EEA/AST/2010/3

The European Environment Agency (EEA) is organising an open competition with a view to establishing a reserve list for temporary agents to work as secretaries.

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:

The EEA is seeking to establish a reserve list with the objective of recruiting several secretaries to provide comprehensive secretarial and administrative support to different groups and/or programmes within the Agency.

The position will entail the following tasks:

• Registering, dispatching and archiving incoming and outgoing mail;
• Drafting routine correspondence;
• Establishing and maintaining files and records related to the work of the group and/or programme;
• Keeping databases up-to-date and assisting in data management;
• Monitoring leave and absences;
• Organising meetings and preparing minutes;
• Organising missions including travel arrangements, hotel reservations and processing of reimbursement claims in accordance with applicable rules;
• Drafting, editing and proofreading documents in English;
• Producing documents, briefing papers, reports and presentations;
• Keeping track of work in progress and ensuring the follow-up of assigned tasks until completion;
• Acting as point of contact for internal and external queries;
• Performing various other secretarial and administrative tasks as deemed necessary.

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                                     

b)      A level of secondary education attested by a diploma giving access to post-secondary education and professional experience of at least three years.

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:

• Education and/or professional experience in a domain related to the job description demonstrating a proven capacity to provide administrative and secretarial support;
• Excellent knowledge of MS Office Software (MS Word, MS Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook) as shown by training and/or professional experience;
• Proven knowledge of filing/archiving methods and record management;
• Proven capability to gather and organise information to produce presentations, arrange meetings and prepare notes and minutes;
• Ability to deliver accurate work under pressure and tight deadlines;
• Capacity to communicate and liaise with internal and external parties;
• Excellent planning and organisational skills with great attention to detail;
• Strong customer problem solving skills and ability to prioritise work;
• Very good command of both written and spoken English.

Advantageous:

• Working experience in a multicultural and international environment preferably in European or International institutions or agencies;
• Training and/or recognised professional qualifications in the secretarial field;
• Good understanding of administrative procedures within the European institutions and/or agencies as shown by specific training and/or professional experience;
• Knowledge of EU financial rules and procedures.

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 AST1 (step 1), before any deductions or allowances, on 1 July 2009 amounts to EUR 2,604.21. 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 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 a police certificate confirming the absence of any criminal record;
• 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 applicant 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. Any personal data shall be processed solely for the purposes of this selection procedure. The applicant shall have the right of access to his/her personal data and the right to rectify any such data that is inaccurate or incomplete. Should the applicant have any queries concerning the processing of his/her personal data, s/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: 17 September 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.