Project Manager - Soil Assessments and Reporting Contract Agent (FG IV)

JOB DESCRIPTION:

Under the responsibility of the Head of Land Group and in cooperation with staff in the Natural Systems and Vulnerability Programme, reporting to the Head of Programme, the project manager will be responsible for work on soil related issues.

The position will entail the following tasks:

• Support the implementation of soil related information for spatial analysis, integrated environmental assessments and water, carbon and ecosystem accounting;
• Support the further development, testing, documenting and validation of soil functional mapping for spatial analysis;
• Liaise with providers of soil information and facilitate access to relevant information for assessments and reporting;
• Report on state and trends of soil related ecosystem services, support policy implementation processes and targets of EU and interact with international organisations;
• Apply methods and techniques for regular assessments of soil related issues associated with natural and/or anthropogenic phenomena (e.g. take up of land by urban development, agricultural intensification/extensification, the conditions of the ecosystems, climate change) in cooperation with experts from other sectors (water, agriculture, forestry, land, climate change, biodiversity etc.);
• Participate in the analysis of the spatial requirements of European and global development initiatives, including thematic strategies on, inter alia, terrestrial systems, urban environment, water management, coastal areas development, climate change impact and adaptation with particular attention to impacts of land-use changes on soil quality in sensitive areas;
• Contribute to the development of the EEA spatial information system for the natural, cultural and built environments; assessment of the inter-linkages between strategic and planning policy.

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 to the field concerned of at least 3 years, plus 1 year of appropriate professional experience;

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 Turkey);
• 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:

Essential:

• A minimum of 3 years’ experience in the areas mentioned under “Job description”;
• Professional experience in soil monitoring / soil research and environmental assessments;
• Proven experience in environmental monitoring and reporting;
• Experience in working across different environmental themes and working with a broad team of experts;
• A sound knowledge of methods and approaches to environmental assessments and spatial analysis as well as the associated tools (e.g. statistical, GIS);
• Practical understanding of the use of data and information in indicators and assessments;
• Good written and spoken English;
• Good analytical, organisational and interpersonal skills.

Advantageous:

• Professional experience in working in a European and/or international environment;
• Good knowledge of the roles and responsibilities of the European Institutions and relevant International Organizations.

CONTRACTUAL 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 Communities. The duration of the contract will be for a limited period of three years with the possibility of being renewed once for the same period.

The basic monthly salary of a Contract Agent before any deductions or allowances, on 1 July 2010 amounts to:

Function Group IV, grade 13 (step 1)                               EUR 3,145.45

Function Group IV, grade 14 (step 1)                               EUR 3,558.90

Function Group IV, grade 16 (step 1)                               EUR 4,555.99

To this basic salary a weighting factor is to be added (34.1%) for Denmark from 1 July 2010. The salaries of Contract Agents are subject to a community tax deducted at source. They are exempt from national tax.

In addition to their basic salary, staff members may be entitled to various allowances, in particular an expatriation or foreign residence allowance, and family allowances, including household allowance, dependent child allowance, pre-school allowance and an education allowance.

Please note that recruitment is done in the first or second step of the indicated grade, depending on the duration of the acquired professional experience.

Under certain circumstances, in particular where staff members are obliged to change their place of residence in order to take up employment, the Agency may also reimburse various expenses incurred on recruitment, notably removal expenses.

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 Communities 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 Communities.

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.”