Legal and Procurement Department Traineeship

The European GNSS Agency (GSA) is responsible for the operations and service provision for the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) EGNOS and Galileo. By developing a new generation of GNSS, Europe is laying the foundation for new high-technology industry development, leading to job creation and economic growth. These European flagship space programmes, which embody what can be achieved when Europe works together, are already bringing real benefits to people and business in Europe and around the world.

The GSA’s core mission is to ensure that European citizens get the most out of Europe’s satellite navigation programmes. The Agency does this by:

• Designing and enabling services that fully respond to user needs, while continuously improving the European GNSS services and infrastructure
• Managing the provision of services that ensure user satisfaction in the most cost efficient manner
• Engaging market stakeholders to develop innovative and effective applications, value-added services and user technology that promote the achievement of full European GNSS adoption
• Ensuring that European GNSS services and operations are thoroughly secure, safe and accessible

For more information on the GSA and the European satellite navigation programmes, click here.

In this context, the Legal and Procurement Department proactively contributes to the fulfilment of the GSA’s mission, particularly regarding all matters related to the management of the GSA’s legal and institutional matters as well as contracts and grants management.

Amongst other tasks the Legal and Procurement Department ensures the following:

• Provision of legal advice to other departments, the Executive Director of the GSA, the Chair of the GSA Administrative Board and the Chair of the Security Accreditation Board
• Coordination and implementation of the contracts and grants management
• Management of procurement processes
• Management of grants processes
• Managing/supporting the secretariat of the GSA Administrative Board
• Interface with the European Commission, other stakeholders or agencies on institutional relations, governance and legal framework
• Drafting of templates, guidelines, internal rules, implementing rules, procedures or decisions with the support by the other departments concerned
• Coordination of the drafting of legal framework documents of the GSA
• Providing advice and support on policies of the GSA
• Providing advice on decision making and ensuring the legality of decision making
• Legal research on topics related to GSA's activities and GSA's legal framework
• Steering of external legal service providers

The trainee will be expected to carry out the following duties under supervision:

• Assisting the department in its daily activities, including participating in internal and/or external meetings
• Supporting contract management, procurement and grants activities arising in the department such as drafting and revising tender specifications, contracts and contract amendments under supervision
• Participating to tenders/grant proposals evaluation
• Providing assistance on various files and legal requests handled by the department
• Interacting with internal and external stakeholders on legal / procurement / grants / contract management questions
• Researching and analysing law sources such as EU regulations, legislations, legal articles, treaties, etc.
• Reporting on new case-law of EU courts
• Assisting in the negotiation or amendment of contractual terms and conditions
• Providing administrative support (archiving, data entry and processing, etc.)
• Contributing to internal reporting tasks

The traineeship is open to applicants who have not previously undertaken a traineeship at the GSA and who meet the following requirements:

1. Nationality of any Member State of the European Union or Norway
2. Possess or pursue a recognised higher education degree (university education or equivalent), evidencing completion of a full cycle of study, or in the case of candidates who are at the end of their studies, an official attestation from their university or school stating the marks obtained
3. Have an initial experience or specific expertise in one of the areas of work of the Agency obtained either through specialisation as part of the applicant’s studies for a university degree, a dissertation or other research project conducted as part of their studies or through professional experience or a previous traineeship or otherwise
4. Possess a thorough knowledge of one official language of the European Union and a satisfactory knowledge of another language of the European Union; one of these languages must be the working language of the Agency (English)
5. A clean criminal record

1. Motivation
2. Initial experience in EU public procurement or in a law firm or a legal department dealing with complex technological matters would be an asset
3. Good knowledge of IT applications (Word, Excel, PPT and any other is an asset)
4. Ability to prioritise and handle work with multiple tight deadlines
5. Attention to detail and organisational skills
6. Communication and interpersonal skills
7. Proactive attitude and problem-solving skills
8. Capacity to work both in a team and independently

The eligibility of the applications will be assessed by the Human Resources Department.

The eligible applications received will be evaluated on a regular basis.

The Head of the recruiting department will nominate the department’s evaluators to carry out the selection of the most suitable candidates. The evaluators will assess the eligible applications and select those best matching the selection criteria required for the available traineeship.

The best suitable candidates may be invited for a phone/video interview which may include other appropriate testing.

Engagement for a traineeship will be decided by the Agency’s Executive Director on the basis of a list of suitable candidates proposed by the evaluators. The established list may be used for other similar traineeships depending on the Agency’s needs.

The starting date of the traineeship depends on the Agency's needs and budget availability.

All applicants will be informed about the outcome of their application once the deadline for applying to the traineeship has expired.

If an application is unsuccessful, candidates may re-apply to future vacancies for which they satisfy the criteria.

In order to be considered for this position, candidates need to create an account by registering via the GSA e-recruitment tool.

Only applications submitted via the e-recruitment tool will be accepted. Applications sent via email or post will not be taken into consideration.

Multiple applications received for the same position via different accounts will lead to the exclusion of the applicant from the selection procedure.

All sections of the application should be completed in English in order to facilitate the selection procedure.

In order to be considered, applications must be received by the closing date indicated in the vacancy notice.

Candidates are advised to submit the application well ahead of the deadline in order to avoid potential problems during the final days before the closing date of applications’ submissions. The Agency cannot be held responsible for any last-minute malfunctioning of the e-recruitment tool due to heavy traffic on the website.

Please consult the e-recruitment guideline for instructions on completing the application.

Applicants have the right to file a complaint to the European Ombudsman¹ or send an application to the General Court of the European Union², should they consider they have been adversely affected by a particular decision.

If at any stage during the procedure it is discovered that any of the information a candidate has provided is incorrect, the candidate in question will be disqualified.

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[1] http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu

[2] http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/jcms/Jo1_6308/

Trainees receive a monthly grant for full-time traineeship of €1,000.00³. If the traineeship is part-time, the grant will be proportionate.

Trainees may also be entitled to the reimbursement of their travel expenses from/to their place of origin.

Trainees shall be responsible for organising their own sickness insurance against health risks and their own accident insurance.

Before the start of the traineeship, the candidate will be required to provide the following documents:

• proof of nationality
• diplomas or academic qualifications needed to prove s/he satisfies the admission criteria
• an excerpt from police records
• a medical certificate confirming that s/he is fit for work and free of any contagious diseases
• documents showing that the trainee has public or private cover for accident insurance and sickness insurance against health risks for the entire duration of the traineeship period
• a statement indicating whether the trainee is in receipt of a grant or other subsistence allowance from another source and if so, the amount of these grants or allowances
• declaration of confidentiality and absence of conflict of interests

For detailed information about rights and obligation related to traineeships, please refer to the Decision of The Executive Director on the Rules governing the Traineeship Scheme of the European GNSS Agency⁴.

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[3] The official European Commission rates will automatically apply for grants paid in non-Euro accounts. All bank charges for incoming payments shall be carried by the trainee.

[4] https://www.gsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/ed_decision_on_traineeship_scheme_july_2018.pdf.

The Agency is an equal opportunities employer and strongly encourages applications from all candidates who fulfil the eligibility and selection criteria without any distinction whatsoever on grounds of nationality, age, race, political, philosophical or religious conviction, gender or sexual orientation and regardless of disabilities, marital status or other family situation.

The personal data requested from applicants will be processed in line with Regulation (EU) N° 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, officers and agencies and on the free movement of such data (repealing Regulation (EC) N° 45/2001 and Decision N° 1247/2002/EC) and the applicable privacy statement which can be accessed here: https://www.gsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/privacy_statement_selection_and_recruitment_2019.pdf.