The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE)[1] is publishing a call for applications with a view to establishing a reserve list for Contract Agents for the post of Secretary.
The registration of applications will begin on 16 December 2011 and will close on 6 January 2012 at 23:00 Eastern European Time.
1. The role of the Institute
Based in Vilnius, Lithuania, EIGE is a regulatory agency of the European Union (EU) entrusted with specific objectives related to the contribution and strengthening of gender equality promotion.
To achieve its goals, the Institute shall collect and analyse objective, comparable and reliable information at Community level and develop appropriate methodological tools for the integration of gender equality into all Community policies. EIGE shall equally foster the exchange of good practices and dialogue between stakeholders and raise EU citizen awareness of this policy area by providing technical assistance to the Community institutions, in particular the Commission, as well as the authorities of the Member States.
In the course of its work to promote and strengthen gender equality EIGE will also strive to eliminate gender discrimination.
2. Job profile and duties
Reporting to a Head of Unit, the jobholder will provide secretarial and other logistical support in order to facilitate its work, co-ordinate administrative procedures and processes, and enable it to achieve its objectives.
The Secretary will be involved in the following tasks and activities:
- Supervise the calendar to ensure that incoming messages are attributed and followed up and that deadlines are respected,
- Co-ordinate and check the quality of administrative work of the secretariat,
- Co-ordinate the creation, maintenance and retrieval of dossiers, documents and data in the appropriate files or databases via electronic management tools,
- Organise and follow-up meetings and related networks,
- Co-ordinate mission planning, holidays and other personnel administration processes.
- Provide administrative and logistical support for the organisation of internal and external events (such as meetings, workshops, training events, selection procedures, public events, etc.).
- Provide administrative and logistical support in the preparation and production of information products (such as reports, publications and online information).
- Design documents as required (letters, forms, notes, reports).
- Take, transcribe and prepare notes, minutes, routine correspondence, presentations and / or other documents.
- Ensure administrative follow up of missions, holidays, leave and absences, etc. and assist with mission travel arrangements.
- Provide administrative support in the preparation of briefing files, presentations, etc. and ensure the collection and preparation of materials as required.
- Manage information requests: draft answers under the supervision of the Head of Unit or project manager and feed data into relevant database(s).
- Provide assistance with financial management of expenditure and prepare cost-statements for acceptance with respect to commitments, payments, recoveries etc.
- Assist administratively with procurement processes.
- Register documents in the appropriate filing system in order to facilitate easy retrieval and circulation across different sections of the Institute.
3. Qualifications and experience required
3.1 Formal requirements
To be considered eligible for selection, an applicant must meet by the closing date of this call, the following formal requirements:
- nationality of a Member state of the European Union;
- a good command, both spoken and written, of at least two official EU languages;
- a post-secondary education attested by a diploma or a secondary education attested by a diploma giving access to post-secondary education and appropriate professional experience of three years. The secondary education diploma giving access to post-secondary education may be replaced by a certificate of adequate professional training of not less than three years on condition that there was no similar professional training giving access to higher education at the time it was issued, or successful completion of intermediate education plus two years relevant supplementary specialised training plus five years’ appropriate professional experience.
- entitlement to full rights as a citizen;
- to have fulfilled any obligations imposed by the national laws concerning military service, and
- to be physically fit to perform duties linked to the post.[2]
3.2 Selection Criteria
Eligible candidates will then be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria:
Essential:
- at least three years professional experience in an administrative function following the award of a diploma[3];
- evident interpersonal, organisational, administrative and problem solving abilities.
- a solid knowledge of Microsoft Office applications (Outlook, Word, Power-point and Excel) as well as an awareness of document management systems;
- the ability to communicate effectively in written and spoken English, the predominant working language of the Institute;
- a high level of discretion and the ability to deal with people tactfully;
- the mind-set to see deal with various duties - including rudimentary tasks - through to conclusion, ensuring timelines and quality standards are met as necessary;
- the ability to work well as part of a team and with minimal supervision in conditions that require considerable flexibility;
- the ability to assimilate new information quickly.
Advantageous:
- professional experience in a secretarial function in an EU institution or body.
4. Application and 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 interview.
- Due to large volume of applications, only candidates selected for the interviews will be contacted.
- Interviews will be held in English.
- During the interview session, 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 interview candidates will be requested to present , originals and copies of documents detailing citizenship, studies and professional experience, in particular:
- a copy of identity card, passport or other official document specifying citizenship;
- a copy of diploma certifying a required level of academic qualifications;
- documentary evidence of professional experience, clearly indicating starting and finishing dates.
Copies of these documents will be retained by the Institute.
- If at any stage of the procedure, it were 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.
- The Director of the Institute will appoint the selected jobholder from the reserve list, taking into account the establishment of a gender balanced, geographically diverse organisation.
The internal proceedings of the Selection Committee are strictly 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.
EIGE application form (.doc, 195KB)
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 (e.g. copies of ID cards, diplomas, evidence of previous professional experience, etc.). Only candidates invited to an interview will be asked to present copies of these documents for verification. Applications will not be returned to candidates but will be kept on the file by the Institute in line with its data protection guidelines.
Please note that the time period between the closing date for the submission of applications and the end of the process to short list candidates for the interview may take several weeks.
Due to the large volume of applications, the Institute regrets that only candidates selected for the interviews will be contacted.
5. Conditions of employment
The place of employment shall be Vilnius Lithuania. The successful candidate will be offered a Contract Agent's contract pursuant to the conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities. S/he will be engaged in Function Group II and shall undergo a nine month probation period. The duration of the initial contract will be three years and the initial contract may be renewed.
The pay of the Community temporary agents consists of the basic remuneration as well as various allowances[4] depending on personal situation of the jobholder. For information, the current gross basic salary of the first applicable step in FG II before deductions and the correction coefficient weighting of 72.5% for Lithuania, is €1,919. The salary will be paid in the local currency: LTL. All remuneration is subject to a Community tax at source. Deductions are also made for medical insurance, pension and unemployment insurance. Salaries are exempt from national taxation.
6. Independence and declarations of interest
The job holder 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 or her independence. Candidates must confirm their willingness to do so in their application.
7. Equal opportunities
EIGE applies a policy of equal opportunities and accept applications without distinction on any grounds.
8. 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 Communities and Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities, by writing to The Director, European Institute for Gender Equality, Svitrigailos g. 11m, Vilnius, Lithuania LT-03228.
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 – http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex ) starts to run from the time the candidate is notified of the act adversely affecting him/her.
9. 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 (EC) No 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 (Official Journal of the European Communities, L 8 of 12 January 2001). 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.
10. Lithuania and 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. Lithuanian summers are sunny and warm with an average temperature of +17 C. Winter is white and generally cold with average temperatures that hover around – 4 C.
Vilnius is Lithuania's capital with an estimated population of just over half a million citizens. It has impressive Baroque and Gothic architecture as well as one of Europe's largest medieval old towns, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1994. A university city since the Middle Ages, Vilnius 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. In addition to hosting a number of international schools, it has a well developed infrastructure and ambitious future plans.
Further information is available here - http://www.lithuaniatourism.co.uk/index.php?id=333
[1] Established by the European Parliament and of the Council Regulation (EC) No 1922/2006 of 20 December 2006 (OJ L 403/9 of 30.12.2006)
[2] 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 Communities.
[3] 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 three 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).
[4] For example: expatriation allowance, household allowance, education allowance, dependent child allowance etc.
Relevant Documents:
EIGE application form (.doc, 195KB)