EU Programme Coordinator

EU Programme Coordinator

Temporary Agent

EDA - European Defence Agency

Brussels, Belgium

DUTIES

As a core element of the European Union’s Strategic Compass for Security and Defence, the Hub for EU Defence Innovation, known as HEDI, has been established within EDA to foster innovative solutions for military capabilities. This will be empowered by an increase in cooperation on defence innovation among Member States.

EDA Defence Ministers approved the establishment of HEDI within EDA on 17 May 2022 and the hub was officially launched at the first EDA Defence Innovation Day hosted by EDA on 31 May 2022 under the auspices of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

HEDI serves as a platform to stimulate and facilitate cooperation on defence innovation among Member States while ensuring synergies with related European Commission activities, notably the EU defence innovation scheme, coherence with NATO innovation initiatives, and other EU defence innovation organizations. The hub will strengthen the Agency’s existing innovation activities while also initiating new ones.

HEDI works with a portfolio of services for member states aimed at accelerating the adoption of innovative solutions addressing operational challenges in defence. Several of these initiatives such as EU-supported innovation programmes (e.g. BraveTech EU), involve the organisation of Testing–Evaluation–Experimentation Campaigns (TE²C) and awarding prizes to the most innovative approaches. In the operationalization of these initiatives HEDI sometimes relies also on external contractors to support in logistic and administrative tasks.

Under the supervision of the HEDI coordinator, the jobholder will be responsible for the end-to-end management of one of these initiatives and will lead the following activities:

Programme leadership, governance and oversight

• plan and run the operating cadence of the TE²C and provide oversight to the implementing contractor at each step;
• chair internal boards for intake, selection, and award decisions;
• coordinate with the relevant stakeholders all the steps;
• approve and govern standard operating procedures for planning, execution of the campaigns of the TE²C, ranking, and reporting;
• validate readiness of the teams for participation in the TE²C campaigns and acceptance of outcomes and draft rankings of the solutions;
• maintain risk register and implement corrective/preventive actions;
• deliver quarterly and annual reports (KPI dashboards, narrative, success stories) and audit-ready documentation.

Technical criteria, evaluation and strategic alignment

• lead definition/update of criteria and gates for the selection of the most promising solutions, ensure consistency within the portfolio of activities, and validate contractor draft rankings;
• ensure consistency with HEDI practices (e.g. maturity/TRL expectations, adoption pathways) and connect promising outcomes to other HEDI services;
• contribute to internal policy notes, and Member State communications, lessons-learned and continuous improvement and links with the other HEDI services and EDA work strands;
• act as the integration point between his/her/their area of responsibility and other HEDI services to avoid duplication, maximise adoption, and maintain one coherent HEDI operating model.

Contractor & stakeholder management

• day-to-day direction of the services contractor (planning, site booking, logistics, execution QA, evidence, draft rankings, reporting inputs);
• engage Member States’ end-users to ensure participation in the initiative, leveraging HEDI’s networks.

Procurement & finance interface

• provide the technical Terms of Reference (ToR) content, KPIs/SLA, acceptance for the relevant services procurement; support evaluation as technical expert;
• oversee prize decisions and finance execution, ensuring compliance with the relevant administrative frameworks.

Additional tasks may be assigned as required in the interest of the service.

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

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

To be considered eligible to take part in this selection procedure, on the closing date for the submission of applications candidates must satisfy all the eligibility criteria as specified below:

• be a national of a Member State participating in the Agency;
• be entitled to their full rights as citizens;
• have fulfilled any obligations imposed on them by the laws concerning military service;
• produce the appropriate character references as to their suitability for the performance of their duties (extract from the “judicial record” or certificate of good conduct will be requested prior to recruitment);
• be physically fit to perform their duties;
• have a thorough knowledge (minimum level C1 oral and written) of one of the languages of the participating Member States and a satisfactory knowledge (minimum level B2 oral and written) of another of these languages to the extent necessary to discharge their duties;
• have no personal interest (financial, family relationship, or other) which could be in conflict with disinterested discharge of their duties within the Agency;
• hold, or be in a position to obtain, a valid Personnel Security Clearance Certificate (national or EU PSC at SECRET UE/EU SECRET level). Personnel Security Clearance Certificate (PSCC) means a certificate issued by a competent authority establishing that an individual is security cleared and holds a valid national or EU PSC, and which shows the level of EUCI to which that individual may be granted access (SECRET UE/EU SECRET), the date of validity of the relevant PSC and the date of expiry of the certificate itself. Note that the necessary procedure for obtaining a PSCC can be initiated on request of the employer only, and not by the individual candidate;
• have a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies 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 appropriate professional experience of at least one year when the normal period of university education is at least three years or be a graduate of a national or international Defence College; or where justified in the interests of the service, professional training of an equivalent level.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Essential

Only applications meeting all essential selection criteria will be assessed.

Professional

Candidates will be required to demonstrate the following qualifications:

• a University degree (or equivalent academic degree) in engineering, defence studies or international relations combined with proven experience in defence innovation activities;
• at least seven (7) years of relevant professional experience, acquired after the award of the minimum academic qualification required as a condition of eligibility;
• leadership or participation in testing/evaluation/experimentation/field trials activities;
• experience in managing complex multi-stakeholder programmes;
• experience in managing outsourced service providers/consortia against strict timelines and performance indicators;
• experience with EU-funded defence programmes and familiarity with the EU Financial regulation;
• a track record of delivering successful business outcomes;
• very good command of written and oral English.

Personal

All staff must be able to fit into the Agency's way of working (see para. 2). Other attributes important for this post include:

• ability to work in a team and independently in their area of responsibility;
• ability to work effectively in a multinational environment;
• reliability and capacity to work under pressure with minimal supervision;
• good communication and organisational skills;
• strong analytical and problem-solving skills;
• excellent interpersonal and negotiation skills;
• results-orientation and strong motivation;
• flexibility and innovativeness;
• genuine commitment to the Agency's objectives.

Desirable

The following will be considered an advantage:

• hold a recognised project/programme management credential (e.g. PRINCE2, PMP);
• experience with defence innovation (EUDIS/EDF, dual-use analysis, DIANA-type models) and end-user engagement;
• familiarity with range operations and safety cases; export-control practice;
• knowledge of additional EU language(s).