Procurement Assistant

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 Procurement Assistant.

The registration of applications will begin on 21 January 2016 and will close on 20 February 2016 at 13:00 Eastern European Time.

The deadline for registration has been extended to 22 February 2016 at 13:00 Eastern European Time.

1. The Institute

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

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 awareness of this policy area by providing technical assistance to EU institutions, in particular the European Commission and 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 data relevant to their work. 

2. Job profile & duties

Reporting to the Head of Administration and working closely with the Procurement Officer and different project managers, the Procurement Assistant shall contribute to, and facilitate the development, implementation and monitoring of the Institute's procurement function in line with its annual procurement plan.

The jobholder shall play a key role in enabling colleagues from different teams with procurement procedures. This will involve consolidating and enhancing the quality of support provided by procurement function in accordance with related financial procedures as well as the applicable regulatory framework and service requirements.

The responsibilities include the following:

• Support the initiation, coordination and management of procurement procedures in line with work planning priorities;
• Assist project managers across the Institute with the management of calls for tender as well as contract administration including extensions, renewals and amendments as well as with compliance vis a vis relevant rules and regulations;
• Assist with requests for services and order forms for ongoing framework contracts, calls for expression of interest for experts and other routine administrative tenders;
• Keep track administratively of procedural information in an organised and accessible manner;
• Contribute to the improvement of procurement processes, templates and guidelines;
• Act as initiating agent for commitments and payments ensuring the legality and regularity of related financial transactions;
• Support on the job training of other colleagues in procurement matters;
• Implement other relevant tasks assigned by the Head of Administration and the Procurement Officer.

3. Formal requirements & selection criteria

3.1 Formal requirements

Engagement as a Contract Agent requires:

• Either a post-secondary education attested by a diploma[2], 
• 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.

In addition to the above, to be considered eligible for selection an applicant must meet, the following formal requirements by the closing date of this call:

• EU Member State nationality;
• a good command, both spoken and written, of at least two official EU languages;
• entitlement to full rights as a citizen;
• no obligations imposed by national laws concerning military service;
• a minimum of three years’ work experience[3];   
• medically certified fitness to perform duties linked to the post.[4]

3.2 Selection criteria

Essential

• experience and knowledge in a procurement function as noted in section 2.2;
• a good knowledge of procurement procedures and guidelines;
• a high level of IT literacy and familiarity with relevant software applications;
• the ability to communicate effectively in written and spoken English, the predominant working language of the Institute;
• the mind-set to be attentive to detail and to see through to conclusion specific tasks;
• the ability to work under pressure and within tight deadlines ensuring that deadlines and quality standards are met;
• the ability to learn and work in a proactive, autonomous way;
• evident interpersonal, organisational, administrative and problem solving abilities;
• a team player who is self-critical towards her/his own performance and shares learning and information as part of a multicultural and multidisciplinary organisation.

Advantageous

• Knowledge of financial and procurement rules and procedures applicable to EU institutions and bodies;
• Work experience in EU or international organisations;
• Previous exposure to international and/or multicultural work environments;
• Awareness of and support for gender equality.

4. 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 to be held in Vilnius.
• Interviews and written tests will be in English.
• During interviews, the Selection Committee will examine the candidates' profiles and assess their relevance for the post in question. 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 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 at the top of the page. It is to be forwarded electronically to eige.hr@eige.europa.eu. The subject title must 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 file by the Institute in line with its data protection guidelines.

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 only candidates selected for the interviews will be contacted.

5. Employment conditions

The place of employment shall be Vilnius. The Institute is an equal opportunities employer. The job holder shall work in a multicultural environment where social dialogue between management and staff, including representatives of the staff, is regarded as vital. The Institute is fully computerised and working time is based around flexitime and core working hours.  

For reasons related to the Institute’s operational requirements, the chosen candidate will be expected to be available at short notice. A contract in Function Group II under Article 3a pursuant to the conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities shall be offered, subject to a nine month probation period. The duration of the contract will be three years and may be renewed not more than once for a fixed period. Any further renewal shall be for an indefinite period.

The pay of a Contract Agent consists of the basic remuneration as well as various allowances[5] depending on personal situation of the jobholder. This post is graded either at grade 4 or grade 5[6] depending on the experience of the chosen candidate. For information, the current gross basic salary before deductions and the correction coefficient weighting of 69.0 for Lithuania, starts at approximately €1,980 for grade 4 and at approximately €2,241 for grade 5. Salaries are exempt from national taxation but are subject to tax at source. Deductions for medical insurance, pension and unemployment insurance also apply.

6. Independence & 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/her independence. Candidates must confirm their willingness to do so in their application.

7. 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 age, birth, disability, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, membership of a national minority, political (or any other) opinion, property, religion, sex or sexual orientation.

8. Appeal procedures

If a candidate considers that she/he has been adversely affected by a particular decision, she/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, 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 – http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex - 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.

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 & life in Vilnius

The Republic of Lithuania borders Latvia, Belarus, Poland and the Kaliningrad region of the Russia. It is a member of the Schengen Area.

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 the capital with a population of just over half a million. In addition to ample green spaces, the city is beautifully situated on the banks of the river Neris. It 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. 

Vilnius 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. It has a well-developed infrastructure, it hosts a number of international schools, and it embraces ambitious future plans.

Further information is available here: http://www.vilnius-tourism.lt/en/tourism.

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[1] Established by the European Parliament: the 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] 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] 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.

[5] For example: expatriation, household, education, dependent child, installation, accreditation, etc.

[6] The higher salary can apply subject to verification of documented work experience.