Expert - Procurement
- 📁
- 📅
- Jan 20, 2025 Post Date
- 📅
- EEA/CA/2025/2 Requisition #
VACANCY NOTICE FOR POSITIONS OF
Expert - Procurement
Contract Agent (FGIV)
Reference no. EEA/CA/2025/2
Please send us your application by no later than 20 February 2025 at midnight (Copenhagen time), following the instructions in the ANNEX.
The European Environment Agency (EEA) is organising an open competition with a view to establishing a reserve list of experts to work in the area of procurement.
THE AGENCY:
The EEA is an Agency of the European Union (EU) and one of the decentralised Union bodies. The EEA aims to support sustainable development and to help achieve significant and measurable improvement in Europe’s environment, through the provision of timely, targeted, relevant and reliable information to policy-making agents and the public.
JOB DESCRIPTION:
Under the responsibility of the Head of Unit ‘Legal Assurance and Facilities Management’, reporting to the Head of Department ‘Resources’ (see organisational chart), the Expert shall be responsible for coordinating procurement activities.
The Expert - Procurement will support the Agency by ensuring timely, effective and efficient delivery of advice as well as services on procurement-related matters with a customer-oriented approach. The jobholder will be a member of the Legal Assurance and Facilities Management Unit within the Resource Department which is responsible for the provision of advice and services on legal and data protection matters, as well as the planning, coordination and implementation of the Agency’s procurement and facilities management plans.
The position will entail the following tasks:
- Acting as a procurement business partner by providing advice in administrative, strategic as well as operational matters with a high level of customer and solution orientation (notably in the areas of ethics, procurement, contracts and grants management);
- Managing, monitoring and providing proactive support and guidance on all aspects of existing and emerging procurement issues and risks;
- Providing analysis, advice and support across the Agency on procurement related matters, with a practical, problem-solving approach, including the development and implementation of internal guidelines, rules and procedures as appropriate;
- Supporting compliant and effective procurement plan execution by monitoring framework contracts validity, providing information for planning, delivering progress reporting and supporting resource hearings;
- Performing control activities ensuring the procurement operations comply with financial regulations, applicable guidelines and controls, and supporting audits;
- Ensuring processes are standardised and well documented, and collaborating with colleagues to ensure consistency, continuity and back-up of procurement tasks.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:
Candidates applying must satisfy the following eligibility criteria on the closing date for the submission of applications:
a) Successful completion of university studies attested by a degree relevant in the field concerned of at least 3 years OR where justified in the interest of service, professional training of an equivalent level;
b) A minimum of 3 years of relevant professional experience after achieving the qualification set out above.
In addition, in order to be eligible a candidate must:
- Be a national of one of the member countries of the EEA (Member States of the European Union plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Türkiye);
- Enjoy full rights as a citizen;
- Have fulfilled any obligations imposed by law concerning military service;
- Have a thorough knowledge of one of the languages of the EEA member countries and a satisfactory knowledge of another of these languages (corresponding to level B.2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for languages CEFR);
- Meet the character requirements for the duties involved;
- Be physically fit to perform the duties linked to the post.
Candidates should assess carefully and check before submitting their application whether they fulfil all the conditions for admission laid down in the vacancy notice, particularly in terms of qualifications and relevant professional experience.
SELECTION CRITERIA:
(In your application, please provide examples from current or past work experience where these competencies have been applied)
Essential:
- University degree or certification in the field of Law, Procurement, Finance, Business Administration, Human Resources or a related area;
- Proven and relevant professional skills, experience and performance related to the above-mentioned duties and responsibilities in one or more of the areas of the job description;
- Proven experience in written text production (for example: legal advice, policies, guidelines, instructions and reports) in one or more of the areas of the job description;
- Knowledge of and experience in using IT systems applied to the job profile (e.g. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP); procurement management tools);
- Excellent command of written and spoken English language, at least at level C1 in all categories according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Language.
Advantageous:
- Good understanding of administrative procedures within the European, public or international institutions and agencies, and good knowledge of the EU institutional and regulatory framework relevant for the job profile.
In addition to the requirements above, candidates invited to the written test and interview stage, will also be assessed against the following behavioural competencies:
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills;
- Diversity awareness and sensitivity;
- Capacity to stimulate and support an environment of collaboration, sharing of information, ideas and resources;
- Service orientation and ability to understand stakeholder needs and requirements;
- Ability to take responsibility for specific areas of work and to deliver to high standards;
- Ability to seek out learning opportunities proactively, to handle situations and problems with innovation and creativity.
EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS:
The successful candidate will be offered a Contract Agent contract in accordance with Article 3a) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union. The selected candidate will be employed for an initial time period of four years, renewable. The Agency reserves the right to offer contracts for non-core funded posts.
Successful candidates who are recruited undergo an initial probation period of 9 months.
Please note that recruitment is done in the first step of the grade within Function Group IV to which the successful candidate qualifies, depending on the duration of the acquired professional experience.
For information on salary, please see information published under Contract Agents.
The place of work will be Copenhagen, Denmark.
It is brought to the particular attention of candidates that the provisions of Articles 11 to 26 of the Staff Regulations, concerning the rights and obligations of officials, shall apply by analogy to Contract Agents. These rules specify that:
“An official shall carry out his duties and conduct himself solely with the interests of the Union in mind. He shall neither seek nor take instructions from any government, authority, organization or person outside his institution. He shall carry out the duties assigned to him objectively, impartially and in keeping with his duty of loyalty to the Union.
An official shall not without the permission of the appointing authority accept from any government or from any other source outside the institution to which he belongs any honour, decoration, favour, gift or payment of any kind whatever, except for services rendered either before his appointment or during special leave for military or other national service and in respect of such service.
Before recruiting an official, the appointing authority shall examine whether the candidate has any personal interest such as to impair his independence or any other conflict of interest. To that end, the candidate, using a specific form, shall inform the appointing authority of any actual or potential conflict of interest. In such cases, the appointing authority shall take this into account in a duly reasoned opinion. If necessary, the appointing authority shall take the measures referred to in Article 11a(2).”
For further information on the Staff Regulations and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union see: Staff Regulations
SELECTION PROCEDURE:
A Selection Committee is set up for the selection procedure. It consists of members designated by the Appointing Authority and the Staff Committee. The Selection Committee is bound by the principle of confidentiality as enshrined in Article 6 of Annex III to the Staff Regulations. This works in two ways: first, it imposes obligations to ensure equal treatment for candidates; and second, it seeks to protect the Selection Committee to ensure that its decisions are totally impartial.
The Selection Committee adheres strictly to the conditions of admission laid down in the vacancy notice when deciding whether or not candidates are eligible. Candidates admitted to a previous selection procedure will not automatically be eligible. Candidates are strictly forbidden to make any contact with the members of the Selection Committee, either directly or indirectly. Any infringement of this rule will lead to disqualification from the selection procedure.
In a spirit of transparency, and in order to align our working methods with current practice in certain Member States, the administration has decided to proceed with the publication of names of Selection Committee members.
Should the Selection Committee discover at any stage in the procedure that the candidate does not meet one or more of the general or special conditions for admission to the selection procedure, the candidate will be disqualified.
The Selection Committee decides on those candidates who are admitted to the selection procedure in accordance with the requirements as specified under eligibility criteria. The applications of the candidates admitted to the selection procedure are reviewed to establish whether or not they show evidence of all requirements as specified under selection criteria.
The Selection Committee will invite to the interview and to the written test phase the best qualified candidates (maximum of 8). Should the case arise that there are various candidates scoring the same number of points in the 8th ranking, the number of candidates to be invited may be increased accordingly to accommodate this.
The interview will be held in English and the candidate’s knowledge of other languages will also be assessed during the interview. Candidates invited for an interview will be asked to undergo a written test in English, in the area of expertise required for the post. The test and the interview will take place online.
At the end of the interviews the Selection Committee will submit the list of suitable candidates to the Appointing Authority who will decide on the establishment of a reserve list for the post advertised or similar posts that may become available and on the appointment of the successful candidate. For that matter, a follow-up recruitment interview conducted by the Appointing Authority with the suitable candidates may be organised, if deemed appropriate. Candidates shall note that inclusion on the reserve list does not guarantee recruitment. Recruitment will be based on availability of posts and budget.
The reserve list for this post will be valid until 31 December 2026 and may be extended at the discretion of the Appointing Authority.
Prior to contract signature, the successful candidate will be asked:
- to provide original or certified copies of all relevant documents proving his/her eligibility, including a police certificate confirming the absence of any criminal record;
- to undergo a compulsory medical examination to establish that he/she meets the standard of physical fitness necessary to perform the duties involved.