VACANCY NOTICE FOR POSITIONS OF

Expert - Strategic Communication on Environment and Climate
Temporary Agent (AD6)
Reference no. EEA/AD/2023/8

Please send us your application by no later than 15 August 2023 at midnight (Copenhagen time), following the instructions in the ANNEX.

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.

The current decade is critical for the European Union (EU) and its neighbouring countries towards achieving their environmental, climate and sustainability ambitions by 2050. The EEA plays a pivotal role by delivering relevant data, information and assessments to support policy action.

We are seeking to recruit experienced and motivated professionals with solid understanding of the environment and/or climate policy landscape and expertise in strategic communications. The successful candidates will help ensure the design and continued provision of timely and relevant knowledge from the EEA and its country network Eionet to inform the many EU environment and climate policies.

The EEA is therefore organising an open competition for temporary agents (with a view to establishing a reserve list). Successful candidates will join our 260 staff based in Copenhagen and a 38-country network on this mission. You will operate within a set of core values that drive how we work, including: respect, professionalism, openness, positivity and trust.

JOB DESCRIPTION:

Under the responsibility of the Head of Group, reporting to the Head of Programme (see organisational chart) you will be responsible for delivering strategic communication relevant to EU environment and climate policy processes.

The job holder(s) will work with EEA management and colleagues working across a range of thematic work areas on environment and climate. They will play an important role in supporting the work at the science-policy interface and ensuring that the different outputs are targeted and relevant.

You will also help deliver on cross-cutting issues of most relevance for the delivery of the aforementioned EU policies, including: socio-economic dimensions such as societal inequalities; key systems such as food, energy, mobility, and housing; and overarching economic drivers such as industrial and innovation policies.

The position will entail the following tasks:

Tracking of relevant European policy processes and their implementation;
Providing support in the identification of relevant and impactful products on environment and climate, supporting their planning and preparation, and ensuring their timely delivery aligned with key policy processes, and disseminated to key stakeholders, such as the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council, via targeted products and channels;
Carrying out writing and messaging of selected products, in close collaboration with colleagues, including online reports and briefings, targeted communications, presentations, policy briefs, data visualisations, online presence, etc;
Working collaboratively with colleagues in the EEA’s Communication Programme and the Coordination, Networks and Strategy Programme (see organisational chart) to identify opportunities for impactful communication and outreach.

You will join an open, positive and multicultural team of enthusiastic experts, and help us continually increase the overall relevance and impact of the EEA’s messages and outputs.

You will also work in close collaboration with colleagues across the agency including the Communications programme, and in partnerships with Eionet, EU institutions and other key stakeholders, to deliver on initiatives of common interest. Periodic travel to engage directly with the European institutions can be expected .

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:

a) Successful completion of university studies attested by a degree relevant to the field concerned of at least 3 years; OR where justified in the interests of the service, professional training of an equivalent level;
b) A minimum of 3 years of relevant professional experience after award of the university degree.

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:

Thorough knowledge and professional experience in EU policy developments and processes in environment and/or climate areas, including awareness of key opportunities to support these;
Proven experience developing and shaping high-impact policy-relevant communications, including a demonstrated ability to synthesise technical information into clear, succinct messaging;
Sound understanding of how to assess the needs of EU institutional audiences and stakeholders and how to shape relevant communication and outreach materials;
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:

Proven experience working with European Union and/or international institutions.

Candidates invited to the written test and interview stage will also be assessed against the following behavioural competencies:

Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to interact with a wide range of people;
Diversity awareness and sensitivity;
Ability to work collaboratively and share expertise with others to deliver on common work goals
Ability to take responsibility for specific areas of work and to deliver to high standards;
Service orientation and ability to understand stakeholder needs and requirements to ensure the delivery of quality results;
Ability to use self-reflection and feedback to improve self-awareness and share insights with others;
Ability to seek out learning opportunities proactively, to handle situations and problems with innovation and creativity.

CONTRACTUAL CONDITIONS:

The successful candidate will be offered a Temporary Agent contract in accordance with Article 2f) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities. The selected candidate will be employed for an initial time period of four years, renewable.

Successful candidates who are recruited undergo an initial probation period of 9 months.

Should the successful candidate currently hold a Temporary Agent 2(f) contract and qualify for a transfer under the terms of the CEOS, the band width for this position which can be accommodated is in accordance with Annex I of the Staff Regulations.

For information on salary, please see information published under Temporary Agents.

The place of work will be Copenhagen, Denmark.

“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 16). Should the case arise that there are various candidates scoring the same number of points in the 16th ranking, the number of candidates to be invited may be increased accordingly to accommodate this.

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 appointment of the successful candidate and the establishment of a reserve list for the post advertised or similar posts that may become available. There may be conducted follow-up recruitment interviews with the suitable candidates. 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 2024 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.

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Expert - Strategic Communication on Environment and Climate