Researcher - Gender Based Violence (GBV)

The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE)¹ is organising a call for applications with a view to establishing a reserve list for the post of Researcher - Gender Based Violence (GBV).

The registration of applications will begin on 20 October 2023 and will close on 20 November 2023 at 13:30 Eastern European Time.

The Institute

Based in Vilnius, Lithuania, EIGE is a decentralised agency of the European Union (EU) entrusted with specific objectives envisaged to contribute and strengthen the promotion of gender equality.

To achieve its goals, the Institute collects and analyses comparable and reliable information at EU level and develops appropriate methodological tools for the integration of gender equality into all EU policies. It fosters the exchange of good practices and dialogue between stakeholders and raises EU citizen awareness of this policy area by providing technical assistance to EU institutions, in particular the European Commission, as well as the authorities of the Member States.

In the course of its work to promote and strengthen gender equality, EIGE supports policy-makers with high quality research and comparable data relevant to their work. 

The post

Combating gender-based violence is one of the European Commission’s policy priorities for the period 2020-2025, as set out in the document “A Union of Equality: Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025”.

The EU signed the Istanbul Convention in 2017 and while it is aiming at concluding its accession, the European Commission is working on specific measures to achieve the same objectives as the Istanbul Convention. There is thus an increased demand from the EU institutions and Member States for support in strengthening their institutional response to combating violence against women together with collecting comprehensive and comparable data to inform effective policies. EIGE has been mandated to provide this support through evidence based research, data collection and data-driven analyses.

EIGE’s work on gender-based violence focuses on the violence that is directed towards a woman because she is a woman and because it affects women disproportionately. 

Profile

Under the supervision of the Head of the Operations and the Gender-based Violence Team Leader, and working in close collaboration with other colleagues, the jobholder will enhance the Unit’s operational and research capacity on GBV.

The post requires a very good understanding of contemporary policies and quantitative research on violence against women including statistical analysis skills, project management, excellent writing skills in English and very good communication abilities.

The fieldwork for EIGE’s major studies and research on combating GBV is typically contracted out, following which, the team conducts the in-depth analyses and completes the research report.  This is the main focus of this role. 

The post requires a team player who shares learning and information as part of a multicultural and multidisciplinary team.

Duties

The responsibilities of the post include the following tasks and activities:

• Support the development of the terms of reference for GBV research projects;
• Manage all aspects of specific contracted research projects, ensuring the high quality of the content;
• Assess and ensure the quality of relevant data, indicators and statistics, and develop new indicators relevant to EIGE’s work on GBV;
• Contribute to the methodology and data analysis planning of the GBV research projects;
• Analyse latest developments in policies to combat GBV, research and data collection including methodologies, at national and European levels;
• Draft and edit high quality policy relevant reports, recommendations and presentations on the status of GBV in cooperation with the Institute's communications team;
• Engage systematically with the Institute’s key stakeholders concerned with GBV so as to identify their needs and provide, if requested, evidence based input;
• Build and maintain an exchange of research information with relevant national, international and EU institutions;
• Initiate and organise expert meetings to support the Institute’s work on  GBV;
• Represent EIGE in meetings and events with its stakeholders;
• Any other relevant tasks assigned by EIGE’s management.

Qualifications & experience required

Formal requirements

To be considered eligible for selection, an applicant must, by the closing date of this call:

• have a university degree² which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma when the normal period of university education is four years or more, or have a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma and appropriate professional experience of at least one year when the normal period of university education is at least three years;
• have a good command, both spoken and written, of at least two official EU languages;
• be a national of a Member State of the EU;
• enjoy full rights as an EU citizen;
• have fulfilled any obligations imposed by the national laws concerning military service, and
• be physically fit to perform duties.³

Selection criteria

Essential

• At least six years of professional experience⁴ gained after the award of the relevant qualification and at a suitable level corresponding to performance of tasks as defined in section 2.
• Knowledge/experience in project management, in addition to strong organisational and administrative skills including the ability to manage priorities, work under pressure and meet tight deadlines.
• Proven record of work with either survey or administrative data or indicators on GBV at a national, EU or international level or quantitative research on violence against women.
• Experience in policy relevant international research on GBV.
• Very good understanding of EU policies and priorities related to gender equality.
• Evidence of the ability to write/edit reports and policy papers in excellent English, which should be substantiated by a list in the applicant’s application form of publications and/or reports/policy papers that she/he has written.
• Excellent English which is the working language at the Institute.
• Very good presentation and communication skills.

Advantageous

• Post-graduate qualification in social sciences or data analysis.
• Experience with quantitative data analysis software, e.g. Excel, SPSS, Stata,R.
• Work experience in EU or international organisations.
• Knowledge of financial and procurement rules and procedures applicable to public international organisations.
• Previous exposure to international and/or multicultural /multilingual environment.

Selection procedure

The selection procedure includes the following steps:

• Only duly completed applications submitted electronically within the deadline will be taken into consideration.
• Each duly completed application will be examined with a view to establishing that the candidate meets all eligibility criteria.
• Eligible applications will be evaluated by the appointed selection committee based on selection criteria defined in this vacancy notice. Depending on the number of applications received, the selection committee may apply stricter requirements within the selection criteria noted above.
• The best-admissible candidates will be short-listed for interviews.
• Interviews and written tests will be in English.
• During the interview, the selection committee will examine the candidates' profiles and assess their relevancy for the post in question. On the day of the interview, candidates may also be required to undergo a competency assessment exercise.
• On the day of interviews, candidates will be requested to present originals and/or copies of documents detailing citizenship in particular a copy of identity card, passport or other official document specifying citizenship.
• If at any stage of the procedure, it is established that information in the application has been knowingly falsified, the candidate shall be disqualified from the selection process.
• Successful candidates will be included in a reserve list which will be valid for 12 months. The validity of this list may be extended. Each candidate will be informed by letter whether or not s/he has been placed on the reserve list. However, inclusion of candidates on the reserve list does not guarantee recruitment.
• EIGE’s Director will appoint the selected jobholder from the reserve list, taking into account a gender balanced, geographically diverse organisation.

The internal proceedings of the selection committee are confidential and any contact with its members is strictly forbidden. Soliciting on behalf of a candidate can lead to immediate disqualification.

For applications to be valid, candidates must complete an EIGE application form available on this web page. It is to be forwarded electronically to eige.hr@eige.europa.eu. The subject title should include the vacancy reference number.

Applicants are requested not to attach any supporting documents at this stage. Only candidates invited to an interview will be asked to present copies of documents for verification. Applications will not be returned to candidates but will be kept on file by the Institute in line with its data protection obligations.

Please note that the time between the closing date for the submission of applications and the end of the process to short list candidates for the interview may be several weeks.

Due to the large volume of applications only candidates selected for the interviews will be contacted.

Conditions of employment

The place of employment is Vilnius Lithuania. EIGE operates from a modern and fully computerised office space based in the city’s Old Town.

The jobholder shall work in a multicultural environment where social dialogue is considered very important. EIGE applies a participatory approach to its work and encourages an open dialogue between management and staff. Colleagues work closely together as much of the work is organised around cross-unit project teams. EIGE is committed to the principle of zero tolerance towards harassment at work.

Working time is based around flexitime and core working hours, as defined in the EU Staff Regulations. In addition to training opportunities, EIGE offers various support and well-being measures for staff members and their families such as contributions to schooling costs.

For reasons related to the Institute’s operational requirements, the chosen candidate will be expected to be available at short notice. An AD6 Temporary Agent contract under Article 2f pursuant to the conditions of employment of other servants of the European Union shall be offered, subject to nine months’ probation. The duration of the contract will be three years and may be renewed.

Remuneration consists of the basic salary as well as various allowances⁵ depending on personal situation of the jobholder. For information, the current gross basic salary before deductions and the correction coefficient⁶ weighting of 90.7% for Lithuania, is approximately €6,169 (step 1) or €6,429 (step 2), depending on years of experience. Salaries are exempt from national taxation and subject to tax at source. Deductions are also made for medical insurance, pension and unemployment insurance.

Independence & declarations of interest

The jobholder will be required to enter into a commitment to act independently in the public interest and to make complete declarations of any direct or indirect interests that might be considered prejudicial to his/her independence. Candidates must confirm their willingness to do so in their application.

Equal opportunities

The Institute applies a policy of equal opportunities in line with the formal requirements noted in section 3.1.

Applications are accepted without distinction on any grounds of gender, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, gender identity, disability, age or sexual orientation.

Moreover, EIGE is committed to promote diversity and inclusion in its working environment and organisational culture. This includes Reasonable Accommodation for applicants with a disability^7.

Appeal procedures

If a candidate considers that s/he has been adversely affected by a particular decision, s/he can lodge a complaint under Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, by writing to The Director, European Institute for Gender Equality, Gedimino Prospektas 16, Vilnius, Lithuania LT01103.

The complaint must be lodged within three months. The time limit for initiating this type of procedure (see Staff Regulations as modified by Council Regulation No 723/2004 of 22nd March 2004 published in the Official Journal of the European Union L 124 of 27th April 2004) starts to run from the time the candidate is notified of the act adversely affecting her/him.

Pursuant to Article 195(1) of the Treaty establishing the European Community and in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Decision of the European Parliament of 9 March 1994 on the Staff Regulations and the general conditions governing the performance of the Ombudsman’s duties, published in Official Journal of the European Union L 113 of 4 May 1994, it is also possible to write to: The European Ombudsman, 1 Avenue du Président Robert Schuman, CS 30403 67001 Strasbourg Cedex, France.

Further details on appeals

Protection of personal data

As the body responsible for organising the competition, the EIGE ensures that applicants’ personal data are processed as required by Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC. This applies in particular to the confidentiality and security of such data.

Personal data shall thus be processed solely for the purpose of the selection procedure.

Lithuania & life in Vilnius

Lithuania is a member of the Schengen Area and it borders Latvia, Belarus, Poland and the Kaliningrad region of Russia. Its western coastline - noted for its fine beaches, dunes and majestic pines - straddles the Baltic Sea.

Vilnius has an estimated population of just over 550,000 people. In addition to ample green spaces, it is beautifully situated on the banks of the river Neris, offering excellent opportunities for outdoor activities. Vilnius has impressive Baroque, Gothic, Renaissance and Russian architecture as well as one of Europe's largest medieval old towns, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1994. It has been a university city since the Middle Ages.

Today it is the centre of the country's politics, business, science, culture and entertainment and it attracts an increasingly varied assortment of local and international events. The city centre of Vilnius is compact, clean and safe. In addition to hosting a number of international schools, Vilnius has a well-developed infrastructure and ambitious future plans.

The city is easy to get around, has a good standard of living and an excellent working environment. EIGE’s premises are situated in the Europe House on the main thoroughfare of Vilnius City, Gedimino Prospektas, with easy access to amenities, both leisure and educational. 

Further information is available on Invest Lithuania's website.

Footnotes

¹ Established by the European Parliament: See Council Regulation (EC) No 1922/2006 of 20 December 2006 (OJ L 403/9 of 30.12.2006).

 

² Only qualifications issued by EU Member State authorities and qualifications recognised as equivalent by the relevant Member States authorities will be accepted. 

³ Prior to recruitment, the successful candidate will be medically examined for the purposes of Article 12(2) (d) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union. 

⁴ Professional experience will be counted from the date on which the applicant acquired the minimum qualification for access to the profile in question. Only duly documented professional activity (i.e. remunerated employment or self-employment) is taken into account. Part-time work will be taken into account in proportion to the percentage of full-time hours worked. Periods of education or training and unremunerated traineeships are not taken into account Fellowships, grants and PhDs can be counted as professional experience up to a maximum of 3 years. Any given time period can be counted only once (e.g. if the applicant had a full-time job and did freelance consultancy work in the evenings and weekends, the days spent on the latter will not be added to the period of the former). Freelance or self-employed applicants will be asked to provide either a practising certificate (or equivalent) or a copy of the entry in the relevant trade register, or any other official document (for example a tax document) showing clearly the length of relevant professional experience.

⁵ For example: expatriation allowance, household allowance, education allowance, dependent child allowance, etc.

⁶ The correction co-efficient is subject to a yearly update.

⁷ See EIGE’s Director’s decision 268/2022 on Reasonable Accommodation and the reference in the application form.