RECRUITMENT NOTICE PE/309/2024/S/INLO
TEMPORARY STAFF MEMBER
Administrative assistant (AST 1)
Before applying, please read carefully the Guide for Candidates attached to this recruitment notice.
The Guide is an integral part of the recruitment notice and helps to understand the rules governing selection procedures and how to go about applying.
CONTENTS
A. JOB DESCRIPTION AND ELIGIBILITY
B. PROCEDURE
C. APPLICATIONS
ANNEX: GUIDE FOR CANDIDATES IN SELECTION PROCEDURES ORGANISED BY THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
A. JOB DESCRIPTION AND ELIGIBILITY
1. General remarks
The European Parliament has decided to open the procedure for filling a temporary staff member post (AST 1) in the Directorate-General for Infrastructure and Logistics, Directorate for Integrated Facility Management, Budget Implementation Service. The profile sought is that of administrative assistant with responsibility for public procurement.
The contract will be concluded for an indefinite period. Recruitment will be at grade AST 1, first step, the basic salary for which is EUR 3 461.58 per month. This salary is subject to Community tax and to the other deductions provided for by the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union (CEOS). It is exempt from national tax. The step at which the successful candidate is recruited may be adjusted in accordance with his or her professional experience. Moreover, in given circumstances, allowances will be paid in addition to the basic salary.
The European Parliament is an equal opportunities employer and accepts applications without discrimination on any ground such as gender, race, color, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital status or family situation.
2. Job description
The Directorate-General for Infrastructure and Logistics (DG INLO) is responsible for managing infrastructure and logistics in Parliament’s various places of work.
DG INLO’s mission is to handle:
– the technical and administrative management of all buildings occupied by Parliament Parliament’s buildings in Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg and the liaison offices in the Member States;
– the management of the equipment and services departments involved in running the buildings;
– the management of equipment (purchasing, transport, removals, message services, catering, shops, etc.) and practical arrangements for meetings.
Posted to Brussels, the person recruited will join a dynamic team dealing with the administration of public procurement files, including archiving, encoding and recording the files and related supporting documents. They will be a contact point and coordinator within their department for a number of administrative procedures. Performed under the authority of the director and in the context of programmes and priorities drawn up by Parliament’s governing bodies and the relevant management, the duties will involve in particular:
– Helping with the programming of public procurement procedures;
– Determining the timetable for those procedures together with the operational units and monitoring their implementation;
– Organising and/or helping with public procurement procedures (launch and follow-up of procedures, taking part in tender opening and evaluation committees, monitoring the administrative workflow for draft contracts and modifications, updating the follow-up tables, drafting explanatory notes, archiving, etc.);
– Compiling dossiers, in particular for public procurement procedures, in accordance with established procedures, in paper and/or electronic form, and providing the decision-making authorities with finalised dossiers;
– Word processing, putting documents in the proper form, creating tables, diary management, correspondence, filing, preparing dossiers, reports, statistics, etc.;
– Providing administrative assistance: managing calls, emails and correspondence, absences, teleworking, requests for training, office supplies and meetings, preparing mission orders, etc.
Performing these tasks will require excellent organisational skills, a strong sense of responsibility, tact, good interpersonal skills and a strong team spirit.
The work will entail travel between Parliament’s places of work.
3. Eligibility
On the closing date for applications, you must meet the following conditions:
(a) General conditions
In accordance with Article 12(2) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, you must:
– be a national of one of the European Union’s Member States,
– enjoy full rights as a citizen,
– have fulfilled any obligations imposed on you by the laws on military service,
– be able to produce the appropriate character references as to your suitability for the performance of your duties.
(b) Specific conditions
(i) Qualifications required
You must have:
- a level of post-secondary education attested by a diploma,
or
- a level of secondary education attested by a diploma giving access to post-secondary education, followed by at least three years’ relevant professional experience,
or
professional training or professional experience of an equivalent level.
Diplomas, whether issued in a Member State or in a non-EU country, must be recognised by an official body of an EU Member State, such as the ministry of education.
Candidates holding diplomas issued in a non-EU country must enclose with their application an EU equivalence for their diplomas. For further information on recognition of qualifications obtained in a non-EU country in the ENIC-NARIC networks, see: https://www.enic-naric.net.
The selection committee will take account of the differences between the Member States’ education systems. Examples of the minimum qualifications required are given in the table included in the Guide for Candidates.
Candidates who fail to enclose an EU equivalence for their diplomas and candidates with diplomas not recognised by an official body of an EU Member State will not be admitted to the selection procedure.
(ii) Professional experience required
No professional experience is required.
(iii) Knowledge of languages
You must have a thorough knowledge (level C1) of one of the European Union’s official languages (language 1): Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish or Swedish,
and
a satisfactory knowledge (level B2) of English or French (language 2).
Language 2 must be different from language 1.
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Note that the language 2 requirement for this procedure (English or French) has been determined in the interests of the service. The tasks of an administrative assistant require specific skills, including in relation to monitoring, drafting, implementation and administration. The newly recruited staff member must be able to understand the tasks to be carried out, resolve problems and communicate effectively with outside interlocutors and with management and colleagues. The European Parliament employs a diverse staff working mainly in its buildings in Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg. In this multilingual context, operational effectiveness rests largely on the use of French and English. These two languages are essential both to ensure that communication is smooth and efficient and that day-to-day activities are carried out successfully as well as for the conclusion of buildings projects in DG INLO. Knowledge of one of these languages is vital in order for the staff member to be able to carry out their responsibilities effectively and to meet the needs of the service in connection with the tasks they are required to perform. Those tasks will entail regular interaction with colleagues, management and external interlocutors, who mainly use these languages in their day-to-day work. In addition, training, team meetings and integration procedures for new staff are run mainly in English and French, underlining the importance of knowing at least one of these two languages. Ongoing projects, such as the renovation of the SPAAK Building and the Citizens’ House and the fitting out of new multifunctional spaces, necessitate coherent and harmonised communication with various actors, including multidisciplinary teams, architects, engineers, building technicians and final users of the European Parliament. For example, the SPAAK project is a major transformation of Parliament’s main building and involves an ongoing dialogue with various stakeholders. The use of English and French as ‘pivot languages’ facilitates these interactions while maintaining respect for linguistic diversity at operational level. In DG INLO, French is the language most commonly used for internal communication, while English predominates in relations with other DGs and with Parliament’s political and administrative authorities. English is also commonly used for drafting documents. Satisfactory knowledge of English or French is essential for performing specific tasks in connection with public procurement procedures, for which the IT tools are available only in these two languages. Meetings of the Public Procurement Forum, which the newly recruited staff member will attend, take place solely in English and French. In addition, satisfactory knowledge of French is crucial for understanding the applicable legislation in Belgium, as well as for interacting with service providers, administrations and local authorities. The language requirements of this selection procedure are therefore in line with long-established practice. In conclusion, restricting language 2 to English or French in this selection procedure is justified by the operational needs of the service, the requirements of the post of administrative assistant and the internal practices of the directorate-general in order to ensure optimum effectiveness and cohesion within the European Parliament. |
B. PROCEDURE
The procedure is based on qualifications and tests.
1. Admission and assessment of qualifications (1st stage)
(a) The appointing authority will draw up a list of candidates who have submitted their applications in the form required and by the closing date and who meet the general conditions set out in section A, point 3(a). That list will be forwarded to the selection committee together with the application files.
(b) The selection committee will check whether the application files meet the specific conditions set out in section A, point 3(b).
(c) On the basis of a marking grid laid down in advance, the selection committee will assess the qualifications of all eligible candidates and draw up a list of the six best candidates, who will be invited to the tests. The selection committee will invite to the tests any candidates tied for the final place.
The selection committee will base its decisions solely on the information given on the application form and substantiated by supporting documents (for further details see the Guide for Candidates in selection procedures organised by the European Parliament, point 3(3)).
In assessing the candidates’ qualifications, the selection committee will take particular account of the following aspects (to be substantiated by supporting documents enclosed with the application file):
a. Knowledge of the programming of public procurement procedures;
b. Knowledge of the organisation of public procurement procedures (launch and follow-up of procedures, taking part in tender opening and evaluation committees, monitoring the administrative workflow for contracts and modifications, updating the follow-up tables, drafting explanatory notes, archiving, etc.);
c. Knowledge of the preparation of dossiers, including for public procurement procedures;
d. Knowledge of word processing, putting documents in the proper form, creating tables, diary management, correspondence, filing, preparing dossiers, reports, statistics, etc.;
e. Knowledge of administrative assistance: managing calls, emails and correspondence, absences, teleworking, requests for training, office supplies and meetings, preparing mission orders, etc.;
f. Knowledge of multicultural or international working environments.
Marking: 0 to 20 points
2. Tests (2nd stage)
Written test
a Drafting test in language 2 (English or French), based on a set of documents, to test your ability to perform the duties set out in section A.2 and your drafting skills.
Maximum time allowed: 60 minutes
Marking: 0 to 20 points (pass mark: 10)
Oral test
b Interview with the selection committee in language 2 (English or French) to assess, taking account of all the information contained in your application file, your suitability to perform the duties set out in section A.2. The selection committee may decide to test your knowledge of the languages specified on the application form.
Maximum duration: 45 minutes.
Marking: 0 to 40 points (pass mark: 20).
These tests may be held remotely or in person.
You will receive instructions concerning the written and oral tests in good time. You must follow the instructions to the letter. Any failure to follow the instructions or any action not consistent with the instructions will lead to your immediate disqualification.
3. List of suitable candidates
The list of suitable candidates will contain, in order of merit, the names of the three candidates who have obtained the highest overall scores in the procedure (assessment of qualifications and tests) and have achieved the pass mark in each of the tests.
You will be informed individually in writing of your results.
The list of suitable candidates will be published on Parliament’s intranet.
The period of validity of the list of suitable candidates will expire on 31 December 2028. Its validity may be extended by decision of the appointing authority. If it is extended, the candidates whose names have been included on the list will be informed in good time.
C. APPLICATIONS
To apply, you must have an account on the Apply4EP platform: https://apply4ep.gestmax.eu/search/index/lang/en_US.
You must read carefully the Guide for Candidates in selection procedures organised by the European Parliament before completing the application form.
Deadline for applications
The deadline for applications is
12.00 (noon), Brussels time, on 6 November 2024
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