Project Manager – Climate change mitigation monitoring, reporting and verification

The European Environment Agency (EEA) is organising an open competition with a view to establishing a reserve list of temporary agents to work within the area of climate change mitigation. Recruitment is envisaged in 2012 pending the approval of the post by the budgetary authority.

THE AGENCY:

The EEA is an Agency of the European Union (EU) and one of the decentralised Community 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 the Mitigation Group, reporting to the Head of the Air and Climate Change Programme, the Project Manager shall be responsible for supporting EEA’s greenhouse gas (GHG) data monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) activities and contributing to EEA assessments in the area of climate change mitigation.

The position will entail the following tasks:

• Assisting with the coordination of the annual review of Member State GHG inventories as foreseen under the EU Effort Sharing Decision and forthcoming revised EU GHG Monitoring Mechanism Decision, ensuring annual data review activities are performed to a high level of quality and in accordance with agreed protocols and processes;
•  Contributing to the implementation of future MRV activities under the revised EU Monitoring Mechanism Decision, including provision of support to both the EEA’s annual compilation of the EU greenhouse gas emissions inventory and the improvement of quality of Member States’ national GHG inventories;
• Analysing Member State information on projected progress towards obligations under the Effort Sharing Decision, and assessing information reported on national policies and measures and national projections;
• Contributing to EEA’s regular reports assessing greenhouse emission trends, future emission pathways and underlying explanatory factors for these;
• Contributing to capacity building activities aiming to assist EEA Member and cooperating countries with international and EU MRV obligations in the area climate change mitigation.

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 (eg. in natural or applied sciences), where the normal duration of university education is 4 years or more OR successful completion of university studies attested by a degree relevant to the field concerned (eg. in natural or applied sciences), where the normal duration of university education is 3 years;                                   

b)  A minimum of 3 years (with a 4 year diploma) OR 4 years (with a 3 year diploma) 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 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 (with a 4 year diploma) OR 4 years (with a 3 year diploma) of professional experience in the areas mentioned under “Job description”;
• A sound practical understanding of emission inventory compilation principles and inventory quality criteria, and familiarity with relevant international emission inventory review processes and practices;
• Knowledge of relevant UNFCCC and IPCC guidance material including the Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines and the IPCC Good Practice Guidance, together with practical experience in their application;
• Detailed knowledge of the legal requirements for EU and international greenhouse gas information reporting, together with a demonstrable understanding of the main EU and international climate mitigation policy processes;
• Experience in analysis of greenhouse gas emission trends, drivers and projections, including the effects of policies and measures;
• Excellent project management skills and experience, including delivery of complex projects involving a variety of stakeholders;
• Understanding of political sensitivities and institutional awareness;
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with a demonstrable ability to establish and maintain effective working relations in a multicultural environment;
• Excellent knowledge of written and spoken English;
• Excellent knowledge of the main MS Office Software, namely Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.

Advantageous:

• Familiarity and understanding of relevant air pollutant emissions reporting, monitoring and verification activities within the EU and internationally;
• Knowledge of the roles and responsibilities of the European Institutions.

CONTRACTUAL CONDITIONS:

The successful candidate will be offered a Temporary Agent contract in accordance with Article 2a) 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 6 months.

The basic monthly salary of a Temporary Agent AD6 (step 1), before any deductions or allowances, on 1 July 2010 amounts to EUR 4,921.28. To the basic salary a weighting factor is to be added (34.1%) for Denmark from 1 July 2010. The salaries of Temporary 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 Temporary 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.”

For further information on the Staff Regulations and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities see:

http://ec.europa.eu/civil_service/docs/toc100_en.pdf

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.

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 for an interview the candidates they deem best qualified. 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 technical, written and/or oral test in the area of expertise required for the post. The test and the interview will take place in Copenhagen (Denmark) where the Agency has its seat and where the place of employment is.

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. This usually follows from follow-up recruitment interviews conducted by the Appointing Authority with the suitable candidates. Candidates shall note that inclusion on the reserve list does not guarantee recruitment. Recruitment is envisaged in 2012 pending the approval of the post by the budgetary authority.

The reserve list for this post will be valid until 31 December 2013 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.