Post: EMSA/CA/2013/09 - Project Officer for Traceca II
Directorate/Unit: Department B - Implementation
Type of post: Contractual Agent
Function group: IV
Location: Lisbon
Closing date for applications: 20 January 2014

The selection of candidates will follow the EMSA Staff Recruitment Procedure. Candidates must apply for this post via the EMSA website http://www.emsa.europa.eu - vacancies. Please note that to make an EMSA on-line application you will need to create your EMSA profile using a valid e-mail address and a password.

1. Background

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, as amended, provides the legal basis for the establishment of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA).

2. Tasks of the agency

The Agency provides technical, operational and scientific assistance to the European Commission and Member States in the fields of maritime safety, maritime security, prevention of, and response to, pollution caused by ships as well as response to marine pollution caused by oil and gas installations.

The Agency also contributes to the overall efficiency of maritime traffic and maritime transport.

3. Department B - Implementation

Department B is responsible for technical and scientific assistance to the Commission and the Member States in the proper development and implementation of EU legislation on maritime safety, maritime security, prevention of pollution by ships. It is also responsible for the verification and monitoring of the implementation of EU legislation through visits and inspections, and supports capacity building through training and cooperation and tools such as STCW-IS, EMCIP, THETIS and its modules, RuleCheck and MaKCs. It also manages projects of assistance to the European Neighbourhood Countries: SAFEMED III and TRACECA II.

4. Functions and duties

Reporting to the Head of Department and Senior Project Officer responsible for the project, the Project Officer for TRACECA II will be responsible for:

  • The implementation of the TRACECA II Project and any European Neighbourhood Policy related activities;
  • Managing the relevant contract for the provision of technical assistance to the TRACECA beneficiary countries;
  • Preparing, developing and delivering training activities based on EU and international maritime legislation in the field of safety, security and environmental protection;
  • Organising technical activities stemming from the terms of reference of the project;
  • Developing and maintaining contacts with the focal points for the TRACECA II Project in the Beneficiary countries;
  • Acting as the back-up for the Financial and Administrative Officer.

5. Eligibility and Selection Criteria

A. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Qualifications and experience required: 

A.1. Education and professional experience: 

  • A level of education which corresponds to completed university studies of at least three years attested by a diploma, and appropriate professional experience of at least one year. 

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 professional experience working with the implementation of international and/or European legislation in the field of maritime safety, security and/or environmental protection (the three years required includes the one year mentioned above under 5.A.1);
  • Good knowledge of cooperation projects with neighbouring countries;
  • Good general knowledge of IMO and ILO and their main conventions;
  • Good general knowledge of the EU institutions and EU maritime legislation;
  • Ability to communicate effectively internally and externally, both orally and in writing, including delivering presentations;
  • Proficiency in using the MS Office package.  

B.2 Advantageous:

  • Working experience in a multicultural environment and of maintaining effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds;
  • Knowledge of EU financial procedures.   

6. General conditions

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.

7. Conditions of employment

Please note that this is a project financed position, subject to the signature of the relevant agreement with the European Commission.

The Project Officer for Traceca II will be appointed by the Executive Director, upon recommendation of the Chairman of the Selection Board.

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 two years.

The successful candidate will be recruited in function group IV (FGIV). 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 IV, (Function Group IV, Grade 13, Step 1) before any deductions or allowances at 1 July 2010 is 2,673.63 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.

8. Submission of applications

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.

9. The selection process

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