Senior Communications Officer - Temporary Agent, AD 8

Senior Communications Officer - Temporary Agent, AD 8

Registration deadline 11 July 2010

Vacancy notice

1. The Job

1.1 Profile

Under the supervision of the Head of Operations, the jobholder will contribute to the wider communications strategy and its implementation reflecting EIGE's work programmes.

1.2 Duties

In particular s/he will:

• develop the Institute's external and internal communications strategies;
• coordinate external and internal communications activities; the content of the website, intranet and other internal needs (e.g. internal newsletter, wiki, etc.) as required;
• coordinate and maintain excellent relations with the Institute's active media network in Member States whilst developing new relations;
• oversee the drafting of press releases, responding to media enquiries and building dialogue with journalists;
• compile best practices and success stories and channel these to appropriate users and the media;
• monitor and evaluate the Institute's communications activities;
• develop and maintain in-house editorial standards and ensure the quality of written information in terms of substance and format;
• supervise the development of communications material for all campaigns and events;
• assist the units in the delivery of achieved results and findings through effective communications channels and vehicles;
• supervise and enhance content for printed publications, websites, audiovisual activities and promotional materials;
• act as spokesperson when required.

2. Formal requirements, qualifications and work experience

2.1 Formal requirements

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

• a university degree[1] 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,
• a good command, both spoken and written, of at least two official EU languages,
• nationality of a Member state of the European union,
• entitlement to full rights as a citizen,
• have fulfilled any obligations imposed by the national laws concerning military service,
• be physically fit to perform duties.[2]

2.2 Selection Criteria

Eligible candidates will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria:

Essential:

• at least nine years of proven work experience (following the award of the diploma)[3],
• proven experience in a leadership position in the information, communications and campaigning tasks,
• ability to use modern audio-visual techniques and communications tools,
• proven record of successful work with wide range of target groups,
• excellent command of English, which is the predominant working language of at the Institute,
• capacity to communicate technical or specialised information,
• interpersonal, organisational, administrative and problem solving skills.

Advantageous:

• knowledge of EU policies related to gender equality and/or gender equality in general,
• knowledge of the EU institutional framework and policies,
• creativity and innovative thinking,
• ability to work in a proactive and autonomous way,
• ability to manage priorities, work under pressure and meet tight deadlines.

3. Application and Selection procedure

3.1 Selection procedure

The selection procedure includes the following steps:

• Only duly completed applications together with a completed Eligibility and Selection Criteria Grid, submitted electronically within the deadline, will be taken into consideration.
• Each duly completed application and Eligibility and Selection Criteria Grid will be examined with a view to establishing that a candidate meets all eligibility criteria.
• Eligible applications will be evaluated by the appointed Selection Committee based on selection criteria defined in this vacancy notice.
• 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:

• an identity card, passport or other official document specifying citizenship,
• diploma/s certifying the required level of academic qualifications,
• professional experience clearly indicating starting and finishing dates.

Copies of the above mentioned documents will be retained by the Institute;

• If at any stage of the procedure, it were established that any 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 candidate from the reserve list.

The internal proceedings of the Selection Committee are strictly confidential and any contact with its members is strictly forbidden. Soliciting on behalf of an applicant can lead to immediate disqualification.

3.2 Submission of applications

For applications to be valid, applicants must complete an EIGE application form, available only in English and which is to be forwarded electronically to eige.hr@eige.europa.eu . The subject title should include the vacancy reference number. Application forms are available below.

Applicants are also required to complete an Eligibility and Selection Criteria Grid which is available below.

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.

The deadline for sending applications is 11 July 2010 by not later than 22:00 Central European Time. Incomplete applications and applications sent to EIGE after this deadline will not be considered.

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.

4. Conditions of employment

The place of employment shall be Vilnius Lithuania. The successful candidate will be offered a Temporary Agent's contract under Article 2 (a) of the Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities. The successful candidate will be engaged at grade AD 8. The duration of the initial contract will be 5 years. The initial contract may be renewed. The successful candidate shall undergo a 6 month probation period.

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. The current net basic salary at an AD 8 level weighted by the correction coefficient of 76,5% for Lithuania is€3.541,83 euro. The salary will be paid in local currency: LTL.

All remuneration is subject to a Community tax at sources. Deductions are also made for medical insurance, pension and unemployment insurance. Salaries are exempt from national taxation.

5. 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.

6. Equal opportunities

EIGE applies a policy of equal opportunities and accept applications without distinction on any grounds.

7. 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.

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

[2] Before recruitment, the applicant 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 (University degree for AD posts). 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).

[4] For example: 16% expatriation allowance, household allowance, education allowance, dependant child allowance etc.

Application form

Eligibility form

Relevant Documents:

Vacancy notice

Application form

Eligibility form