Project Manager - Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector (CF SEDSS)

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

To be considered eligible to take part in this selection procedure, on the closing date for the submission of applications candidates must satisfy all the eligibility criteria as specified below:

• be a national of a Member State participating in the Agency;
• be entitled to his/her full rights as a citizen;
• have fulfilled any obligations imposed on him/her by the laws concerning military service;
• produce the appropriate character references as to his/her suitability for the performance of his/her duties (extract from the “judicial record” or certificate of good conduct will be requested prior to recruitment);
• be physically fit to perform his/her duties;
• have a thorough knowledge (minimum level C1 oral and written) of one of the languages of the participating Member States and a satisfactory knowledge (minimum level B2 oral and written) of another of these languages to the extent necessary to discharge his/her duties;
• have no personal interest (financial, family relationship, or other) which could be in conflict with disinterested discharge of his/her duties within the Agency;
• hold, or be in a position to obtain, a valid Personnel Security Clearance Certificate (national or EU PSC at SECRET UE/EU SECRET level). Personnel Security Clearance Certificate (PSCC) means a certificate issued by a competent authority establishing that an individual is security cleared and holds a valid national or EU PSC, and which shows the level of EUCI to which that individual may be granted access (SECRET UE/EU SECRET), the date of validity of the relevant PSC and the date of expiry of the certificate itself. Note that the necessary procedure for obtaining a PSCC can be initiated on request of the employer only, and not by the individual candidate;
• 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 a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma and appropriate professional experience of at least one year when the normal period of university education is at least three years or be a graduate of a national or international Defence College; or where justified in the interests of the service, professional training of an equivalent level.

Only diplomas that have been awarded in EU Member States or that are the subject of equivalence certificates issued by the authorities in the said Member States shall be taken into consideration. In the latter case, the authority authorised to conclude contracts of employment reserves the right to request proof of such equivalence.

For diplomas awarded in non-EU countries, a NARIC recognition is required: https://www.enic-naric.net/

Qualifications/diplomas awarded until 31/12/2020 in the United Kingdom are accepted without further recognition. For diplomas awarded after this date (from 01/01/2021), a NARIC recognition is required.

For native English speakers, your ability to communicate in another EU language will be tested during the selection process. To assess your foreign language levels, see: https://europa.eu/europass/en/common-european-framework-reference-langu…

SELECTION CRITERIA

A. Essential

Only applications meeting all essential selection criteria will be assessed.

(1) Professional

The candidate will be required to demonstrate that he/she has:

• at least six (6) years of relevant professional experience;
• professional background in the defence energy-related sector and a track record of managing EU’s funding programmes dealing with energy in defence;
• familiarity with the EU institutions/bodies and knowledge of the EU policies (i.e. European Green Deal, energy-related directives, etc.) and processes in the fields of defence, sustainable energy and climate change, as well as familiarity with European organisations and communities relating to energy and climate change;
• advanced knowledge of and experience in database and software management (e.g. SharePoint), as well as in the use of graphics, charts and other statistics presentational aspects (knowledge of MS PowerPoint and Excel being minimum requirements);
• excellent organisational skills (organising conferences, workshops and meetings, etc.) and drafting skills (speeches, press releases, briefings, reports, etc.);
• people management skills, proven by successful management of various and numerous project stakeholders (e.g. national administrations, EU bodies, industry, academia, etc.);
• track record of delivering successful business outcomes (i.e. deliverables of projects) both individually and as part of a team;
• excellent knowledge of written and spoken English.

(2) Personal

All staff must be able to fit into the Agency's way of working (see para. 2). Other attributes important for this post include:

• strong sense of duty and responsibility;
• ability to work in a multicultural team;
• results-orientation and strong motivation;
• flexibility and innovativeness;
• good interpersonal, communication and influencing skills;
• ability to adapt to a quickly changing working environment;
• genuine commitment to the Agency's objectives.

B. Desirable

The following will be considered an advantage:

• familiarity with the defence environment (especially, the European Defence Agency’s work, Common Security and Defence Policy - CSDP) and the EU defence community, including government, industry (European Defence and Technological Base), institutes and academia;
• knowledge of energy aspects and challenges in the defence sector;
• familiarity with the functioning of the EU programmes, such as Horizon Europe, LIFE, etc;
• familiarity with the operational and technical aspects of energy, including research, innovation and technology;
• familiarity with circular economy-related technologies and policies;
• hold a (recognised) project management qualification.

We are looking for a Project Manager - Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector (CF SEDSS).

Under the supervision of the Director Research, Technology & Innovation (RTI) and the  Head of Unit Technology and Innovation, the jobholder will:

• oversee, as the project manager, the Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector (CF SEDSS) – a European Commission-funded initiative run and managed by EDA;
• provide input to CF SEDSS to EDA's Project and Portfolio Management platform and support database users in accessing information as needed;
• assess and evaluate wider EU policies and developments in the field of sustainable energy and climate change and their implications on the defence and security sectors, including contributing to strategic technology foresight on energy; 
• actively collaborate and liaise with EDA’s Energy and Environment capability and technology group (EnE CapTech) Activities Search (https://eda.europa.eu/what-we-do/all-activities/activities-search/energ…) and EDA’s Symbiosis (offshore renewable energy for defence) project Symbiosis (https://eda.europa.eu/what-we-do/eu-policies/symbiosis); 
• actively collaborate and liaise with representatives and experts from Member States, industry, research institutes, academia and relevant EU and other institutions, proposing  and developing initiatives for catalysing new projects including those related to research and technology; 
• support other EDA work strands, projects/programmes and teams with energy expertise, including support to CapTechs, project teams or working groups (logistics, education & training) and activities with other external agencies;
• act as a specialist advisor towards EDA Senior Management and contribute to the production of papers, studies, presentations, policies and web content in the field of energy and climate change;
• take on additional tasks as required in the interest of the service.

Duties may evolve depending on the development of the EDA's structure and activities and decisions of EDA management.

The Project Manager - Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector (CF SEDSS) will be appointed by the Chief Executive.

Recruitment will be as a member of the temporary staff of the Agency for a four-year period. Renewal is possible within the limits set out in the EDA Staff Regulations. The successful candidate will be recruited as Temporary Agent, grade AD8.

The pay for this position consists of a basic salary of 7.977,14€ supplemented with various allowances, including as applicable expatriation or family allowances. The successful candidate will be graded on entry into service according to the length of his/her professional experience. Salaries are exempted from national tax, instead an Agency tax at source is paid. For further information on working conditions please refer to: https://eda.europa.eu/jobs/what-we-offer

Failure to obtain the requisite security clearance certificate before the expiration of the probationary period may be cause for termination of the contract.

Candidates are advised that part of the recruitment process includes medical analyses and physical check-up with the Agency’s Medical Adviser.

Applications are invited with a view to establish a reserve list for the post of Project Manager CF SEDSS at EDA. This list will be valid until 31/12/2025, and may be extended by decision of the Chief Executive. During the validity of the reserve list, successful candidates may be offered a post in EDA according to their competences in relation to the specific requirements of the vacant post. Inclusion on the reserve list does not imply any entitlement of employment in the Agency.