to submit your application. Experience has shown that the system can become overloaded as the deadline for applications approaches and you may find it difficult to submit your application in time.
9. You may apply in any of the official languages of the European Union but the use of English is encouraged to facilitate the selection process.

REQUEST FOR REVIEW:

Candidates who have not been admitted to the selection procedure will be notified by letter. The candidate may ask to have his/her application reconsidered by sending a request for review to the Chairperson of the Selection Committee at the address indicated on the letter within 21 calendar days from the date of the letter of notification.