EEA/AST/2010/6

The European Environment Agency (EEA) is organising an open competition with a view to recruiting a temporary agent to work as Project Officer – Budget and Finance 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 the Finance, Budget and Resources Group, reporting to the Head of Administrative Services, the Project Officer will be expected to take on the role of the most senior and knowledgeable budget and finance officer in the network of decentralised finance officers (resource officers) at the EEA.

The position will entail the following tasks:

• Participate in the preparation and monitoring of the Agency’s Annual Budget (forecasting, publication, follow up, etc.);
• Income and recovery management (initiation of forecast of revenue and recovery order);
• Provide advice and opinion on sound financial management concerning financial transactions (budgetary commitment, payment order) and verifying the compliance with the Agency’s financial regulation, implementing rules and internal rules;
• Financial initiator of staff related expenditures including missions;
• Follow up on budget implementation;
• Take part in resource management (management accounting);
• Develop new reports and prepare analysis in the financial area;
• Act as help-desk on budgetary matters, in particular concerning budgetary operations in the above mentioned systems;
• Act as focal point for financial and procurement activities for the Administrative services program (i.e. assist the Authorising Officer by delegation in carrying out his duties).

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:

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

a)      A level of post-secondary education attested by a diploma, OR a level of secondary education attested by a diploma giving access to post-secondary education and appropriate professional experience of at least 3 years;

b)      Following the award of one of the qualifications above, candidates must have a minimum of 12 years of professional experience.

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 the areas related to the job description;
• Thorough understanding of the expenditure life cycle;
• Proven experience in budget forecasting, monitoring and publication;
• Understanding of the principles of accrual accounting;
• Excellent command of MS Office applications, in particular MS Excel (e.g. creation of complex  formulas, mastering pivot tables and data connectivity-data warehouse);
• Experience with financial – budget management systems (e.g. SI2, ABAC etc.);
• Very good command of written and oral English.

Advantageous:

• Knowledge of the Financial Regulation and implementing rules applicable to the general budget of the European Communities;
• Knowledge of the Guide to missions of the European Commission;
• Experience with balanced scorecard and creation/use of performance indicators;
• Capacity to create complex reports in query tools such as Business Object;
• Experience in public procurement;
• Work experience in a multicultural environment;
• Good knowledge of written and spoken French.

CONTRACTUAL CONDITIONS:

The successful candidate will be offered a Temporary Agent contract in accordance with the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities. The selected candidate will be employed for an initial time period of four years, renewable.

The basic monthly salary of a Temporary Agent AST6 (step 1), before any deductions or allowances, on 1 July 2009 amounts to EUR 4,828.65. To this basic salary a weighting factor is to be added (38.7%) for Denmark from 1 July 2009. The salaries of Temporary 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 Temporary 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 2012 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:

o       The European CV below duly filled in;

o       A letter of motivation; and

o       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: 06 December 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.