Head of the Office of the Executive Director

[1] The place of employment is subject to changes in the interest of the service and always under due consideration of the Staff Member’s interests.

[2] Possibility of renewal for a fixed period and a further renewal for an indefinite period on the conditions set out in the Staff Regulations and in the Conditions of Employment for Other Servants

[3] The organisational department and the hierarchical reporting line may change in line with the developments of the GSA and department’s organisation.

[4] The successful candidate must hold a valid personnel security clearance at the above defined EU level or be able and willing to apply for a security clearance immediately after the contract award. The procedure for obtaining a personnel security clearance shall be initiated on request of the employer only, and not by the individual candidate.

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.

The GSA is assumed to become the European Union Space Programme Agency (EUSPA) and to expand the scope of its activities beyond Galileo and EGNOS, to other areas, such as Copernicus for Earth Observation, GOVSATCOM for Governmental Space Communications and Space Situational Awareness (SSA) (according to the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the space programme of the Union and the European Union Agency for the Space Programme and repealing Regulations (EU) No 912/2010, (EU) No 1285/2013, (EU) No 377/2014 and Decision 541/2014/EU and upon final adoption and entry into force of the corresponding Regulation). The entry into force of the Regulation and the change of name the Agency will not affect possible employment relationships entered into by the GSA before such entry into force.

You will be joining a dynamic EU Agency and have the opportunity to work with colleagues from a broad array of different backgrounds and expertise all committed to ensure that European citizens get the most out of Europe’s space programmes. For more information on the Agency and the European Space Programme, click here.

We are looking to recruit a Head of the Agency’s Office of the Executive Director (OED) who will be reporting directly to the Executive Director and assist him in ensuring an efficient and effective system of management of the Agency as well as effective corporate coordination and outreach, including relations with external stakeholders and institutional partners.

The Head of OED will:

• Assist the Executive Director in all aspects of the management of the Agency, in particular follow up corporate tasks and actions stemming from internal activities or from external recommendations, findings, etc.;
• Coordinate the corporate activities and services under direct hierarchical responsibility of the Executive Director;
• Steer, manage, and coordinate all activities of the Executive Director’s Office;
• Coordinate the development and monitor the implementation of the Agency’s annual and multiannual programming in line with the Agency’s mandate and vision, follow up the execution of the tasks entrusted to the Agency with a particular focus on the new tasks, and ensure an effective and efficient performance management throughout the Agency;
• Assess, advise on and support the consolidated annual report on the Agency’s activities, including the accounts and a description of how the Agency has met its performance indicators; prepare the submission of both the annual report and the assessment to the relevant stakeholders;
• Propose organisational steps necessary to ensure efficient performance of the Agency’s tasks and functions;
• Coordinate the preparation of speeches, slides and presentations as well as give presentations, and lead the drafting of editing of messages and notes for senior executive management;
• Coordinate the elaboration of and contribute to the vision, content and planning of the strategy of the Agency;
• Ensure a smooth, timely and clear internal communication flow between the ED and internal and external stakeholders of the Agency’s Administrative Board;
• Provide support and secretarial services to the Agency’s Administrative Board;
• Coordinate the provision of secretarial services to the entire Agency;
• Support within the Agency a positive team spirit and ensure motivation, efficiency and effectiveness for added value and adhesion to the European Union values, ethics and integrity;
• Take on additional tasks as required in the interest of the service.

Note: Duties may evolve according to development of the Agency’s structure and activities, and management decisions.

The selection procedure is open to applicants who satisfy the following eligibility criteria, on the closing date for application:

1. A level of education which corresponds to completed university studies⁵ attested by a diploma when the normal period of university education is four years or more OR A level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma and at least one year of appropriate professional experience when the normal period of university education is three years
2. In addition to the above, appropriate professional experience⁶ of at least twelve years after obtaining the required diploma
3. Be a national of a Member State of the European Union
4. Be entitled to his or her full rights as citizen
5. Have fulfilled any obligations imposed by the applicable laws concerning military service
6. Meet the character requirements for the duties involved⁷
7. Have a thorough knowledge of one of the languages of the European Union⁸ and a satisfactory knowledge of another language of the European Union to the extent necessary for the performance of his/her duties
8. Be physically fit to perform the duties linked to the post⁹

Temporary agents (2f) from GSA and other EU agencies, in grade AD9 or AD10, are also invited to apply in accordance with the following GSA rules: https://www.gsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/conditions_of_employment_of_temporary_staff_ta.pdf

[5] Only study titles that have been awarded in EU Member States or that are subject to the equivalence certificates issued by the authorities in the said Member States shall be taken into consideration. [6] Only appropriate professional experience acquired after achieving the minimum qualification stated in point.1 shall be considered. Where additional periods of training and study are accompanied by periods of professional activity, only the latter shall be considered as professional experience. Compulsory military service or equivalent civilian service accomplished after achieving the minimum qualification stated in point.1 shall be taken into consideration. Internships will be taken into consideration, if they are paid. Professional activities pursued part-time shall be calculated pro rata, on the basis of the percentage of full-time hours worked. A given period may be counted only once. [7] Prior to the appointment, the successful candidate will be asked to provide a Police certificate confirming the absence of any criminal record. [8] The languages of the EU are: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, Irish, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish. [9] Before a successful candidate can be appointed, s/he will be medically examined by a selected medical service so that the Agency will be satisfied that s/he fulfils the requirement of Article 28(e) of the Staff Regulation of Officials of the European Union.

All eligible applications, according to the afore-mentioned criteria, will be assessed against the requirements listed below. 

The Selection Board responsible for this selection will determine the criteria to be assessed in the various phases of the selection procedure (assessment of the application forms, interview and written test) prior to being granted access to the names of the applicants. All essential criteria will be assessed during the applications evaluation phase.

Non-compliance with any of the essential criteria may 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.

When filling the online application, candidates are expected to include elements that demonstrate that their profile matches the requirements below.

Essential criteria

1. University degree in Social Sciences (including Law, Political Science, Business Administration or Public Administration, Communication, Economics or Finance) or Exact Sciences (including Engineering, Physics, Mathematics or Computer Science) or another relevant field (including Communications)
2. At least 5 years of proven working experience in areas related to the mandate of the Agency and the areas relevant to this vacancy
3. Proven experience of managing or leading high performing interdisciplinary teams in complex technical/operational public or private organisations
4. Proven experience of stakeholder management or equivalent within the EU context
5. Proven experience in providing advice to senior management within an international or national institutional context
6. Strong communication skills in English, both orally and in writing, with demonstrated ability to write briefing notes and documents for senior executive level

Advantageous criteria

7. Proven organisational skills and experience in managing human and financial resources
8. Proven experience in designing, advising, and implementing corporate policies and strategies
9. Proven experience in change and/or project management
10. Strong communication skills in other EU languages

Behavioural competencies

11. Motivation
12. Leadership and people management skills with a result-oriented approach
13. Cooperative, practical, solution-driven and service-oriented attitude
14. Communications and negotiation skills
15. Ability to manage stress, to prioritise and to take appropriate and timely decisions

The current vacancy aims to establish a reserve list.

A comprehensive description of the selection process is available here.

In addition, candidates proposed to be placed on the reserve list may be invited to an assessment centre, run by external consultants, prior to the interview with the Appointing Authority.

Indicative date for the interview and written test: April 2021. The date might be modified depending on the availability of the Selection Board members.

Candidates are strictly forbidden to make any contact with the Selection Board members, either directly or indirectly. Any infringement of this rule will lead to disqualification from the selection procedure.

Any questions regarding the selection procedure should be addressed only to: jobs@gsa.europa.eu

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.

Important: the information provided by candidates in their online application constitutes the solely basis for the assessment of the eligibility and selection criteria. Therefore, they are invited to carefully read the requirements and to provide the relevant information in such detail that would allow this assessment. Particular attention should be paid to information on the education and professional experience, in particular exact dates, description of responsibilities and duties carried out. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure accurate and elaborate completion of the application form and avoidance of unclarities and typos.

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.

Any request for technical support must be sent to: jobs@gsa.europa.eu minimum two working days before the vacancy notice deadline. Please note, that if you submit your request for technical support later, we may not be able to assist you;

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

Any questions regarding the selection procedure should be addressed only to: jobs@gsa.europa.eu

If a candidate considers that he/she has been adversely affected by a particular decision, he/she can lodge a complaint under Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Union; submit a judicial appeal under Article 270 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (ex Art. 236 of the EC Treaty) and Article 91 of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union; or make a complaint to the European Ombudsman.

Details on how to initiate these processes are available here.

FINANCIAL ENTITLEMENTS

The remuneration consists of a basic salary¹⁰ and, where applicable, additional allowances¹¹, paid on a monthly basis and reimbursements¹², paid upon their evidenced occurrence.

The sum of the basic salary and the applicable additional allowances is weighted by the correction coefficient applicable for the location of the post¹³. The sum of usual social deductions from salary at source is subtracted from the weighted amount¹⁴. The full pay is exempted from the national income tax, but is subject to the internal income tax and the solidarity levy¹⁵.

Examples of net monthly salaries (as currently applicable in Prague) are presented below:

LEAVE ENTITLEMENTS

Staff is entitled to annual leave of two working days per each complete calendar month of service plus additional days for the grade, age, home leaves for expatriates and an average of 16 GSA public holidays per year.

Special leave is granted for certain circumstances such as marriage, moving, elections, birth or adoption of a child, serious sickness of spouse, etc.

SOCIAL SECURITY

The pension scheme provides a very competitive pension after a minimum of 10 years of service and reaching the pensionable age. Pension rights acquired in one or more national schemes before starting to work at GSA may be transferred into the EU pension system.

GSA’s benefits include an attractive Health insurance: staff is covered 24/7 and worldwide by the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme (JSIS). Staff is insured against sickness, accident and occupational disease, and could be entitled to unemployment and to invalidity allowances.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND BENEFITS CONTRIBUTING TO WORK-LIFE BALANCE

GSA aims at creating and maintaining a supportive and healthy work environment that enables staff members to have balance between work and personal responsibilities, for example through flexible working time arrangements. 

GSA also offers a wide range of training courses to develop staff members’ personal skills and keep in touch with the latest developments in their field. The training and professional development opportunities are attuned to the career plan and requirements of the departments.

INTERNAL AND INTERAGENCY MOBILITY

In case of internal or interagency mobility, GSA and the selected candidate shall conclude a contract of employment in accordance with the GSA rules:

https://www.gsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/conditions_of_employment_of_temporary_staff_ta.pdf

[10] As per Articles 92 and 93 CEOS. [11] Household allowance (e.g. if you have a dependent child or you are married and your spouse's income is below a defined threshold); Dependent child allowance (e.g. if you have a child under the age of 18 or between 18 and 26, if in specified training programme); Education allowances (in very specific cases) or Payment of the education fees applicable to the educational institutions GSA has an agreement with (currently more than 18 international schools in the Czech Republic and Spain, and accredited European Schools in France and in the Netherlands); Expatriation allowance (16% of the sum of basic salary and other applicable allowances). [12] If staff member is requested to change the residence in order to take up duties, s/he will be entitled to: reimbursement of the travel costs; temporary daily subsistence allowance (EUR 43.97 for up to 10 months or EUR 35.46 for 120 days, if no dependents); installation allowance (depending on personal situation, 1 or 2 months of the basic salary – paid upon successful completion of the nine-month probationary period). [13] Currently correction coefficients for the GSA duty locations are: 85.5% for CZ, 117.7% for FR, 111.5% for NL, 91.6% ES. The coefficient is updated every year, with retroactive effect from 1 July. [14] Pension (9.7%); health insurance (1.70%); accident cover (0.10%); unemployment insurance (0.81%). [15] Currently: income tax: tax levied progressively at a rate of between 8% and 45% of the taxable portion of the salary; solidarity levy: 6%. [16] Kindly note that the numbers in examples b) and c) are indicative and net monthly remuneration varies depending on the personal, life and social situation of the incumbent. The various components of the remuneration are updated every year, with retroactive effect from 1 July.

Declaration of commitment to serve the public interest independently:

The jobholder will be required to make a declaration of commitment to act independently in the public interest and to make a declaration in relation to any interest that might be considered prejudicial to his/her independence.

The jobholder will be required to carry out his/her duties and conduct him/herself solely with the interests of the European Union in mind; he/she shall neither seek nor take instruction from any government, authority, organisation or person outside his/her institution. He/she shall carry out the duties assigned with objectivity, impartiality and loyalty to the European Union.

Commitment to promote equal opportunities:

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.