European Defence Agency is hiring a Project Officer EU-funded Defence Research

1. Background

The European Defence Agency (EDA) was established on 12 July 2004, and is governed by Council Decision (CFSP) 2015/1835 defining the statute, seat and operational rules of the European Defence Agency. The Agency has its headquarters in Brussels.

The main task of EDA is to support the Council and the Member States in their effort to improve the Union’s defence capabilities in the field of crisis management and to sustain the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) as it currently stands and as it develops in the future.

The Agency is structured into four directorates. The Corporate Services Directorate (CSD) and three operational directorates: Industry, Synergies and Enablers (ISE); Capability, Armament & Planning (CAP); Research, Technology and Innovation (RTI).

2. The Agency’s Way of Working

The Agency is an “outward-facing” organisation, constantly interacting with its shareholders, the participating Member States, as well as with a wide range of stakeholders. It works in an integrated way, with multi-disciplinary teams representing all of the Agency’s functional areas, to realise its objectives. Its business processes are flexible and oriented towards achieving results. Staff at all levels need to demonstrate the corresponding qualities of commitment, flexibility, innovation, and team-working; to work effectively with shareholders and stakeholder groups, formal and informal; and to operate without the need for detailed direction.

3. The Research, Technology and Innovation Directorate (RTI)

The Research, Technology & Innovation Directorate (RTI) promotes and supports defence research at EU level. Based on the Overarching Strategic Research Agenda (OSRA), developed together with the Member States, the Directorate coordinates and plans joint research activities and the study of technical solutions to meet future operational needs.

The RTI Directorate provides support to Member States and to the European Commission for the Preparatory Action for defence research, including its implementation, and the research dimension of the European Defence Fund. The RTI directorate also ensures the promotion of innovation in defence and the exploitation of synergies at EU level with civil research in dual-use technology fields.

The RTI Directorate comprises two Units and an RTI Coordination Team, with the following key tasks:

• The EU-funded Defence Research Unit: upstream, implementing and downstream support linked to defence research activities funded by the EU budget under delegation by the European Commission
• The Technology & Innovation Unit: facilitating the work of the Capability Technology Groups (CapTechs), the Energy & Environment Working Group; development and management of ad hoc research activities based on sectoral Strategic Research Agendas
• The RTI Coordination Team: coordination of the RTI Directorate’s contributions to EDA’s transversal activities (such as CDP, CARD, PESCO, and KSA); overview of the Agency’s research portfolio; provision of outlook for research activities and technology watch.

4. Duties

Under the supervision of the Head of Unit EU-funded Defence Research, the jobholder will be responsible for/contribute to the following activities:

• Manage projects entrusted to EDA for indirect management under the European Defence Fund (EDF);
• Liaise with the internal units (contracting, finance and security) for the negotiations and signature of the assigned grant agreements;
• Liaise/cooperate with relevant EDA internal working groups, especially CapTechs and HEDI, to look for synergies and exploitation of projects results;
• Manage and monitor assigned projects once the grant agreements are signed and review the deliverables;
• Provide oversight and participate in the review meetings of the assigned projects;
• Implement risk management for assigned projects;
• Prepare inputs to obligatory reports towards Commission, especially the annual progress report, the interim progress report and the final report of assigned projects;
• Prepare briefing notes and assist in updating information concerning the activities of the assigned projects;
• Contribute to the assessment of assigned projects and draw lessons learnt and propose appropriate follow-on actions;
• Represent the Agency at public conferences and seminars;
• Take on additional tasks as required in the interest of the service.

Duties may evolve according to the development of EDA’s structure and activities, and the decisions of EDA management.

5. 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 their full rights as citizens;
• Have fulfilled any obligations imposed on them by the laws concerning military service;
• Produce the appropriate character references as to their suitability for the performance of their duties (extract from the “judicial record” or certificate of good conduct will be requested prior to recruitment);
• Be physically fit to perform their 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 their duties;
• Have no personal interest (financial, family relationship, or other) which could be in conflict with disinterested discharge of their 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-language-skills

6. Selection Criteria

A. Essential

Only applications meeting all essential selection criteria will be assessed.

(1) Professional

Candidates will be required to demonstrate the following qualifications:

• A University degree (or equivalent academic qualification) in one of the following fields: aerospace engineering, electro-mechanics, information technology, electronic engineering, telecommunications or satellite systems or similar;
• A minimum of 6 years of professional experience acquired after the award of the qualification required as a condition of eligibility (see eligibility criteria section above);
• Familiarity with the EU defence cooperation environment, especially research & technology and related policies;
• Proven experience in managing defence research & technology projects, including practical experience in the use of European Commission grant management IT tools (COMPASS, SYGMA);
• Practical experience in cooperating with the European defence institutional stakeholders (European Commission/DG DEFIS, EDA, EUMS), ministries of defence of the EU Member States, European research organizations, academia and defence industry incl. SMEs;
• A track record of delivering successful project outcomes;
• Proven experience in handling classified information;
• Very good command 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:

• Ability to work in a team and independently in their area of responsibility;
• Results-orientation and strong motivation;
• Flexibility and innovativeness;
• Good communication skills;
• A strong sense of duty and responsibility;
• Commitment to the Agency’s objectives.

B. Desirable

The following will be considered an advantage:

• Experience in the dissemination and exploitation of research project results;
• Knowledge and/or experience in the implementation of the EU Financial Regulation.

7. Appointment and Conditions of Employment for Temporary Agents at EDA

EDA, whose staff are governed by its own Staff Regulations, offers specific conditions of employment with regards to contract duration and pension arrangements.

Contract Duration

The Project Officer EU-funded Defence Research will be appointed by the Chief Executive. Recruitment will be as a member of the contractual staff of the Agency for a 4-year period. Renewal is possible only once for an additional period of 4 years, within the limits set out in the EDA Staff Regulations and subject to budget availability. The successful candidate will be recruited as Temporary Agent, grade AD8. In line with EDA’s Staff Regulations, the Agency does not offer inter-Agency mobility.

Financial Entitlements

The pay for this position consists of a basic salary of 8,651.92 € supplemented with various allowances including, as applicable, expatriation or family allowances. Successful candidates are graded on entry into service according to the length of their professional experience. Salaries are exempted from national tax, instead an Agency tax at source is paid.

Pension Arrangements Specific to EDA

Prospective staff members considering a career at the European Defence Agency (EDA) should be aware that EDA has its own pension provisions and is not part of the EU institutions’ pension scheme (PSEUI).

In addition, EDA staff have several flexible options regarding their pension contributions at the end of their contract, under certain conditions, such as:

• Transfer to a public pension scheme;
• Transfer to a private pension scheme;
• Direct payment as a severance grant.

For further information on working conditions please refer to: https://eda.europa.eu/jobs/what-we-offer

8. Independence and Declaration of Interest

Selected candidates will be required to make a declaration of commitment to act independently in the Agency’s interest and to make a declaration in relation to interests that might be considered prejudicial to their independence.

9. Equal Opportunities

EDA is an equal opportunities employer and accepts applications without distinction on the grounds of age, race, political, philosophical or religious conviction, sex or sexual orientation and regardless of disabilities, marital status or family situation.

10. Application Procedure

Applications are invited with a view to establish a reserve list for the post of Project Officer EU-funded Defence Research at EDA. This list will be valid until 31/12/2027, 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.

Candidates must submit their application electronically solely via the EDA website. Applications by any other means (hard copy or ordinary e-mail) will not be accepted. Applications must be submitted no later than midnight. Candidates are reminded that the on-line application system will not accept applications after midnight (Brussels time, GMT+1) on the date of the deadline. Please note that once you have created your EDA profile, any correspondence regarding your application must be sent or received via your EDA profile. For any prior enquiry, please refer to the FAQ (Frequently asked questions) section, or send an e-mail to [email protected].

When applying, candidates from Ministries of Defence or other governmental entities are encouraged to inform their national administration.

A selection panel will be appointed. Please note that the selection panel’s internal proceedings are strictly confidential and that any contact with its members is forbidden. Each application will be screened based on the requirements of the job profile stated in the vacancy notice. The most suitable applicants will be called for an interview and a written test. Candidates may also be requested to take part in an assessment centre, participating in a number of individual and group activities related to the competences required for the post.

EDA will not accept any phase of the selection & recruitment process prepared or assisted, in whole or in part, by means of generative artificial-intelligence (AI) tools, including and without limitation to chatbots, such as Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (Chat GPT), or other language generating tools. EDA reserves the right to screen applications to identify the use of such tools. All applications prepared, in whole or in part, by means of such generative or creative AI tools may be rejected without further consideration at EDA’s sole discretion, and EDA reserves the right to take further steps in such cases as appropriate.

If recruited, candidates will be requested to supply documentary evidence in support of the statements made in their application. They should not send any supporting or supplementary information until asked to do so by the Agency. Candidates are advised that part of the recruitment process includes medical analyses and physical check-up with the Agency’s Medical Adviser.

Staff members employed at EDA require a Personnel Security Clearance Certificate (PSCC). The process to obtain a PSCC can be initiated only by EDA on behalf of the staff member. Failure to obtain the requisite security clearance certificate before the expiration of the probationary period may be cause for termination of the contract.