EMSA

The European Maritime Safety Agency was established for the purpose of ensuring a high, uniform and effective level of maritime safety, maritime security as well as prevention of and response to pollution by ships within the EU.

The idea of a European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) originated in the late 1990s along with a number of other important European maritime safety initiatives. EMSA was set up as the regulatory agency that would provide a major source of support to the Commission and the Member States in the field of maritime safety and prevention of pollution from ships.

The European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002, as amended, provides the legal basis for the establishment of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA).

The Agency provides technical, operational and scientific assistance to the European Commission and Member States in the fields of maritime safety, maritime security, prevention of, and response to, pollution caused by ships as well as response to marine pollution caused by oil and gas installations.

The Agency also contributes to the overall efficiency of maritime traffic and maritime transport and supports European cooperation on coastguard functions.

Unit A.2 provides advice to the Executive Director in Legal, Budgetary and Financial Affairs; Financial and Legal verification of budgetary and financial transactions; training in relation to finance and procurement; preparation and updates of relevant manuals, guidelines, templates and procedures; management of facilities and support services.

A.2.1 LEGAL AFFAIRS:
Legal verification of procurement procedures and legal commitments; legal advice to the Executive Director and EMSA staff; updates of relevant manuals, guidelines, templates and procedures; management of contract archive; advice to EMSA staff in procurement issues.

A.2.2 BUDGET AND FINANCIAL AFFAIRS:
Ex-ante financial verification of commitments, payments, recovery orders; invoice registration; provision of budget overviews; drafting of amending budgets; initiation of credit operations and transfers; updates of relevant manuals, guidelines, templates and procedures; advice to EMSA staff in financial and budgetary issues.

A.2.3 FACILITIES AND LOGISTICS
Mail handling, transport, print and facilities and logistics management services. Supervision and coordination of contractors regarding cleaning, maintenance and the security of the premises.

The Financial Assistant will, under the responsibility of the Head of Unit A.2 ‘Legal, Financial & Facilities Support’, be responsible for: 

• Acting as a Verifying Agent controlling the regularity of financial transactions and files;
• Advising on financial and administrative procedures in line with applicable budgetary and financial rules;
• Providing advice, support and training to all financial actors;
• Contributing to the updating of relevant rules and procedures and to streamlining of administrative procedures.

A. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Qualifications and experience required:

A.1 Education:

• A level of secondary education attested by a diploma giving access to post-secondary education, or 
• A level of post secondary education of an official duration of three years attested by a diploma.

A.2. Language skills 

The main working language in the field of maritime safety is English. Candidates must therefore have a very good command of oral English as well as in writing with a satisfactory knowledge of at least one other official language of the European Union to the extent necessary for the performance of the above mentioned duties.

B. SELECTION CRITERIA

B.1. Essential:

• At least two years of proven professional experience, out of which a minimum of one year of relevant experience must have been gained in finance, budget and/or contracts related files and reports;
• Relevant knowledge of the EU Financial Regulation;
• Excellent working knowledge of Excel;
• Knowledge and experience with Business Objects;
• Good working knowledge of IT financial management tools related to the functions;
• Proven experience in making financial and/or budgetary reports from a  large database;
• Proven experience in drafting guidelines and/or user manuals. 

B.2. Advantageous: 

• Previous relevant work experience in another EU Institution or Body;
• Proven experience in providing advice and support in finance, budget and/or contracts related issues.

Candidates must give details in their application, for the above-mentioned essential and advantageous criteria, of how relevant experience or knowledge was acquired, including the range of tasks and their relevance to the functions and duties, tools used, examples of reports, guidelines or manuals that have been prepared and for what purpose.  

The advantageous criteria will be considered by the Selection Board depending on the number of applicants meeting the essential criteria. 

Applicants must meet the required eligibility criteria concerning the required educational qualifications and years of experience, as well as the essential criteria by the deadline for this call for applications.

In addition to the requirements above, candidates invited to the interview and test phase may also be assessed against the following supplementary requirements:

Supplementary: 

• Excellent analytical skills and a high sense of discretion and confidentiality;
• The ability to work to precise deadlines, organise workload and prioritise tasks;
• The ability to communicate effectively with colleagues and external contacts on different levels;
• Good sense of initiative and responsibility.

In order to be eligible the candidate must:

• Be a national of one of the Member States of the European Union or of Iceland or Norway;
• Be entitled to your full rights as a citizen;
• Have fulfilled the obligations imposed on you by the laws concerning military service;
• Meet the character requirements for the duties involved and
• Be physically fit to perform the duties linked to the post.

The Reserve list for a Financial Assistant will be appointed by the Executive Director, upon recommendation of the Chairperson of the Selection Committee.

This vacancy notice concerns a Temporary Agent position, pursuant to Article 2 f) of the Conditions of Employment of other servants of the European Communities.

The basic monthly salary, before any deductions or allowances, weighted for Lisbon, at 1 July 2016 for grade AST 1 first step is 2281.00 EUR.

In addition to the basic salary, staff members may be entitled to various allowances, such as an expatriation allowance (16% of basic salary), household 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.

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. EMSA offers a comprehensive welfare package including pension scheme, medical, accident and occupational disease insurance coverage, unemployment and invalidity allowance. Further information regarding rights and conditions of employment can be found in the following document:

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

Please note that in line with the Staff Regulations recruited candidates shall be required to demonstrate before their first promotion the ability to work in a third European Community language.

The place of employment is Lisbon, Portugal.

Candidates are advised that if they are offered a post, and accept, they must undergo a compulsory medical examination to establish that they meet the standard of physical fitness necessary to perform the duties involved.

Candidates must submit their application electronically solely via the EMSA website within the deadline. Applications by any other means (hard copy or ordinary e-mail) or submitted after the deadline will not be accepted.

All candidates will receive an acknowledgement of receipt for their application.

EMSA is an equal opportunities employer and encourages applications from all candidates who fulfil the eligibility and selection criteria without any distinction whatsoever on any ground such as sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age, marital status or other family situation or sexual orientation.

You may apply in any of the official languages of the European Union, but it would be helpful to apply in English in order to facilitate the selection process.

For each selection process a Selection Committee is nominated. The selection is carried out in two phases:

1. In the first phase all eligible applications will be evaluated by the Selection Committee and scored against the selection criteria. Please note that non-compliance with at least one of the essential selection criteria will result in the exclusion of the candidate from the selection process. Advantageous criteria constitute additional assets and will not result in exclusion, if not fulfilled. The advantageous criteria will be considered by the Selection Committee depending on the number of applicants meeting the essential selection criteria.

On this basis, the Selection Committee will invite to the interview and to the test phase the best qualified candidates (maximum of 15), on condition that they have achieved at least 60% of the highest possible score during the evaluation of applications. Should the case arise that there are various candidates scoring the same number of points in the 15th ranking, the number of candidates to be invited will be increased accordingly to accomodate this. 

2. In the second phase, the selected candidates will be invited to pass one or several written tests related to the job profile and to take part in a selection interview.

During this recruitment phase, the selected candidates will be evaluated by the Selection Committee. After the interviews and tests, the Selection Committee will draw up a list of the most suitable candidates to be proposed to the Appointing Authority. Only candidates receiving at least 70% of the maximum points at interview and at the test phase will be included in the list of the most suitable candidates. The Appointing Authority will select the successful candidate and decide whether to also adopt a reserve list. The successful candidates will be informed accordingly.

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.

All candidates will receive an information letter of the outcome of their application.

Please note that a binding commitment can only be made after verification of all conditions and will take the form of a contract signed by the Executive Director.

The reserve list will remain valid for a period of 1 year following its establishment. Therefore candidates whose name will be put on a reserve list could be offered a contract during this period of time. Please note however that inclusion in the reserve list does not guarantee recruitment.

Please note that the selection process may take several months to be completed and that no information will be released during this period. Once a selection process has been completed, its status will be displayed in the e-recruitment.

Please note that once you have created your EMSA profile, any correspondence regarding your application must be sent or received via your EMSA profile.

For any prior enquiry, please refer to the FAQ (Frequently asked questions) section, or send an e-mail to recruitment@emsa.europa.eu

Requests for information and appeal:

An applicant who would like further information, or considers that he/she has grounds for complaint concerning a particular decision may, at any point in the selection procedure, request further information from the Chairperson of the Selection Committee.

For information on how to lodge a complaint and/or an appeal procedure, please consult the ‘General Information for Recruitment’ overview on our website for more information:

http://www.emsa.europa.eu/recruitment-info.html