Director

VACANCY NOTICE AD/ACS/4/2019

EUI - European University Institute

Florence, Italy

Unit: Academic Service
Type of contract: Temporary Agent
(Type 2g of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants)
Grade: AD9 – AD10 (depending on the profile and professional experience of the successful candidate)
Duration of contract: Four years, renewable for a fixed period of four years. On expiry of the renewed contract, the temporary agent may be appointed as a permanent employee by decision of the EUI President in his capacity as Appointing Authority.
Closing date for applications: 17/02/2020 at 24:00 Central European Time

1. THE ORGANISATION

The European University Institute (EUI) is an academic institution set up in 1972 by the then Member States of the European Union, providing doctoral training in Law, Economics, History and Civilisation and Political and Social Sciences with special reference to Europe. In addition to the departments, the Institute includes the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS), which focuses on inter-disciplinary, comparative and policy research, the Max Weber Programme for Post-doctoral Studies, which prepares fellows for a career in academia, and the School of Transnational Governance, which sets out to study, debate and teach matters pertaining to governance beyond the State. The Institute also hosts the Historical Archives of the European Union. The EUI is not an EU Institution or body, but an inter-governmental organization, funded directly by the signatory states, partly by the European Commission and to some extent through external funding. The EUI provides a multinational work environment in an intellectually stimulating atmosphere.

The Academic Service is in charge of providing support, including monitoring and assessment, to the EUI’s research and teaching activities. The Academic Service oversees and supports the application, selection, and admission processes of master students, early career researchers (i.e. doctoral and postdoctoral fellows), fellows, academic assistants and professors.

The Academic Service collaborates with national and international funding authorities and academic and research institutions in the world.

The Academic Service follows and administers the progress of all academic programmes at the EUI (Master, Ph.D., postdoctoral) in close collaboration with the EUI Academic Units, the Dean of Graduate Studies, and the Dean of Postdoctoral Studies. It also provides support for research proposals in collaboration with the Dean of Research.

It offers a wide range of academic skills and professional development courses and career advice to early career researchers; offers language courses; counselling and wellbeing services and supports a wide range of extracurricular activities.

The Academic Service is also responsible for the administration of some Governing Bodies such as the Academic Council and Research Council, and academic committees of the EUI.

2. DESCRIPTION OF RESPONSIBILITIES

The EUI is looking for an experienced professional with excellent managerial and communication skills, innovative ideas and with a vision to take on the responsibility in all areas of the Academic Service, and to contribute to and support the EUI’s strategic objectives and projects as a member of its Management Team.

Reporting directly to the President and the Secretary General, you will lead an experienced, international team of 17 staff members and ensure that services are provided at the highest standards to the scholarly community by taking account of developments in the European Higher Education Area and European Research Area, of international trends, and of an ever more mobile scholarly community.

Competencies required for the role:

• Strategic thinking;
• Ability to build trust and negotiate with highest stakeholders;
• Change management;
• Leadership.

More specific duties include

Representation/Communication

• Representing and promoting the EUI by actively participating in international scholarly networks and projects;
• Creating, maintaining and developing partnerships with key universities and research institutions;
• Maintaining and developing effective working relations with the EUI Contracting States and the grant-awarding authorities;
• Taking responsibility for the administration and follow up of meetings of some EUI governing bodies;
• Participating in academic and institutional committees and in ad-hoc working groups as required.

Policy/Strategy Making

• Developing the overall strategic direction of the Academic Service (including language centre and counseling and wellbeing service) in line with EUI priorities;
• As a member of the Management Team of the EUI, providing strategic advice and guidance to the President and the Secretary General;
• Developing marketing strategies for the EUI’s academic programmes (masters; doctoral, post-doctoral programmes and fellowships) of the EUI, in cooperation with members of the academic units and the Communications Service;
• Assisting actively the EUI in its network strategy.

Level of autonomy and accountability

• Reporting directly to the President and the Secretary General;
• Working in full autonomy with the ability to take decisions for the work of the service.

Managing people/Role in HR processes

• Being responsible for the supervision, and the management of staff in the Academic Service;
• Being responsible for the planning, recruitment, assignments, assessment and professional development of staff;
• Managing, developing and motivating the Academic Service team to ensure high-quality services.

Financial/procurement responsibility

• Being responsible for the financial and procurement processes linked to the activities of the Academic Service and authorisation of its expenditures.

Level of expertise

• Acting as subject matter specialist in best practices in (European) Higher Education (masters; doctoral and postdoctoral education) and in matters regarding the European Research Area;
• Keeping abreast of professional development needs and expectations for early career researchers (both in academic and non-academic career tracks);
• Acting as a subject matter specialist regarding EUI academic rules and guidelines;
• Ensuring the best use of competences and experiences of staff members of the Academic Service.

Budget management

• Being responsible for the Academic Service budget and its sound financial management.

Role in administrative processes

• Being accountable for the work of the Academic Service as a whole;
• Supervising the programmes, projects and operations of the Academic Service;
• Ensuring a smooth coordination of the work of the Academic Service with other EUI academic and administrative units.

3. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

On the closing date for online applications, candidates must fulfil all the following general and specific conditions:

3.1 General conditions

• Being a national of a Member State of the European Union;
• Enjoying full rights as a citizen attested by a recent extract from judicial records and/or certificate of good conduct proving no previous conviction for a criminal or administrative offence that could call into question his/her suitability for performing the duties of the post;
• Having fulfilled any obligations imposed by the laws on military service;
• Being physically fit to perform the duties.

3.2 Specific conditions

3.2.1 Education (Qualifications)

• A level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma when the normal period of university education is four (4) years or more; or
• a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma and appropriate professional experience of at least one (1) year when the normal period of university education is at least three (3) years. This professional experience will be part of the diploma and will not be taken into account in the required numbers of professional experience under 3.2.2.

3.2.2 Professional experience

By the deadline for applications, and in addition to the qualifications required above, candidates must have at least ten years of full-time professional experience gained after obtaining the diploma required under 3.2.1.

3.2.3 Knowledge of Languages

• Main language: have a thorough knowledge of one official language of the European Union; and
• Second language: a satisfactory knowledge of another official language of the European Union to the extent necessary for the performance of the duties.

4. SELECTION CRITERIA

Essential:

• University degree in a field relevant to this position;
• At least 10 years of relevant professional experience;
• At least 5 years of leadership and management experience, and demonstrated ability to motivate and manage an international team;
• Work experience in an international university or research environment;
• Strong communication, representation, promotion, networking and negotiation skills;
• Excellent knowledge of English, both spoken and written (CEFR level: C1 or above).

Advantageous

• Doctoral degree in a relevant field (social sciences, humanities or similar);
• Thorough knowledge of social sciences and humanities and policy research environments;
• Knowledge of additional languages of the European Union.

5. APPLICATION PROCEDURE & SCREENING PROCESS

Applications must be submitted electronically using the AD/ACS/4/2019 online application form available at https://www.eui.eu/About/JobOpportunities/Open-competitions-for-administrative-posts at the latest by 17/02/2020 at 24.00.

Only complete applications submitted online will be accepted and considered. Applications received by e-mail, fax or post will not be considered. In order to avoid any technical constraints, we advise you to submit your application well ahead of the deadline.

The Selection Board will screen the documents of applicants with reference to the above-mentioned eligibility criteria as well as to the essential and advantageous selection criteria and will on the basis of these findings establish a shortlist.

Only shortlisted candidates will be invited for the interview and tests.

Candidates will be disqualified if they:

• do not complete the registration by the deadline;
• do not send a complete application;
• do not meet all the eligibility criteria on the closing date for online applications;
• do not provide all the required supporting documents at any stage of the procedure where these are requested.

If at any stage of the procedure, it is found that any of the information given in the application is false or not evidenced by the appropriate supporting documents, the candidate will be disqualified from the competition.

Contact: applyjob@eui.eu

Candidates who are not shortlisted will be duly notified by the Human Resources Service, once the decision on the appointed candidate has been taken by the Appointing Authority.

6. SELECTION PROCESS

The Selection Board will assess and score each eligible application according to the essential and desirable selection criteria laid down in this vacancy notice. It is envisaged that the 7 highest-scoring candidates will be invited for an interview and tests. All candidates having a score equal to the 7th highest scoring candidate will be included in the shortlist.

6.1 Assessment method

Shortlisted candidates will be subject to:

• an interview assessing the candidate’s skills and knowledge relevant to the post;
• other assessments, including a written test;
• an English language test.

Further information about the testing process will be provided in the invitation letter.

6.2 Interview

The interview will be conducted mainly in English (knowledge of other EU languages may also be tested). Mother tongue English speakers will be expected to demonstrate their knowledge of a second EU language.

Assessment on the basis of qualifications and marking of tests

• Marking: 0 to 20 for the assessment on the basis of qualifications;
• Marking: 0 to 20 for the written test;
• Marking: 0 to 10 for the language skills;
• Marking: 0 to 50 for the interview by the Selection Board.

6.3 Reserve list

The names of the candidates included in the reserve list will be published on the EUI Web site https://www.eui.eu/About/JobOpportunities/Open-competitions-for-administrative-posts.

A successful candidate may explicitly request that his/her name not be published. Any such request must reach the EUI before the candidate is notified of the outcome of his/her application, and in any case no later than four calendar days after the date of the tests and interview.

Candidates on the reserve list are not guaranteed recruitment.

The validity of the reserve list is twelve months from the date of publication on the EUI website. The EUI reserves the right to extend the validity of the reserve list one or several times and will communicate any such extension by publishing it on the website.

Candidates are reminded that the work of the Selection Board is confidential. It is thus forbidden to make any contact with the members of the Board, either directly or indirectly, at any stage of the selection procedure. Any infringement of this rule will lead to disqualification from the selection procedure.

Candidates should not encourage third parties either to contact the Selection Board on their behalf. Any infringement of this rule may lead to disqualification of the candidate.

7. CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

Type of contract

The successful candidate will be appointed by the Appointing Authority as a temporary agent at grade AD9 or AD10, pursuant to Title II of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants for an initial period of four years, renewable for a fixed period of four years. On expiry of the renewed contract, the temporary agent may be appointed as a permanent employee by decision of the EUI’s President in his capacity as Appointing Authority.

The successful candidate will be asked to serve a probationary period of nine months.

The place of employment is Florence, where the EUI is located.

Remuneration

The net monthly salary after taxes ranges between Euro 6,020 and Euro 6,626. In addition to the salary, staff members may be entitled to various allowances, in particular a household allowance, expatriation allowance (16% of basic salary and household allowance), dependent child allowance and education allowance. The EUI has its own social security and pension scheme. Under certain circumstances, in particular where the selected candidate is obliged to change his/her place of residence in order to take up employment, the EUI may also reimburse various expenses incurred on recruitment, notably removal expenses.

Further information about remuneration and benefits can be found in Annex I.

8. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

The European University Institute is an equal opportunity employer in accordance with Article 1d of its Staff Regulations. It accepts applications without discrimination on any grounds 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 or sexual orientation.

9. DATA PROTECTION

The purpose of processing of the data submitted by candidates is to manage their application in view of a possible pre-selection and recruitment by the EUI. The information candidates provide in their application form is collected for the purpose of the selection procedure.

The EUI will ensure that candidates’ personal data are processed as required by its Data Protection Policy (President’s Decision No. 10/2019 of 18 February 2019 regarding Data Protection at the EUI). This applies in particular to the confidentiality and security of such data.

10. COMPLAINTS AND APPEALS

If at any stage of the selection procedure, the candidate considers that his/her interests have been prejudiced by a particular decision, he/she can take the following action:

• Request for review

In assessing candidates' merits, the selection board observes the principle of equal treatment as well as the provisions governing the Competition procedure and the Board’s proceedings.

If a candidate nevertheless believes that one of these principles has not been applied in his/her case, he/she has the right, within ten calendar days from when the e-mail informing him/her of the decision is sent, to send a letter by e-mail stating his/her case to the e-mail address: applyjob@eui.eu.

• Appeal procedures

If, at any stage of the competition, the candidate considers that the Human Resources Service or the Selection Board have acted unfairly or have failed to comply with:

• the rules governing the competition procedure; or
• the provisions of the competition notice.

and that his or her interests have been prejudiced as a result, the candidate can take the following actions:

1. Submit a formal complaint to the Principal under Article 1(2) of the Common Provisions for the Teaching and Administrative Staff;
2. Submit a judicial appeal before the Organ of First Instance.

Please note that appeals concerning an error of assessment relating to the general eligibility criteria are not matters for which the competition’s selection board is responsible and shall only be admissible before the Organ of First Instance if an administrative complaint has previously been lodged under article 1, paragraph 2 of the EUI Staff Regulations.

More information on the complaint procedure and on further means of appeal under the EUI’s judicial review framework available at https://www.eui.eu/ServicesAndAdmin/PersonnelService/RulesRegulations/Complaints-and-appeals.

Annex I

Remuneration and benefits

The following table provides examples of monthly salaries taking into account some possible scenarios:

Salaries and allowances are exempt from national taxation in Italy and in the EUI Contracting States, but are subject to a tax (deducted at source) for the benefit of the Institute.

Summary of Conditions of Employment and Benefits

• Annual leave entitlement of 2 days per calendar month plus additional days for distance from place of origin and an average of 17 days of EUI holidays per year;
• Flexible working hours;
• Training and development programme;
• EUI Pension Scheme;
• EU Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme for staff member and dependent family;
• Accident and occupational disease insurance coverage;
• Expatriation or foreign residence allowance of 16% or 4%, depending on circumstances;
• Household allowance;
• Dependent child allowance;
• Pre-school allowance (for children aged less than 6);
• School allowance (for children up to the age of 26 in educational or vocational training);
• Installation allowance and reimbursement of removal costs, if applicable;
• Other benefits.

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