GSA - European GNSS Agency (Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency)
Prague, Czech Republic
The European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA) has set up a selection procedure that aims to establish a reserve list (five-year contract with the possibility of a renewal for a fixed period and a further renewal for an indefinite period on the conditions set out in the Staff Regulations and in the Conditions of Employment for Other Servants) for Legal/Procurement Officer (Vacancy Reference Number: GSA/2014/340).
Date of Publication: 25/09/2014
Deadline for applications: 23/10/2014 23:59 hours (CET)
Type of Contract: Temporary Agent
Place of employment: Prague (Czech Republic)
Grade/Function Group: AD7
Contract Duration: 5 years with possibility of renewal
Monthly basic salary1:
€ 5.612,65 (less than 9 years’ work experience after degree)
€ 5.848,50 (more than 9 years’ work experience after degree)
Organisational Department: Legal and Procurement Department
Reporting To: Head of Department
Possible reserve list valid until: 31/12/2015
Desired Start Date: As soon as possible
Level of security clearance2: SECRET UE
THE LEGAL AND PROCUREMENT DEPARTMENT
The Legal/Procurement Officer will be part of the legal, contracts and procurement team and will report to the Head of Legal and Procurement Department based in Prague.
The Legal and Procurement Department shall proactively contribute to the fulfilment of the GSA’s mission, particularly regarding all matters related to the management of the GSA's legal and institutional matters as well as contracts and grants management.
Amongst other tasks the Legal and Procurement Department shall ensure the following:
Provision of legal advice to other departments, to the Executive Director of the GSA and to the Chair of the GSA Administrative Board;
Coordination and implementation of the contracts and grants management;
Management of procurement processes;
Managing the secretariat of the GSA Administrative Board;
Interface with the European Commission, other stakeholders or agencies on institutional relations, governance and legal framework;
Drafting of templates, guidelines, internal rules, implementing rules, procedures or decisions with the support by the other departments concerned;
Coordination of the drafting of legal framework documents of the GSA;
Providing advice and support on policies of the GSA;
Providing advice on decision making and ensuring the legality of decision making;
Legal research on topics related to GSA's activities and GSA's legal framework;
Steering of external legal service providers.
TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Legal/Procurement Officer (depending on his/her main area of competence*) will be in charge of supporting the Agency in substantially all the tasks of the Legal and Procurement Department as identified above, and in particular of handling a broad range of legal tasks pertaining to both administrative/support and operational/technical activities of the Agency and/or handling procurements, contract management and grants.
The Legal/Procurement* Officer’s tasks and responsibilities shall in principle include (without limitation):
1. Legal Advice
Providing legal advice in support of human resources, finance, IT and logistics, communications activities, as well as on operations of the Agency including Galileo and EGNOS exploitation, security, market development;
Advising on the regulatory framework of the Agency, as well as supporting relations with stakeholders such as EU institutions, agencies, other organisations;
Providing support in the management of the Administrative Board;
Providing expert advice on procurement and grants.
2. Management of Calls for tenders
Drafting, advising on or helping coordinating calls for tenders for both administrative and operational procurements in line with standard best practices;
Managing calls for tenders (e.g. publication, organisation of and assistance to evaluation boards, selection process, contract award and signature);
Interfacing with relevant stakeholders, including project officers, finance department, economic operators, auditors.
3. Contract management
Following up on contract implementation and performance;
Assisting project officers with issues in contract lifecycle.
4. Coordination support
Providing as the case may be and upon request support in coordinating specific areas, practices or projects, leading teams;
Handling high-level planning, budgeting, organisational and/or reporting tasks;
Taking up responsibilities in high-level document management;
Interfacing directly with high-level management;
Assisting on management of external support or advisers.
*Within this vacancy, a Legal Officer shall be able to take responsibilities identified under at least 1-3-4 above; Procurement Officer, under at least 2-3-4 above.
PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS
A. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
The selection procedure is open to applicants who satisfy the following eligibility criteria, on the closing date for application:
1. A level of education which corresponds to completed university studies3 attested by a diploma when the normal period of university education is four years or more,
OR
A level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma and at least one year of appropriate professional experience when the normal period of university education is three years;
2. In addition to the above,appropriate professional experience4 of at least six years;
3. Be a national of a Member State of the European Union or Norway;
4. Be entitled to his or her full rights as citizen;
5. Have fulfilled any obligations imposed by the applicable laws concerning military service;
6. Meet the character requirements for the duties involved5;
7. Have a thorough knowledge of one of the languages of the European Union6 and a satisfactory knowledge of another language of the European Union to the extent necessary for the performance of his/her duties7; and
8. Be physically fit to perform the duties linked to the post8.
B. SELECTION CRITERIA
All eligible applications, according to the afore-mentioned criteria (part A), will be assessed against the requirements listed below.
Please note that non-compliance with at least one of the Essential requirements (B.1) will result in the exclusion of the candidate from the selection process.
Advantageous requirements (B.2) constitute additional assets and will not result in exclusion, if not fulfilled.
1) Essential qualifications and experience
i. University degree in Law for Legal Officer or another relevant field for Procurement Officer;
ii. Experience of at least three years in legal practice (for Legal Officer) or public procurement practice (for Procurement Officer);
iii. Very good knowledge (by training or experience) of the EU institutional and regulatory framework, including in particular Financial Regulation and its Rules of Application as well as EU procurement and/or contracts/grants management;
iv. Excellent drafting skills and experience in drafting and negotiating contracts, producing procurement and contracts-related opinions;
v. Proven substantial experience in at least two of the five fields specified under paragraph 4 of Tasks and Responsibilities above –Coordination Support;
vi. Proven experience in using electronic office equipment (word processing, spread sheets, email, internet, etc.); and
vii. Excellent command of both written and spoken English.
2) Advantageous qualifications and experience
viii. Experience/background in EGNOS/Galileo programmes and/or security-driven public infrastructure and/or services programmes and/or high-technology and high-value procurement and contracts;
ix. Experience in EU institutions; for Legal Officer experience in providing legal advice within EU institutions or bodies, knowledge of staff regulations etc.; for Procurement Officer experience in practising EU public procurement within EU institutions or bodies;
x. Proven substantial experience in more than two of the five fields specified under paragraph 4 of Tasks and Responsibilities above –Coordination Support.
3) Behavioural competences
xi. Motivation;
xii. High customer service mindedness;
xiii. Sense of confidentiality and perfect professional integrity;
xiv. Sense of proactive initiative and team spirit;
xv. Stress management & flexibility;
xvi. Prioritising and organising;
xvii. Delivering quality and results – hard working approach and attention to detail, commitment to excellence; and
xviii. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
SELECTION PROCEDURE
The selection procedure includes the following steps:
After registration, each application will be checked in order to verify that it meets the eligibility criteria;
All eligible applications will be evaluated by a Selection Board based on the selection criteria defined in this vacancy notice;
The best-qualified candidates, those who obtained the highest number of points within the evaluation, will be short-listed for an interview. The minimum threshold is 65% of the total points;
During the interview, the Selection Board will examine each candidate’s profile and will assess their relevancy for this post. In order to support the evaluation via interview, shortlisted candidates may be required to undergo written tests relevant to the job content (the minimum threshold for this test is 50% of the total points allocated for it) and to complete part of the process in their second EU language;
Candidates will be requested to bring with them on the day of the interview photocopies of all the supporting documents for their educational qualifications and employment necessary to prove that they meet the eligibility criteria. GSA has the right to disqualify applicants who fails to submit all the required documents;
As a result of the interviews, the Selection Board will recommend the most suitable candidate(s) for this post to be placed on a reserve list. The minimum threshold to be placed on the reserve list is 65% of the total points. This list may also be used for recruitment of a similar post depending on the Agency’s needs. Inclusion on the reserve list does not guarantee recruitment;
The reserve list will be presented to the Appointing Authority who may decide to convene a second interview and ultimately will appoint the successful candidate to the post.
Indicative date for the interview and written test9: October/November 2014
Candidates are strictly forbidden to make any contact with the Selection Board members, either directly or indirectly. Any infringement of this rule will lead to disqualification from the selection procedure.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
For applications to be considered valid, candidates must submit an email to jobs@gsa.europa.eu with a subject line of ‘SURNAME_Name_Vacancy Reference Number’ and which contains the Agency’s approved application form (Download it here: http://www.gsa.europa.eu/gsa/job-opportunities).
This form must be:
Completed in English;
Fully completed, pointing out the professional experience relevant to this position (incl. calculation of years, months);
Printed, signed and clearly scanned in (in one single document);
Named as follows: SURNAME_Name_Vacancy Ref. number (e.g. SPENCER_Marc_GSA.2012.123);
In Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format;
The application shall be accompanied by a scanned ID card and/or passport, and a copy of a diploma giving access to the grade/function group bearing a date of issue.
The application will be rejected if it is not duly completed, if it is not signed by hand or if it is not provided in the prescribed format.
Further supporting documents showing evidence of the information given in the application will be requested at a later stage.
No documents will be sent back to candidates.
Applications must be sent to “jobs@gsa.europa.eu” and received by the deadline listed on page 01 of this vacancy notice at the latest, clearly indicating the vacancy reference number in the subject line.
Applications sent after the deadline will not be considered.
Candidates are reminded not to wait until the final days before the closing date of applications’ submissions. The Agency cannot be held responsible for any last-minute malfunction due to any overflow of the mailbox.
APPEAL PROCEDURE
If a candidate considers that he/she has been adversely affected by a particular decision, he/she can:
lodge a complaint under Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities and Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities, at the following address:
European GNSS Agency (GSA)
Human Resources Department
Janovského 438/2
170 00 Prague 7
Czech Republic
The complaint must be lodged within 3 months. The time limit for initiating this type of procedure starts to run from the time the candidate is notified of the action adversely affecting him/her.
submit a judicial appeal under Article 270 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (ex Art. 236 of the EC Treaty) and Article 91 of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities to the:
European Union Civil Service Tribunal
Boulevard Konrad Adenauer
Luxembourg 2925
LUXEMBOURG
For details of how to submit an appeal, please consult the website of the European Union Civil Service Tribunal:http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/jcms/Jo1_6308/. The time limits for initiating this type of procedure (see Staff Regulations as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 723/2004 of 22 March 2004, published in Official Journal of the European Union L 124 of 27 April 2004 — http://eur-lex.europa.eu) start to run from the time you become aware of the act allegedly prejudicing your interests.
make a complaint to the European Ombudsman:
European Ombudsman
1 avenue du Président Robert Schuman
CS 30403
67001 Strasbourg Cedex
FRANCE
http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu
Please note that complaints made to the Ombudsman have no suspensive effect on the period laid down in Articles 90(2) and 91 of the Staff Regulations for lodging complaints or for submitting appeals to the Civil Service Tribunal under Article 270 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (ex Art. 236 TEC). Please note also that, under Article 2(4) of the general conditions governing the performance of the Ombudsman's duties, any complaint lodged with the Ombudsman must be preceded by the appropriate administrative approaches to the institutions and bodies concerned.
SUMMARY OF CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT
1. Salaries are exempt from national tax; instead a Community tax at source is paid;
2. Annual leave entitlement of two days per calendar month plus additional days for the grade, for the distance from the place of origin and an average of 16 GSA public holidays per year;
3. General and applicable technical training plus professional development opportunities;
4. EU Pension Scheme (after 10 years of service);
5. EU Joint Sickness and Insurance Scheme, accident and occupational disease insurance coverage, unemployment and invalidity allowance and travel insurance.
Depending on the individual family situation and the place of origin, staff members may be in addition entitled to:
1. An expatriation or foreign residence allowance;
2. A household allowance;
3. A dependent child allowance;
4. An education allowance;
5. An installation allowance and reimbursement of removal costs;
6. An initial temporary daily subsistence allowance;
7. Other benefits as provided by the Agency and the hosting country.
For further information on working conditions of temporary staff please refer to the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants (CEOS):
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:1962R0031:20140101:EN:PDF
COMMITMENT
Declaration of commitment to serve the public interest independently:
The jobholder will be required to make a declaration of commitment to act independently in the public interest and to make a declaration in relation to any interest that might be considered prejudicial to his/her independence.
The jobholder will be required to carry out his/her duties and conduct him/herself solely with the interests of the European Union in mind; he/she shall neither seek nor take instruction from any government, authority, organisation or person outside his/her institution. He/she shall carry out the duties assigned with objectivity, impartiality and loyalty to the European Union.
Commitment to promote equal opportunities:
The Agency is an equal opportunities employer and strongly encourages applications from all candidates who fulfil the eligibility and selection criteria without any distinction whatsoever on grounds of nationality, age, race, political, philosophical or religious conviction, gender or sexual orientation and regardless of disabilities, marital status or other family situation.
DATA PROTECTION
The personal information GSA requests from candidates will be processed in line with Regulation (EC) N° 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data.
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2001:008:0001:0022:EN:PDF
The purpose of processing personal data which candidates submit is to manage applications in view of possible pre-selection and recruitment at GSA. All personal data collected will only be used for this purpose and will in no case be transmitted to any third party. Any data provided will be treated in the strictest confidence and with high standards of security.
Applicants’ documents will only be kept for as long as it is mandatory to fulfil the requirements of existing auditing/control procedures applicable to GSA.
Applicants have a right to access their data. They have a right to update or correct at any time their identification data. On the other hand, data demonstrating compliance with the eligibility and selection criteria may not be updated or corrected after the closing date for the respective selection procedure.
Applicants are entitled to have recourse at any time to the European Data Protection Supervisor (http://www.edps.europa.eu; EDPS@edps.europa.eu) if they consider that their rights under Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 have been infringed as a result of the processing of their personal data by the GSA.
1 Please note that salaries are adjusted based upon a correction coefficient as calculated by the Commission [Currently, the weightings are: 100% (BE), 80% (CZ), 117,4% (FR), 139,2% (UK)].
2 The successful candidate must hold a valid personnel security clearance at the above defined EU level or be able and willing to apply for a security clearance immediately after the contract award. The procedure for obtaining a personnel security clearance shall be initiated on request of the employer only, and not by the individual candidate.
3 Only study titles that have been awarded in EU Member States or that are subject to the equivalence certificates issued by the authorities in the said Member States shall be taken into consideration.
4 Only appropriate professional experience acquired after achieving the minimum qualification stated in A.1 shall be considered. Where additional periods of training and study are accompanied by periods of professional activity, only the latter shall be considered as professional experience. Compulsory military service or equivalent civilian service accomplished after achieving the minimum qualification stated in A.1. shall be taken into consideration. Internships will be taken into consideration if they are paid. Professional activities pursued part-time shall be calculated pro rata, on the basis of the percentage of full-time hours worked. A given period may be counted only once.
5 Prior to the appointment, the successful candidate will be asked to provide a Police certificate confirming the absence of any criminal record.
6 The languages of the EU are: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, Irish, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish.
7 Corresponding to level B.2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for languages CEFR.
8 Before a successful candidate can be appointed, s/he will be medically examined by a selected medical service so that the Agency will be satisfied that s/he fulfils the requirement of Article 28(e) of the Staff Regulation of Officials of the European Communities.
9 The date might be modified depending on the availability of the Selection Board members.