Stakeholder Relations and Executive Assistant

BBI JU – Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking

Brussels, Belgium

Reference: BBI/2021/2/AST/SREA
Starting date: As soon as possible

Section 9: Indicative monthly salaries corrected on 19 April 2020.

1. Who we are

The Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) is a public-private partnership between the European Commission and the Bio-based Industry Consortium (BIC). The BBI JU is established in Brussels under European Union law for a period up to 31.12.2024. The BBI JU implements a Joint Technology Initiative aimed at promoting investment in the development of a sustainable bio-based industry sector in Europe.

The objective of the Joint Technology Initiative on Bio-based industries is to implement a research and innovation programme in Europe that assesses the feasibility of the establishment of sustainable and competitive bio-based value chains. These activities will be carried out through collaboration between stakeholders from the research community along entire bio-based value chains, including primary production, processing industries and end-users. The BBI JU encourages the participation of SMEs to ensure their full involvement in the programme.

The BBI JU will organise competitive calls for proposals to support and facilitate research, innovation and deployment activities, which will play an essential role in achieving its objectives. Close synergies with other European Union policies in areas such as industrial competitiveness and SMEs, agriculture, energy and environment, and with the European Structural and Investment Funds or Rural Development related actions will be developed.

The Joint Technology Initiative will engage up to € 3.7 billion for the period 2014 – 2024. The working language of the BBI JU is English.

For further information, please consult the following website: www.bbi-europe.eu.

2. Overall purpose

The Stakeholder Relations and Executive Assistant provides support to the Executive Director and the Communication team by performing the tasks mentioned below.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Stakeholder Relations and Executive Assistant duties include:

Stakeholder relations

Liaise with representatives of the EU institutions (European Commission, European Parliament, European Council, Committee of Regions) and follow up policy initiatives impacting the BBI JU;
Liaise with trade organisations and NGOs for relevant policy initiatives impacting the BBI JU;
Brief, support and ensure document quality check for the Executive Director in public relations with EU Institutions;
Identify key stakeholders from the EU institutions and develop strategies for strengthening links of cooperation with them, network and raise awareness about the BBI JU’s objectives;
Follow up and prepare – in coordination with the internal control and audit manager – the BBI JU Discharge procedure liaising with the European Parliament, the European Council and the European Commission;
Coordinate policy follow-up relevant to the BBI JU, advise the BBI JU management and provide feedback to policy.

Assist and advise the Executive Director

Provide support to the organisation and follow up of the BBI JU Governing Board and Management team meetings;
Provide advice and assistance to the Executive Director including: drafting speeches, agendas, briefings, reports, for his involvement in external/internal conferences, committee’s meetings and workshops and demonstrating a high level of autonomy;
Coordinate the secretariat support of the Executive Director and the Management team.

Support and advice on communication activities

Provide content and support to communication activities including, documents, events and campaigns in order to ensure the highest impact on the BBI JU community according to the corporate Stakeholders’ strategy and communication policy;
Assist with stakeholder enquiries, and provide support for communication dissemination activities;
Assist the communications officer in developing professional links with relevant policy organisations;
Undertake additional tasks as required in the interests of the service.

3. Eligibility criteria

Candidates will be considered for the selection phase on the basis of the following criteria to be fulfilled by the closing date for applications.

3.1. General conditions

Be a national of a Member State of the European Union;
Be entitled to his or her full rights as a citizen;
Have fulfilled any obligations imposed by the applicable laws concerning military service;
Meet the character requirements for the duties involved;
Have a thorough knowledge of one of the official EU languages and a satisfactory knowledge of another of these languages to the extent necessary for the performance of their duties (candidates are invited to specify in their CV any language certificates they have obtained which can demonstrate their language skills);
Be physically fit to perform the duties linked to the post¹.

3.2. Education²

Have a level of secondary education attested by a diploma giving access to post- secondary education followed by proven professional experience of at least 9 years.

4. Selection criteria

Candidates selected based on the above eligibility criteria will then be evaluated according to the following selection criteria:

4.1. Essential qualifications and experience

At least 5 years of professional experience in performing the tasks as describe under point duties and responsibilities;
At least 3 years of professional experience in public affairs, inter institutional and stakeholder relations;
Excellent written and spoken communication skills in English (native English speakers will be required to demonstrate the ability to work in a second language at the interview stage);
Excellent drafting skills capable to provide relevant content with an eye for details.

4.2. Advantageous qualifications and experience

Knowledge of policies related the domain of the BBI JU programme;
Experience in drafting policy documents;
Educational background and/or training in the areas relevant to the position;
Experience within European institutions or Professional experience in a similar position in a European Institution.

4.3. Behavioural competences

Proven ability to work in a team in a multicultural, international and multidisciplinary environment;
Excellent analytical, problem solving and organisational skills;
Strong sense of responsibility, autonomy, commitment and co-operation;
Ability to establish and develop good inter-personal relations with a broad range of stakeholders in cross-cultural environments;
Excellent negotiation, presentation and networking skills;
Ability to multitask, to prioritise and to meet tight deadlines;
Good social skills and ability to communicate effectively.

Failure to comply with the eligibility and essential selection criteria will result in a disqualification of the applicant concerned.

5. Independence and declaration of interests

The successful candidate will be required to make a declaration of commitment to act independently in the public interest and to make a declaration in relation to interests which might be considered prejudicial to his/her independence. Candidates must confirm their willingness to do so in their application.

6. Selection procedure

A Selection Board is nominated by the Appointing Authority of the BBI JU. After screening the applications, the Selection Board will, based on elements of the applications, draw up a shortlist of candidates to be invited for an interview. Candidates invited for an interview will also sit a written test related to the field of the post. Following this, the Selection Board will establish a reserve list of suitable candidates to be approved by the Executive Director. Competences and interpersonal skills of candidates may be tested before the interview with the Executive Director via psychometric testing, and/or assessment centre organised by an external consultant. The Executive Director may decide to interview the candidates before establishment of the reserve list and/or appointment. Candidates are reminded that the different selection boards’ works are confidential. It is forbidden for candidates to make direct or indirect contact with their members or to ask anybody else to do so on their behalf.

7. Appointment and reserve list

The Executive Director of the Joint Undertaking will select the successful candidate and offer the post. A binding commitment can only be made after the verification of all conditions and will take the form of a contract signed by the Executive Director.

The reserve list will be used in order to fill vacant positions within the BBI JU.

Candidates should 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 2022 and may be extended at the discretion of the Appointing Authority of the BBI JU.

8. Equal opportunities

The BBI JU, as a Union body, applies a policy of equal opportunities and non- discrimination in accordance with Article 1d of the Staff Regulations³.

9. Conditions of employment

The successful candidate will be appointed by the Executive Director of the BBI JU as a temporary agent at grade AST4 for a period of three years.

The successful candidate will be asked to perform nine months of probationary period.

After an evaluation of the post holder’s performance, the contract may be renewed in accordance with the BBI JU legal basis. The period of engagement will not in any case exceed the lifetime of the BBI JU.

Remuneration will be based on the Union scale of salaries. Pay is subject to Union tax and other deductions laid down in the Staff Regulations. Remuneration is, however, exempt from any national taxation.

The successful applicant who is offered a contract of employment will be graded on entry into service in step 1 or step 2 of the relevant grade, according to the length of his/her professional experience. The indicative basic monthly salaries of AST4 are:

Step 1: €4,346.06;
Step 2: €4,528.68.

For any further information on contractual and working conditions, please refer to the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities and its Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities, which is available on the following web page: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:1962R0031:20140101:EN:PDF.

The place of employment is Brussels, where the BBI JU’s premises are located.

10. Application procedure

For applications to be valid, candidates must submit an online application via the BBI vacancies portal: https://cloud.bbi.europa.eu/web/vacancies/.

Note that there are two parts to the portal:

The Vacancy Document Download Link;
The Link to the application Submission System.

In the event that there is more than one vacancy advertised, be sure to select the links from the correct line on the list.

Candidates are required to complete all the mandatory sections before the system will permit the submission of an application.

It is not posisble to upload any documents. All the information must be provided via the on-line forms.

IMPORTANT: If a candidate does not receive an acknowledgement of receipt for their application within 10 minutes of submitting it on-line, s/he should:

Check their junk mail folder;
Contact [email protected] if no Acknowledgement of Receipt mail was found.

For each vacancy (position), any new application made by a candidate with the same e- mail address will automatically erase and replace the previous application for that position.

The application will be rejected if the dossier is incomplete.

Candidates are advised to apply using an e-mail address that will remain valid for several months: candidates that will leave their job in the coming months are advised not to use their professional e-mail address.

Supporting documents (e.g. certified copies of degrees/diplomas, references, proof of experience, etc.) should not be sent at this point but must be submitted at a later stage of the procedure if requested.

In order to facilitate the selection process, application documents as well as all communications to candidates concerning this vacancy will be in English.

Application forms sent by e-mail, fax or post will not be accepted.

Candidates are asked to report any potential change of contact details in writing, without delay, to the following e-mail address: [email protected]. Please remember to quote the reference of the vacancy(ies) for which you have applied in all correspondence.

11. Closing date

Applications must be submitted by 10 May 2021, 23:59 CEST (Central European Summer Time/Brussels time).

The closing date of this vacancy may be prolonged.

Candidates are recommended not to wait until the final days before the closing date of applications’ submission. The BBI JU cannot be held responsible for any last-minute malfunction due to an overflow of the application system.

12. Review and appeal procedure

Review procedure

A candidate who feels that he/she has been treated incorrectly may ask to have his/her application reconsidered by sending, within 20 calendar days of the date of notification, a request for review via email to: [email protected]. The candidate should quote the number of the selection procedure concerned and address the request to the Chairman of the Selection Board.

The Selection Board will reconsider the application and notify the candidate of its decision within 45 calendar days of receipt of the request.

Appeal procedure

If the candidate considers that he/she has been adversely affected by a particular decision, he/she can lodge a complaint under Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities and the Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities (CEOS), at the following address:

Executive Director
BBI Joint Undertaking
White Atrium Building
TO 56
1049 Brussels
Belgium

The complaint must be lodged within 3 months counting from the notification of the decision the candidate wishes to contest.

If the complaint is rejected the candidate may bring a case under Article 270 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union and Article 91 of the Staff Regulations and the CEOS before:

The European Union Civil Service Tribunal
Postal address:
L-2925 Luxemburg

The Appointing Authority does not have the power to amend the assessment decisions of the Selection Board. The Court has consistently held that the wide discretion enjoyed by Selection Boards is not subject to review by the Court unless rules which govern the proceedings of the Selection Board have been infringed. It is also possible to complain to the European Ombudsman:

European Ombudsman
1 avenue du Président Robert Schuman – BP 403
F-67001 Strasbourg Cedex

Complaints made to the Ombudsman have no suspense effect on the period laid down in the Articles 90(2) and 91 of the Staff Regulations for lodging, respectively, a complaint or an appeal with the European Union Civil Service Tribunal under Article 270 of the Treaty.

Protection of personal data

The personal information the BBI JU requests from candidates will be processed pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data. Personal data shall be processed solely for the purpose of the performance, management and follow-up of information in view of a possible appointment at the BBI JU. In case of any query concerning the processing of personal data, a request shall be addressed to the BBI JU Data Protection Officer ([email protected]).

¹ Before his/her appointment, the candidate shall be medically examined in line with the requirement of Article 12(2)(d) of the Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities.
² Only study titles that have been awarded in EU Member States or that are subject to the equivalence certificates issued by the authorities in the said Member States shall be taken into consideration.
³http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:1962R0031:20140101:EN:PDF

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