EEAS Vacancy Notice Contract Agent FGIV – Job title: Finance Officer (Administration)

We are

The European External Action Service (EEAS) supports the work of the High Representative in defining and implementing an effective and coherent EU foreign policy. The EEAS supports his tasks of conducting the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy and chairing the Foreign Affairs Council. It also supports the High Representative in his capacity as Vice President of the Commission with regard to his responsibilities within the Commission in the external relations field including the coordination of other aspects of the EU's external action. The EEAS works in close cooperation with Member States, the Council and relevant services of the European Commission.

The European Security and Defence College (ESDC) provides training in the field of the Union's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) in the context of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) at the European level in order to develop and promote a common understanding of CSDP among civilian and military personnel, and to identify and disseminate, through its training activities, best practice in relation to various CSDP issues. It is organised as a network bringing together civilian and military institutes, colleges, academies, universities, institutions and other actors dealing with security and defence policy issues within the Union as identified by Member States and the EU ISS to support the conduct of training activities in the field of CSDP.

The ESDC works under the overall responsibility of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy ('HR').

In particular, the Finance Officer (Administrative Officer) in ESDC will be responsible to:

• coordinate the administration, legal and finance team;
• plan, implement and report on the ESDC budget;
• prepare contracts and tenders for the ESDC;
• initiate and verify financial plans and payment requests, including supporting documents;
• develop coherent business plans, ensuring resources are aligned with stated political priorities;
• explore and implement IT solutions for financial management;
• undertake the financial management and procurement processes for all the ESDC activities.

We propose

The position of Finance Officer (Administrative Officer) contract agent FGIV as per article 3b of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union (CEOS)^[1].

Place of employment: EEAS Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium

Post available:  immediately

We look for

An experienced and dynamic professional to reinforce the ESDC Administrative and Finance Team.

Functions and Duties

We seek for a - Finance Officer (Administrative Officer) who would:

• coordinate the administration, legal and finance team;
• assist the Head of the ESDC to prepare and manage ESDC contracts and tenders, representation of ESDC at inter-institutional budget coordination, including liaising with FPI and auditors;
• draft budgetary impact statements, analytical reports, explanatory notes;
• prepare and implement the yearly budget planning, implementation and reporting of ESDC budget and resources;
• manage the Financial and Contractual aspects of the ESDC budget lines, execution of the Payment request process (including the roles of Operational Initiation and Verification (OIA, OVA) and Financial Initiation (FIA), and Financial Verification (FVA);
• assist the Head of the ESDC in the development of coherent business plans, ensuring that resources are aligned with stated ESDC priorities;
• prepare and implement the financial management and procurement processes for ESDC activities;
• ensure sound financial management, including procurement processes regarding ESDC activities, trainings and events;
• support the Head of the ESDC in drawing up the ESDC Administrative Instructions;
• assist with mainstreaming guidance and training of ESDC colleagues and ESDC training institutes on budgetary and financial matters, including answering to the questions from stakeholders;
• contribute to establishing the ESDC as an inclusive and diverse workplace including on gender equality, sexual orientation, gender identities, disabilities and ethnicity;
• explore and implement IT solutions for financial management;
• assist on administrative and financial coherence of courses, seminars, workshops.

Legal basis

The vacancy is to be filled in accordance with the conditions stipulated under the CEOS, in particular Article 82 thereof.

Subject to having passed the CAST exam, the successful candidate will be offered a contract agent position (Function group IV), on the basis of a contract with an initial duration of one year that may be successively renewed for a maximum duration of 6 years.

Eligibility criteria

Candidates for this contract agent IV post should:

• - (i) have passed a valid EPSO CAST in FG IV;

or

• - (ii) be registered in the EPSO Permanent Contract Agent Selection Tool (CAST) for FG IV (https://epso.europa.eu/en/job-opportunities/open-for-application). In that case, while the registration will render the candidate eligible for the selection procedure, the recruitment of a candidate on this vacant post will be subject to their successfully passing the CAST exam that this candidate will be called to attend.
• have completed university studies of at least three years attested by a diploma;
• have the capacity to work in languages of CFSP and external relations necessary for the performance of their duties. Knowledge of other EU languages would be an asset;
• be a national of one of the Member States of the European Union and enjoy full rights as a citizen.

SELECTION CRITERIA:

Candidates should have:

1. Professional knowledge

• Strong drafting and analytical skills combined with sound judgement;
• Experience in financial and/or administrative and/or related issues, such as project management, public administration, legal issues or similar;
• Capacity to plan and manage resources, rapid grasp of problems and capacity to identify issues and solutions with a strong sense of deadlines;
• Ability to work with external contractors and manage budgets;
• Knowledge of external relations, and internal policies; he/she has to be familiar with the functioning of the Union, including good knowledge on decision-making process in the EU institutions;
• Excellent communication skills and ability to establish and maintain a network of contacts both within and outside the EEAS;
• Strong service attitude, and team player with a remarkable capacity to coordinate with other teams and multiple stakeholders;   
• Experience in working with or within other EU institutions will be considered an asset.

2.  Skills

• Have the capacity to work and communicate under time constraints in an international diplomatic and multilingual environment. Intercultural sensitivity skills are required;
• Have solid analytical and drafting skills.
• Rapid grasp of problems and capacity to identify issues and solutions;
• Have capacity to independently leading and managing projects
• Coordination skills

3. Languages

Thorough knowledge (excellent capacity to write and speak) of English is required. Knowledge of French would be an asset.

4. Personal Qualities

• Be dynamic, motivated and flexible;
• Able to adapt quickly to new situations and deal with new challenges;
• Have the ability to work in a team, to coordinate with other teams and to communicate effectively.

Specific conditions of employment

The signature of the contract will be subject to prior favourable opinion of the Medical Service.

This post is currently not identified as a post which requires Personnel Security Clearance (PSC) to access EU classified information (EUCI) in accordance with point 7 of Annex A I of the Decision ADMIN(2017) 10 on the security rules of the EEAS^[2] and as implemented by Decision ADMIN(2019) 7 on Security Clearance Requirements and Procedures for the EEAS of 08 March 2019 and its implementing decisions.

Nonetheless, candidates are informed that the list of posts requiring a PSC in the EEAS Headquarters is subject to regular review and that the current post might be identified in the future as a post which requires PSC.

If required after the taking of duty, the selected candidate will need to be in a position to obtain a valid PSC issued by the competent authority of their Member State in accordance with national laws and regulations.

In case of failure to obtain or renew the required PSC, the AACC may take the appropriate measures in accordance with Article 3(3) of the Decision ADMIN(2019) 7 on Security Clearance Requirements and Procedures for the EEAS of 08 March 2019.

Description of the EU classified information levels is available under Article 2 of the Decision ADMIN(2017) 10 on the security rules of the EEAS^[3].

Equal Opportunities

The EEAS is committed to an equal opportunities policy for all its employees and applicants for employment. As an employer, the EEAS is committed to promoting gender equality and to preventing discrimination on any grounds. It actively welcomes applications from all qualified candidates from diverse backgrounds and from the broadest possible geographical basis amongst the EU Member States. We aim at a service, which is truly representative of society, where each staff member feels respected, is able to give their best and can develop their full potential.

Candidates with disabilities are invited to contact CONTRACTAGENTS-HQ@eeas.europa.eu in order to accommodate any special needs and provide assistance to ensure the possibility to pass the selection procedure in equality of opportunities with other candidates.  If a candidate with a disability is selected for a vacant post, the EEAS is committed to providing reasonable accommodation in accordance with Art 1d.4 of the Staff Regulations.

Application and selection procedure^[4]

Please send your CV and cover letter (with your EPSO CAST number), in English or in French via email, with reference to the Vacancy number in the Subject field, to:

esdc-vacancies@eeas.europa.eu

Deadline for sending application: 27 February 2024 at 5 pm (CET).

Candidates shall draft their CV using the Europass CV , which can be found at the following internet address: http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/en/documents/curriculum-vitae.

Late applications will not be accepted.

The selection panel will make a pre-selection on the basis of the qualifications and professional experience described in the CV and motivational letter, and will produce a shortlist of eligible candidates who best meet the selection criteria for the post. Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be informed about the outcome of the pre-selection phase.

The candidates who have been preselected will be invited for an interview by a selection panel.

The selection panel may decide, in addition to the interview, to organise written tests, either for all pre-selected candidates or to the best ranked ones, after the interview. The content of such written tests will be defined by the selection panel and may include, but not be limited to, multiple choice questions, open questions and/or topics for a short essay.

Pre-selected candidates shall be invited to sit the CAST exam before or after the interview stage by the selection panel (in accordance with the eligibility criteria set out above).The panel will recommend a shortlist of candidates for a final decision by the Authority Authorised to Conclude Contracts of Employment (AACC). The AACC may decide to interview the candidates on the final shortlist before taking this decision.

If, exceptionally, on the date of recruitment, the successful candidate has not yet had the opportunity to pass the tests necessary to obtain the CAST, the latter will be engaged on condition that he obtains the CAST within six months of taking up his duties. Failure to obtain the required CAST will give the EEAS the right to terminate the employment contract.

It is recalled, that the selection procedure may be terminated at any stage in the interest of the service.

In the interest of the service, after identifying the candidate that best fulfils the requirement of the post as set out in the vacancy notice, the AACC may also establish a reserve list of candidates. These candidates shall be informed that the reserve list shall remain valid for a period of one year from when it is established and that it may be used to fill the same post or an equivalent post in the EEAS having the same job profile.

[1] Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union (SR) and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union (CEOS). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:01962R0031-20140501&from=EN

[2] OJ C 126, 10 April 2018, p.1.

[3] OJ C 126, 10 April 2018, p.1.

[4] Your personal data will be processed in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, as implemented by ADMIN(2019) 8 Decision of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The privacy statement is available on the Europa website: (https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/eeas-privacy-statement-data-protection-notice-purpose-processing-personal-data-related-public_en) and on the EEAS Intranet:(https://intranet.eeas.europa.eu/page/eeas-work/data-protection/privacy-statements-dp-notices)