Junior Officer - Information and Publications Junior Officer - Montesquieu Institute

CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST FOR A POSITION

WITHIN THE EUROPEAN FOOD SAFETY AUTHORITY (PARMA)

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is the keystone of European Union (EU) risk assessment regarding food and feed safety. In close collaboration with national authorities and in open consultation with its stakeholders, EFSA provides independent scientific advice and clear communication on existing and emerging risks.

The Authority has set up a selection procedure that aims to establish a reserve list for Temporary Agents (5 years contract renewable at the conditions set out in the Staff Regulations and in the Conditions of Employment for Other Servants) for:

Information and Publications Junior Officer

Public Information & Events Unit

Grade AD 5

Ref.: EFSA/X/AD/2010/010

The Communications Directorate

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is committed to ensuring that all interested parties, stakeholders and the public at large receive timely, reliable, objective and meaningful information based on the risk assessments of its Scientific Committee and Panels and its own scientific expertise. Communicating its own initiatives and promoting collaboration with Member States and stakeholders are crucial to building coherence in risk communications and consumer confidence in the risk assessment process. Working closely with other EFSA colleagues, in particular EFSA Science and External Relations, the EFSA Communications team develops and contributes to strategies, programmes and initiatives to achieve these goals. The Communications Directorate includes the Press Office unit, the Public Information and Events Unit and the Web Team.

The Public Information and Events Unit

The Public Information and Events Unit (PIE) is responsible for the development and execution of strategic communications programmes to build awareness, understanding and appreciation for EFSA's mission and contribution to food safety in the EU amongst its customers, key target audiences and ultimately the public at large. The Unit is responsible for the provision and coordination of general marketing, advertising and publicity services across all EFSA Directorates (Risk Assessment, Scientific Cooperation and Assistance, Communications and Administration) as well as for all EFSA publications, the production of multi-media products and the organization of events.

The job

The Information and Publication Officer provides primarily editorial services but also publications production support for the Public Information and Events Unit, ensuring that content of publications and other outputs are of high quality, up-to-date, consistent and meaningful to target audiences.

The jobholder reports to the Publications team leader in the PIE Unit, has close working relations with members of the Unit, and may be asked to support other services of the Directorate. As a service provider for all EFSA departments, he/she has close contacts with, in particular, EFSA scientists of both Risk Assessment and Scientific Cooperation and Assistance directorates, the Scientific Committee and Advisory Forum and the Legal and Policy Affairs Units.

The specific tasks include:

· Proactively seeking out stimulating content for EFSA's publications from contributors both internally and externally;

· Research, develop and write engaging content for EFSA's publications ensuring consistency and coherence;

· Support EFSA Communications in all aspects of editorial work, collaborating with other editors, as well as the web and press units on corporate and scientific content;

· Lead the development, editing, production, publication and promotion of written printed or electronic publication material, both corporate and scientific, such as the annual report, newsletters, fact sheets, brochures, panels, scientific posters and banners for exhibition stands or any promotional purpose, in close cooperation with other internal units as well as external partners and suppliers;

· Recommend and develop new communication tools to meet the needs of the Authority and its different target audiences;

· Manage the financial and procurement aspects of contracts used to implement projects as well as the related monitoring of budgets.

The requirements

Qualifications and experience

A.

Eligibility criteria

• i. 

  A level of education which corresponds to completed university studies of at least three (3) years attested by a diploma in the fields of: communications related studies (Journalism, English, Modern Languages, Social sciences, Public Relations, Marketing, etc.) or science studies related to EFSA´s remit (Biology, Chemistry, Medicine, etc.);
• ii. 

  Thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the Communities and a satisfactory knowledge of another language of the Communities;
• iii. 

  Candidates must be nationals of a Member State of the European Communities;
• iv. 

  Candidates must have fulfilled any obligations imposed on them by laws concerning military service;
• v. 

  Meet the character requirements for the duties involved;
• vi. 

  Candidates must be entitled to his or her full rights as a citizen;
• vii. 

  Be physically fit to perform the duties linked to the post.

B.

Selection criteria

Essential criteria

· Knowledge and/or proven experience of working in a communications environment either in journalism, web, public relations, marketing or publishing;

· Excellent knowledge and / or proven experience of editorial work in English (writing, copywriting or editing) for both on- and off-line content;

· Knowledge and / or experience in communications and writing for different audiences, including specialized /scientific audiences;

· Knowledge and/or proven experience in the area of developing and producing publications (paper and also preferably electronic); including financial and budget management related to publications;

· Knowledge and / or proven experience of project management and managing a number of projects concurrently to meet agreed deadlines;

· Excellent knowledge of the English language;

· Ability to convey information clearly and concisely, with sensitivity to complex content issues;

· Ability to write in English at an exceptionally high level;

· Ability to build productive relationships with a broad range of customers (external and or internal up to a senior level);

· Ability to work under pressure;

· Ability to work in a changing organisation where flexibility and adaptability are essential;

· Ability to present ideas in a clear and concise format;

· Ability to work well with others (team-player) as well as autonomously;

· Attention to detail.

Assets

· Experience in science/health related communications;

· Experience with digital asset management tools as well as publications related software (In-design etc.)

· Knowledge of any other EFSA working language (Italian/French/German);

Selection procedure

The eligibility of candidates will be assessed only if the requirements requested in the vacancy notice are met by the closing date of the submission of applications. Depending on the needs of the Authority and its teams, a shortlist will be established. Shortlisted applicants will be invited for an interview by the Selection Board and may be also interviewed by the Executive Director. The interview will mainly be held in English and during the selection

process candidates may be required to undergo a competency assessment exercise. The interview will take place in Parma (Italy), where the Authority has its seat and where the place of employment is.

Candidates invited to an interview will be requested to submit, on the day of the interview, a non-certified copy of their diploma(s) and evidence of their professional experience, clearly indicating the starting and finishing dates, the function(s) and the exact nature of the duties carried out. However, prior to contract signature, the successful candidate/s will be requested to provide EFSA with original or certified copies of all relevant documents proving the eligibility requirements.

The Selection Board will establish a reserve list composed of at least 3 (three) candidates, provided that they meet the above mentioned essential criteria and assets. The Executive Director will appoint the selected jobholder/s. This reserve list may be used for the recruitment of a similar post depending on the needs of the Authority, and will be valid until 31/12/2011 (the validity of the reserve list may be extended). Candidates should note that inclusion on a reserve list does not guarantee recruitment.

Please note that the Selection Board's internal proceedings are strictly confidential and that any contact with its members is strictly forbidden.

Appeal procedures

If a 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 Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities, at the following address:

The Executive Director EFSA Selection procedure Ref.: EFSA/X/AD/2010/010

Largo N. Palli, 5/A I-43121 PARMA

The complaint must be lodged within 3 months. The time limit for initiating this type of procedure starts to run from the time the completion of the selection procedure is published on the Web-site at:

http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/opportunities/recruitment.html.

Conditions of employment

Depending on the budgetary situation, selected candidate/s may be offered a five-year contract in accordance with the conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities. Before signing the contract, the selected candidates will be asked to sign a declaration of interest. The successful candidates will be recruited in the grade AD5. The basic monthly salary for the grade AD5 (step 1) is 4.267,72. In addition to the basic salary, staff members may be entitled to various allowances, such as a household allowance, expatriation allowance (16% of basic salary), 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. EFSA offers a comprehensive welfare package including pension scheme, medical accident and occupational disease insurance coverage, unemployment and invalidity allowance and travel insurance. 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 The Authority is an equal opportunities employer and takes care to avoid any form of discrimination.

Submission of applications

Candidates are requested to submit their application online through the Authority's website:

www.efsa.europa.eu or download the forms from the EFSA website and send their application by registered mail to the following address:

EFSA Human Resources Unit

Ref.: EFSA/X/AD/2010/010

Largo N. Palli, 5/A I-43121 PARMA Candidates should note that the online application is the recommended method. Moreover, the online method will allow candidates to enter into their application until the deadline in order to make changes.

Applications delivered via email will not be accepted. An application will be deemed admissible only if it includes a duly completed application form. This vacancy notice and the form are only available in English. Candidates are kindly invited to fill in their application form in English, in order to facilitate the recruitment procedure. The Authority regrets that, due to the large volume of applications only candidates selected for interviews will be notified. Information concerning the status of the selection procedure can be found at the following address:

http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/opportunities/recruitment.html.

Please note that EFSA will not return applications to candidates. The personal information EFSA requests from candidates will be processed in line with Regulation

(EC) N° 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data. The purpose of processing of the personal data candidates submit is to manage applications in view of a possible pre-selection and recruitment at EFSA.

More information on personal data protection in relation to selection and recruitment can be found on the EFSA website:

http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/legalnotice.htm

Deadline

Applications must be sent no later than 30

th August 2010 at midnight (Local time, GMT +1). For those sent by registered mail, the postmark date will serve as a proof. The Authority will disregard any applications received after that date.

Please note that, due to the extremely large number of applications we receive, when reaching the deadline for submission of applications, the system may have problems to process the large amounts of data. We therefore advise the applicants to send in their application well ahead of the deadline.

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