THE EDUCATION, AUDIOVISUAL AND CULTURE EXECUTIVE AGENCY (EACEA) LOCATED IN BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, INVITES EPSO/CAST FGIV LAUREATES TO EXPRESS THEIR INTEREST TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SELECTION PROCEDURE FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A RESERVE LIST FOR THE POST OF POLICY ANALYST IN EDUCATION AND YOUTH.

1. THE AGENCY 

The EACEA (“the Agency”) is a European Commission Executive Agency established by the Commission's Implementing Decision 2013/776/EU. It operates by delegation of powers from the Commission[1] and its statute is governed by Regulation (EC) No. 58/2003[2]. The Agency's parent Directorates-General within the Commission are DG for Education and Culture, DG for Communication Networks, Content and Technology, DG for Migration and Home Affairs and DG for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection.

The Agency is responsible for the implementation of certain EU programmes in the fields of education, audiovisual and culture, such as Erasmus+, The Creative Europe Programme, Europe for Citizens, EU Aid Volunteers and Intra-Africa, actions in the field of higher education and youth falling under external cooperation instruments and their predecessors. The Agency's current mandate runs until 31 December 2024[3] .

The Agency was established to enhance programme management and provide beneficiaries with a better service, in line with the principles of administrative governance adopted by the Commission. 

As a legal entity, the Agency establishes an annual work plan and an annual activity report and has an operational budget of more than 600 Mio EUR per year. 

In order to attain its objectives, the Agency has an internal structure consisting of 13 Units with a total of 466 staff members in 2016 (110 seconded officials/temporary agents and 356 contract agents). 

The Agency's working languages are English and French.

For further information on the Agency, please refer to our website: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu 

2. JOB DESCRIPTION

Within the Agency, the selected candidates will produce accurate and easily comprehensible comparative studies of European education policies and/or Youth policies intended to facilitate European cooperation in these domains and the work of decision makers at the policy level at national and European level. More specifically, they will:

• Identify emerging trends in the area of education or youth in order to stimulate and support policy discussion 
• Draft and update studies, reports, briefings, in the area of education or youth policies
• Provide advice, assistance and support on matters relating to the area of education and/or youth in order to anticipate developments and raise issues, in particular for the European Commission      
• Perform research in the area of education and/or youth, including the development of data collection tools
• Cooperate with other bodies active in the area of education and youth 

In particular, the post entails, under the direction of the Head of Unit and the coordination of the Head of Sector:

• developing and maintaining data collection tools for specific purposes (indicators, comparative analyses and studies in the field of education and/or youth)
• analysing the information collected via the Eurydice National Units in the field of education or national providers in the field of Youth Analyse quantitative data emerging from international data bases such as PISA, TALIS, PIRLS etc.
• drafting comparative analyses of various aspects of European education systems and/or  youth policies, mainly on the basis of information provided by the National providers  and  contributing experts in the area concerned
• maintaining bilateral relations with national partners and contributing experts in the domain
• validating the national descriptions of education systems and/or youth policies following closely the thematic areas for which the jobholder is responsible (reading the relevant literature, participation in conferences etc.) and acting as a resource in this respect
• capacity and previous experiences in team working
• work in the unit is project based, candidates are expected to be able to deliver to different projects led by project coordinators.

3. QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

A. Eligibility criteria

Candidates will be considered eligible for selection on the basis of the following formal criteria which must be fulfilled by the deadline for applications:

A.1 General conditions:

• Be a national of a member state of the European Union;
• Enjoy full rights as citizen;  
• Have fulfilled any obligations imposed by the applicable laws on military service;
• Meet the character requirements for the duties involved ;
• Be physically fit to perform the duties linked to the post;
• Have a thorough knowledge of one of the languages of the European Union and a satisfactory knowledge of another language of the European Union to the extent necessary for the performance of his/her duties.
• Be on the EPSO/CAST/S/5/2013/Contractual Agent/Research (biology, chemistry, physics, ...)/GFIV/Researcher (Human and Social Sciences) reserve list 

or EPSO/CAST27/4/07/Contractual Agent/European Administration/GFIV/ Social Sciences adviser reserve list

or EPSO/CAST/P/4/2015/Contractual Agent/Project/Programme Management/GFIV reserve list and have successfully passed the relevant EPSO testing.
 

A.2 Specific conditions:

A.2.1. Qualifications

a) 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

b) Have a level of education[5] which corresponds to completed university studies of three years attested by a diploma and appropriate professional experience of at least 1 year[6]

A.2.2. Professional experience

To qualify for the position, candidates must have, in addition to the above, at least 4 years of proven fulltime professional experience;

B. Selection criteria

Candidates who comply with the above eligibility criteria will then be evaluated according to the following selection criteria:

Essential 

• Professional experience: minimum 2 years of proven professional experience in the field of Human and Social Sciences.
• Knowledge of languages: for working purposes, an excellent knowledge[7] of English both written and spoken is required. 

Advantageous

• Relevant additional certification, studies and/or training relevant to the tasks listed in the job description
• Previous experiences in analysing quantitative and qualitative data
• Knowledge (acquired through experience or training/education) of the organisation, structure, working procedures and policies of European Commission services and/or Agencies and/or other EU institutions
• Very good command (minimum B17 level) of other working languages of the European Commission 

4. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency applies a policy of equal opportunities and takes care to avoid any form of discrimination in its recruitment procedures.

5. SELECTION PROCEDURE

The selection will be organised as following:

1. The selection committee will select the applications which comply with the eligibility criteria and then it will evaluate them against the selection criteria, establishing a shortlist. Supporting documents showing evidence of the information given in the application will be requested at a later stage. No documents will be sent back to candidates. If, at any stage in the procedure, it is established that information provided by a candidate is incorrect, this candidate will be disqualified.

2. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an interview. The interview will aim to assess the candidate's suitability to perform the duties, his/her professional knowledge and background, motivation and level of languages. The interview will be marked out of 100; pass mark: 70. The selection committee will hold interviews in English. 

3. Following the interview, the selection committee will place on the reserve list candidates who obtained a total mark of 70 or more. Inclusion of candidates on the reserve list does not guarantee recruitment. Recruitment will be based on availability of posts and budget.

The Selection Committee consists of a Chairperson, Ms Milvia VAN RIJ-BRIZZI (HoD E+), a Staff Committee representative, Mette LEARIE (Finance and Contracts Officer A3), an HR Representative, Ms Tordis JASPERT (HR Officer R1) and two members, Mr Lars JAKOBSEN (HoU A7) and Arlette DELHAXE (HoS A7). Alternate members are, as Staff Committee representative, Sabine MINNITI (Assistant Programme Manager B2) and as HR Representative, Elisabeth DERKSEN (HR Adviser R1).
You are reminded that the work and deliberations of all Selection Committees are confidential and it is forbidden for any person who is not a member of the Committee, to make any attempt to contact a Committee member under penalty of exclusion from the selection procedure; only candidates exercising the rights of appeal which are open to them may (through EACEA-HR@ec.europa.eu), in writing, make their representations to the Chairperson of the selection board.

The reserve list will be valid until 31/12/2017 (the Executive Agency appointing authority can decide to extend the validity of the list).
 

6. CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

The Agency's appointing authority will appoint the successful candidate[8]as a Contract Staff member pursuant to Article 3(a) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities, offering him/her a contract for a determined duration of 2 years. This contract may be renewed for another year. Any subsequent renewal could be for an indefinite period.

The successful candidate will be recruited as a Contract Agent, Function Group IV. The basic recruitment grade for Function Group IV contract agents is grade 13. The actual recruitment grade will depend on the candidate's professional experience. The basic monthly salary for FG IV (grade 13 step 1) is 3.246, 70€. In addition to the basic salary, staff members may be entitled to various allowances, in particular household allowance, expatriation allowance, dependent child allowance and education allowance. The salary is subject to a Community tax deducted at source and staff members are exempt of national taxation.

The place of employment will be Brussels, Belgium where the Agency has its seat.

For further information please consult: 
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/personnel_administration/publications_en.htm

7. APPLICATION PROCEDURE 

Applications specifying the CAST reference number/EPSO Expression of interest reference number, consisting of an updated Europass-CV (https://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/en/home), a motivation letter and if possible an example of a recent publication shall be submitted exclusively in English to the following email address EACEA-SPONTANEOUS-APPLICATIONS@ec.europa.eu by and not later than 7 October  2016 at midday (GMT Brussels time). Mention the call reference EACEA (2016) CA-FGIV-Policy Analyst for Education and Youth in the e-mail subject.

Applicants are strongly advised not to wait until the last minute to submit their application since heavy internet traffic or other dysfunction could lead to difficulties in submission. The Agency shall not be held responsible for said difficulties and it will disregard applications submitted after the deadline or which are not complete.

Given the high number of individuals expected to express their interest, only candidates shortlisted to sit the interview will be contacted by the Agency.

8. DATA PROTECTION

The Agency will ensure that candidates' personal data are processed as required by Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data[9]. This applies in particular to the confidentiality and security of such data.