European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA)

The European Maritime Safety Agency was established for the purpose of ensuring a high, uniform and effective level of maritime safety, maritime security as well as prevention of and response to pollution by ships within the EU.

The idea of a European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) originated in the late 1990s along with a number of other important European maritime safety initiatives. EMSA was set up as the regulatory agency that would provide a major source of support to the Commission and the Member States in the field of maritime safety and prevention of pollution from ships.

The European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002 provides the legal basis for the establishment of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA).

The Agency’s tasks are broadly divided into four key areas in line with its founding regulation and relevant EU legislation. Firstly, the Agency assists the Commission in monitoring the implementation of EU legislation relating, among others, to ship survey and certification, certification of marine equipment, ship security, the training of seafarers and Port State Control.

Secondly, the Agency develops and operates maritime information capabilities at EU level. Significant examples are the SafeSeaNet vessel tracking system, to enable the EU-wide tracking of vessels and their cargoes, and incidents on board; and the EU LRIT Data Centre, to ensure the identification and tracking of EU flagged ships worldwide.

In parallel, a marine pollution preparedness, detection and response capability, which includes a European Network of Stand-by Oil Spill Response Vessels as well as a European satellite oil spill monitoring and vessel detection service (CleanSeaNet), contributes to an effective system for protecting EU coasts and waters from pollution by ships.

Finally, the Agency provides technical and scientific advice to the Commission in the field of maritime safety and prevention of pollution by ships in the continuous process of evaluating the effectiveness of the measures in place, and in the updating and development of new legislation. It also provides support to, and facilitates co-operation between, the Member States and disseminates best practices.

As a body of the European Union, the Agency sits at the heart of the EU maritime safety network and collaborates with many industry stakeholders and public bodies, in close cooperation with the Commission and the Member States.

Unit B.3 is responsible for providing technical assistance to the European Commission and the Member States on matters regarding the implementation and enforcement as well as possible amendments to EU legislation on Port State Control, Prevention of Pollution from ships and protection of the Environment. It is also responsible for training and capacity building activities, including assistance to Enlargement Countries and beneficiaries of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). It also hosts the Management Unit of EQUASIS.

B.3.1 TRAINING AND COOPERATION

B.3.1 provides training and technical assistance to EU Members States, Iceland and Norway through seminars, training sessions, sharing best practices and e-learning with the objective to further improve the effective and harmonised implementation of relevant EU maritime legislation. This includes the training for PSC Officers within the Paris MoU region as mentioned in Directive 200916/EC. B.3.1 also provides training and technical assistance to Enlargement countries and to the beneficiary countries of the European Neighbouring Policy (ENP).

B.3.2 MARINE ENVIRONMENT AND PORT STATE CONTROL

B.3.2 provides technical and scientific assistance to the Commission and Member States in the field of prevention of pollution caused by ships and promotion of sustainable shipping. This includes the development, implementation and enforcement of existing or proposed international and EU legislation(e.g. port waste reception facilities, minimising waste on board ships, ship recycling, air pollution (SOx, NOx), alternative emission abatement methods, alternative fuels and cleaner power technologies, greenhouse gas emissions and implementation of the MRV regulation, ballast water management, leachates from anti fouling paints, sanctions for ship source pollution and the rules on liability and compensation). B.3.2 is also responsible for technical assistance regarding the implementation of Directive 2009/16/EC as amended (Port State Control). This includes the participation in all bodies of the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control.

B.3.3 SHIP INSPECTION SUPPORT

B.3.3 is responsible for the development, hosting and maintenance of tools to support the enforcement and monitoring of relevant EU legislation and Ship Inspection activities, such as THETIS, THETIS-EU, THETIS-MRV, RuleCheck, and MaKCs, the Agency’s eLearning platform. B.3.3 is also responsible for the analysis and dissemination of safety and environment related information on ships and their operations, using in-house tools as available, and the production of objective, reliable and relevant statistics and trend analysis for the benefit of the Agency, the Commission, the Member States and the maritime community more in general. It also hosts the Management Unit of Equasis and ensures its daily running.

Reporting to the Head of Unit and Senior Project Officer responsible for the project, the Financial and Administrative Officer for SAFEMED 3 will be reponsible for:

• Coordinating all administrative and financial issues and files related to the implementation of the SAFEMED 3 project and any European Neighbouring Policy related activities:
  • Monitoring the financial related issues of the project;
  • Acting as initiating agent for commitments and payments, ensuring the legality and regularity of financial transactions;
  • Carrying out procurement activities;
  • Ensuring that all procedures conform to the relevant administrative and financial rules;
  • Providing advice and support to the Senior Project officer on financial and administrative issues; 
• The organisation of seminars, events and workshops:
  • Preparing (drafting of correspondence, mailmerge using the stakeholders database, etc.) and sending invitation letters;
  • Liaising with participants via phone and e-mail;
  • Providing logistic support: booking flights; booking hotel accommodation; organising catering; helping participants with reimbursement forms; handling cash reimbursements to the participants;
• Maintaining stakeholders/contacts in the project related database;
• Assisting the responsible Senior Project Officer in preparing documentation to be distributed in the framework of the project;
• Planning and organising missions related to the project for staff.

A. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Qualifications and experience required:

A.1. Education and experience:

• A level of education which corresponds to post-secondary education attested by a diploma, or;
• A level of secondary education attested by a diploma giving access to post-secondary education and appropriate professional experience of three years.

A.2. Language skills:

The main working language in the field of maritime safety is English. Candidates must therefore have an excellent command of spoken and written English, with a satisfactory knowledge of at least one other official language of the European Union to the extent necessary for the performance of the above mentioned duties.

B. SELECTION CRITERIA

B.1. Essential:

• At least three years of proven relevant professional experience related to the functions and duties mentioned above:
  • Candidates should specifically mention on their CV the range of tasks covered, the level of work done and their relevance to the functions and duties;
• Good knowledge of French (spoken and written);
• Good knowledge of the EU Financial Regulations and EU Public Procurement Rules and Regulations, as well as EU Budgetary;
• Proficiency in using the MS office package;
• Excellent analytical capacities and a high sense of discretion and confidentiality;
• Ability to work under precise deadlines, organise the workload and prioritise tasks;
• Ability to communicate effectively with colleagues and external contacts on different levels.

B.2. Advantageous:

• Relevant working experience in another EU Body/Institution or International Organisation;
• Knowledge of a third EU language. 

In order to be eligible the candidate must:

• Be a national of one of the Member States of the European Union or of Iceland or Norway;
• Be entitled to your full rights as a citizen;
• Have fulfilled the obligations imposed on you by the laws concerning military service;
• Meet the character requirements for the duties involved and
• Be physically fit to perform the duties linked to the post.

The successful candidate will be appointed as a Contract staff member under the provisions of Title IV, Article 80 of the Conditions of Employment of other Servants of the European Communities.

The duration of the contract is 3 years.

The successful candidate will be recruited in function group III (FGIII). The grade will be determined in accordance with the number of years of professional experience.

The basic monthly salary for the entry grade of Function Group III, (Function Group III, Grade 8, Step 1), weighted for Lisbon, before any deductions or allowances at 1 July 2010 is 2,088.52 EUR.

In addition to the basic salary, staff members may be entitled to various allowances, such as an expatriation allowance (16% of basic salary), household allowance, dependent child allowance and education allowance. The salary is subject to a Community tax deducted at source and staff members are exempt of national taxation.

Please note that recruitment is done in the first step of the indicated grade.

EMSA offers a comprehensive welfare package including pension scheme, medical, accident and occupational disease insurance coverage, unemployment and invalidity allowance. Further information regarding rights and conditions of employment can be found in the following document:

http://ec.europa.eu/civil_service/docs/toc100_en.pdf;

The place of employment is Lisbon, Portugal.

Candidates are advised that if they are offered a post, and accept, they must undergo a compulsory medical examination to establish that they meet the standard of physical fitness necessary to perform the duties involved.

Candidates must submit their application electronically solely via the EMSA website within the deadline. Applications by any other means (hard copy or ordinary e-mail) or submitted after the deadline will not be accepted.

All candidates will receive an acknowledgement of receipt for their application.

EMSA is an equal opportunities employer and encourages applications from all candidates who fulfil the eligibility and selection criteria without any distinction whatsoever on any ground such as sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age, marital status or other family situation or sexual orientation.

You may apply in any of the official languages of the European Community, but it would be helpful to apply in English in order to facilitate the selection process. However you are requested to state your educational qualifications and positions held in the language of origin.

For each selection process a Selection Board is nominated. The selection is carried out in two phases:

1. In the first phase all eligible applications will be evaluated by the Selection Board and scored against the selection criteria. Please note that non-compliance with at least one of the essential selection criteria will result in the exclusion of the candidate from the selection process. Advantageous criteria constitute additional assets and will not result in exclusion, if not fulfilled. The advantageous criteria will be considered by the Selection Board depending on the number of applicants meeting the essential selection criteria.

On this basis, the Selection Board will invite to the interview and to the test phase the best qualified candidates (maximum of 15), on condition that they have achieved at least 60% of the highest possible score during the evaluation of applications. Should the case arise that there are various candidates scoring the same number of points in the 15th ranking, the number of candidates to be invited will be increased accordingly to accomodate this. 

2. In the second phase, the selected candidates will be invited to pass one or several written tests related to the job profile and to take part in a selection interview.

During this recruitment phase, the selected candidates will be evaluated by the Selection Board. After the interviews and tests, the Selection Board will draw up a list of the most suitable candidates to be proposed to the Appointing Authority. Only candidates receiving at least 70% of the maximum points at interview and at the test phase will be included in the list of the most suitable candidates. The Appointing Authority will select the successful candidate and decide whether to also adopt a reserve list. The successful candidates will be informed accordingly.

All candidates will receive an information letter of the outcome of their application.

Please note that a binding commitment can only be made after verification of all conditions and will take the form of a contract signed by the Executive Director.

The reserve list will remain valid for a period of 1 year following its establishment. Therefore candidates whose name will be put on a reserve list could be offered a contract during this period of time. Please note however that inclusion in the reserve list does not guarantee recruitment.

Please note that the selection process may take several months to be completed and that no information will be released during this period. Once a selection process has been completed, its status will be displayed in the e-recruitment.

Please note that once you have created your EMSA profile, any correspondence regarding your application must be sent or received via your EMSA profile.

For any prior enquiry, please refer to the FAQ (Frequently asked questions) section, or send an e-mail to mail_recruitment@emsa.europa.eu

Requests for information and appeal:

An applicant who would like further information, or considers that he/she has grounds for complaint concerning a particular decision may, at any point in the selection procedure, request further information from the Chairperson of the Selection Board.
For information on how to lodge a complaint and/or an appeal procedure, please consult the ‘General Information for Recruitment’ overview on our website for more information:
http://www.emsa.europa.eu/recruitment-info.html