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Ref. No: eu-LISA/19/CA/FGIV/24.1
Post: Information Technology Officer - Vendor and Contract Manager
Sector/Unit/Department: Programme and Project Delivery Unit
Function Group/Grade: Contract Agent/FGIV
Starting date: asap
Level of Security Clearance: SECRET UE/EU SECRET
Closing date for applications 16 January 2020 23:59 EEST and 22:59 CEST

1. INFORMATION ABOUT THE AGENCY

Applicants are invited to apply for the above-mentioned post at the European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (hereinafter referred to as “eu-LISA” or “Agency”).

The seat of eu-LISA is Tallinn, Estonia. Tasks related to development and operational management of the systems are carried out in Strasbourg, France. eu-LISA also has a backup site is Sankt Johann im Pongau, Austria and a Liaison Office in Brussels, Belgium.

eu-LISA is responsible for the long-term operational management of the European Asylum Dactyloscopy Database (Eurodac), the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) and the Visa Information System (VIS), the development and operational management of the European Entry/Exit System (EES) and European Travel Authorization and Information System (ETIAS). These systems are essential for the normal functioning of the Schengen Area, for the efficient border management of its external borders as well as for the implementation of common EU asylum and visa policies. The Agency has been entrusted with the centralised system for the identification of Member States holding conviction information on third country nationals and stateless persons (TCN) to supplement and support the European Criminal Records System (ECRIS-TCN) and with the development of interoperability solutions between large-scale IT systems.

The core task of eu-LISA is to ensure the effective, secure and continuous operation of said IT-systems. The Agency is also responsible for taking the necessary measures to ensure the security of the systems and the security of the data therein.

European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice

Information about the Agency can be found on eu-LISA website: https://www.eulisa.europa.eu/.

2. THE PROGRAMME AND PROJECT DELIVERY UNIT

The Programme and Project Delivery Unit is responsible for the delivery of all Programmes and Projects for the Operations Department of eu-LISA within set tolerances of scope, time, budget and quality.

In particular, within the Unit, the Programme and Project Management Sector is responsible for:

• Ensuring that approved project and programmes related to large-scale information systems are organized and executed in a consistent manner and within established standards;
• Performing the work involved in planning, estimating, budgeting, financing, funding, managing, and controlling costs so that the project can be completed within the approved budget, time and scope;
• Performing, in cooperation with vendor management sector, the work necessary to procure products, services, or results needed from outside of the organisation, eventually assuming the role of contract manager;
• Performing project quality management;
• Managing interdependent projects organised as a Programme’s;
• Controlling individual and aggregated risks and issues;
• Performing the work to ensure timely and appropriate project communication.

The Vendor and Contract Management post is intended to complement the Sector in view of the anticipated expansion of the tasks conferred to the Agency.

DUTIES

The principal role of the Information Technology Officer - Vendor and Contract Manager is to manage complex multiannual framework contracts through which eu- LISA acquires services and supplies to operate the large-scale IT Systems, and the related Communication infrastructure, in the Area of freedom, security and justice.

The Vendor and Contract Manager will be responsible for setting up, reviewing and implementing policies, processes, procedures and tools to streamline the sector’s tasks and interfaces with internal operational and administrative functions while ensuring sound financial management, regulatory compliance and adherence with the Agency’s internal policies and workflows. This will entail collaborating on a daily basis especially with the solution delivery teams and Procurement and Finance.

The Information Technology officer - Vendor and Contract Manager will also contribute to the creation, maintenance and use of the IT tools on which the Sector will rely to perform its activities (i.a. ticketing system, contract management platform).

The Information Technology Officer - Vendor and Contract Manager will be responsible for managing contractors through standardised governance processes. Relationship, performance and risk management will be in scope of the Vendor and Contract Manager’s portfolio of activities.

The main duties of the Information Technology Officer - Vendor and Contract Management will include, but not be limited to:

• Draft, review and maintain Vendor & Contract Management policies, processes, standard operating procedures and tools;
• Support the set-up, maintain and use a ticketing system to track, prioritise, verify and assign internal requests of new services from existing framework contractors;
• Support the set-up, maintain and use a contract management platform to establish oversight of key contract features relating to duration, finances, performance, risks, lessons learnt with a view to enabling timely and informed decision-making by the appropriate level of management;
• Partner with Procurement and the Agency’s operational teams to deliver Tender Technical Specifications and other documents that are key for the launch of new call for tenders;
• Partner with Finance to track and forecast budgetary commitments and payments associated to operational contracts;
• Provide contract understanding and guidance to the operational teams and manage disagreements with contractors;
• Assist the operational teams in standardising metrics to define and verify volume/price estimates, assess performance, quantify penalties and reduction of payments
• Work closely with the Agency’s risk management and audit functions to ensure adequate level of control.

3. QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

3.1. Eligibility criteria

Applicants will be considered eligible for recruitment and selection on the basis of the following formal criteria which need to be fulfilled by the deadline for applications:

3.1.1. he/she has a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies of at least three years attested by a diploma;

N.B. Only qualifications that have been awarded in EU Member States or that are subject to the equivalence certificates issued by the authorities in said EU Member States shall be taken into consideration.

4.1.2. he/she is a national of one of the Member States of the Union, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland and enjoys his/her full rights as a citizen;

4.1.3. he/she has fulfilled any obligations imposed on him/her by the laws concerning military service;

4.1.4. he/she produces the appropriate character references as to his/her suitability for the performance of his/her duties;

4.1.5. he/she is physically fit to perform his/her duties; and

4.1.6. he/she produces evidence of a thorough knowledge of one of the languages of the Union and of a satisfactory knowledge of another language of the Union to the extent necessary for the performance of his/her duties.

4.2. Selection criteria

Suitability of applicants will be assessed against the following criteria in different steps of the selection procedure.

4.2.1. Professional experience and knowledge

• Knowledge of outsourcing, contract management and vendor governance concepts;
• Knowledge of contracting trends, licensing models, and traditional and emerging contract/vendor performance models;
• Understanding of contract risks and mitigation measures;
• Understanding of commercial terms of IT contracts;
• Knowledge of public finance concepts;
• Knowledge of public procurement concepts;
• Understanding of technologies, methodologies (including metrics) and tools for managing vendors and contracts;
• Understanding of project management concepts, preferably Prince2.

4.2.2. The following attributes would be advantageous

• Certification or practical knowledge of ISO 37500:2014 “Guidance on Outsourcing”;
• Certification or practical knowledge of ISO 31000:2018 “Risk management”;
• Knowledge of EU Financial Regulations;
• Professional experience within an international and multicultural environment, preferably in a European Institution, Agency or body.

4.2.3. Personal qualities

• Ability to communicate, both orally and in writing, complex issues in a language understood by stakeholders across multiple disciplines (i.a. business, IT, administration);
• Strong problem solving ability, with a focus on managing to business outcomes through collaboration with multiple internal and external parties;
• Customer-focused approach to delivering services to internal customers;
• Self-starting within set objectives, showing initiative within set boundaries;
• Strong analytical skills to support negotiation and drive win-win outcomes for all involved parties;
• • Ability to provide inputs to manage stakeholders and processes and drive them towards the set direction;
• • Ability to recognize abstract patterns and relationships between apparently unrelated entities or situations.

Because English is the working language of eu-LISA and because the successful applicant will be requested to immediately be operational, the recruitment procedure will be performed in English and all communication with applicants will be held in English.

5. INDEPENDENCE AND DECLARATION OF INTEREST

The selected applicant for the post will be required to make a declaration of commitment to act independently in eu-LISA`s interest and to make a declaration in relation to interests that might be considered prejudicial to his/her independence.

6. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

eu-LISA applies an equal opportunities policy and accepts applications without distinction on grounds of 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 or sexual orientation.

7. SELECTION PROCEDURE

The selection procedure includes the following steps:

• A Selection Committee designated by the Appointing Authority (`the Executive Director of eu-LISA`) is set up for the selection procedure;
• Each application is checked to verify whether the applicant meets the eligibility criteria;
• All the eligible applications are evaluated by the Selection Committee based on a combination of certain selection criteria defined in the vacancy notice. Some criteria will be assessed only for invited applicants during interviews and tests. Certain selection criteria may be assessed jointly and some criteria may be assessed in two or more stages of the selection procedure;
• The best-qualified applicants, who obtained the highest number of points, are invited for an interview phase, which will be complemented by a written competency test;
• During the interview phase, the Selection Committee examines the profiles of applicants and scores the applicants in accordance with the selection criteria;
• In order to be included on the reserve list, an applicant must receive at least 60% of the maximum points from the evaluation of the interview and the written test phase;
• The interview and the written test are conducted in English. In case English is the mother tongue of an applicant, some interview questions or test questions may be asked in the language they indicate on the application form as their 2nd EU language;
• After the interviews and tests, the Selection Committee draws up a non-ranked list of the most suitable candidates to be included on a reserve list for the post and proposes it to the Appointing Authority. The Selection Committee may also propose to the Appointing Authority the best suitable candidate to be engaged for the post;
• The Appointing Authority choses from the reserve list an applicant whom to engage for a job;
• The reserve list established for this selection procedure will be valid until 31 December 2022 (the validity period may be extended);
• Applicants placed on the reserve list may be engaged for a job for the same or a similar post depending on the needs of eu-LISA and its budgetary situation, as long as the reserve list is valid;
• Each applicant invited for an interview will be informed by a letter whether or not he/she has been placed on the reserve list. Applicants should note that inclusion on a reserve list does not guarantee engagement.

Please note that the Selection Committee’s work and deliberations are strictly confidential and that any contact with its members is strictly forbidden.

8. ENGAGEMENT AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

The selected applicant will be engaged by the Authority Authorised to Conclude Contracts of employment (`eu-LISA`s Executive Director`) from the established reserve list.

For reasons related to eu-LISA’s operational requirements, once the applicant receives an engagement offer, he/she may be required to confirm their acceptance of the offer in a short time, and be available to start the contract at short notice (1 to 3 months). The successful applicant will be engaged as Contract Staff, pursuant to Article 3a(b) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities (CEOS). The engagement will be in the Function Group FGIV, grades 13, 14 or 16 depending on the length of professional experience. The pay of staff members consists of a basic salary in EUR weighted by the correction coefficient (currently for Strasbourg, France 117.7%) and paid in EUR8.

In addition to the basic salary, staff members may be entitled to various allowances depending on their personal situation.

eu-LISA staff members pay an EU tax at the source and deductions are also made for medical insurance, pension and unemployment insurance. Salaries are exempt from national taxation.

Staff members may also be entitled to the reimbursement of removal costs and an initial temporary daily subsistence allowance.

eu-LISA staff members are entitled to annual leave of two working days per each complete calendar month of the service. There are on average 19 Public Holidays per year.

Throughout the period of service staff members participate in the EU pension scheme. The pension is granted after completing a minimum of 10 years' service and reaching the pensionable age. Pension rights acquired in one or more national schemes before starting to work at eu-LISA may be transferred into the EU pension system.

eu-LISA staff members are covered 24/7 and worldwide by the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme (JSIS). Staff is insured against sickness, the risk of occupational disease and accident as well as entitled to a monthly unemployment allowance, the right to receive payment of invalidity allowance and travel insurance.

The initial duration of the contract is five years including a probationary period of nine months, with the possibility of contract renewal for another period not exceeding five years. Second renewal would be indefinite.

eu-LISA reserves the right to offer similar employment contracts of a shorter duration than five (5) years in accordance with the business needs of the Agency. In this case, the Agency will contact the person in the Reserve List and ask in writing his/her interest in such contractual arrangement.

All selected applicants will need to have, or be in a position to obtain, a valid Personnel Security Clearance Certificate (SECRET UE/EU SECRET level).

A 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, which shows the level of EU Classified Information (EUCI) to which that individual may be granted access (CONFIDENTIEL UE/EU CONFIDENTIAL or above), the date of validity of the relevant PSC and the date of expiry of the certificate itself.

Applicants who currently hold a valid security clearance shall provide a copy of the security clearance to eu-LISA and specify the issuing authority, level and date of expiry. In case the validity of the security clearance expires within six months, the renewal procedure will be initiated expeditiously.

Note that the necessary procedure for obtaining a PSCC can be initiated on request of the employer only, and not by the individual applicant.

Failure to obtain the required security clearance certificate from the successful applicant`s National Security Authority, either during or after the expiration of the probationary period, will give the right to eu-LISA to terminate any applicable employment contract.

9. PROTECTION OF PERSONAL DATA

eu-LISA ensures that applicants' personal data is processed in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data.

Please note that eu-LISA will not return applications to the applicants.

The legal basis for the selection procedures of Temporary Staff (TA 2 f) are defined in the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities10.

The purpose of processing personal data is to enable selection procedures.

The selection procedure is conducted under the responsibility of eu-LISA's Human Resources Unit (`HRU`). The controller, in practice, for personal data protection purposes is the Head of the Human Resources Unit.

The information provided by the applicants will be accessible to a strictly limited number of HRU staff members, to the Selection Committee, and, if necessary, to the Executive Director, Security and/or the Legal Officer of eu-LISA.

Almost all fields in the application form are mandatory; the answers provided by the applicants in the fields marked as optional will not be taken into account to assess their merits.

Processing begins on the date of receipt of the application. Our data storage policy is as follows:

• for applications received but not selected: the paper dossiers are filed and stored in archives for 2 (two) years after which time they are destroyed;
• for applicants placed on a reserve list but not recruited: data is kept for the period of validity of the reserve list + 1 (one) ear after which time it is destroyed;
• for recruited applicants: data is kept for a period of 10 (ten) years as of the termination of employment or as of the last pension payment after which time it is destroyed.

All applicants may exercise their right of access to and rectification or erasure of their personal data or restriction of processing.

In the case of identification data, applicants can rectify the data at any time during the procedure. In the case of data related to the admissibility criteria, the right of rectification cannot be exercised after the closing date of applications` submission.

Any substantiated query concerning the processing of his/her personal data should be addressed to the HRU of the Agency at eulisa-RECRUITMENT@eulisa.europa.eu. Applicants may have recourse at any time to eu-LISA’s Data Protection Officer dpo@eulisa.europa.eu and/or the European Data Protection Supervisor (edps@edps.europa.eu).

10. APPEAL PROCEDURE

If an applicant 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 Union and Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Union, to the following address:

eu-LISA
(European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice)
Vesilennuki 5
10415 Tallinn, Estonia

The complaint must be lodged within 3 (three) months. The time limit for initiating this type of procedure starts from the time the applicant is notified of the act adversely affecting him/her.

11. APPLICATION PROCEDURE

In order for application to be valid and considered eligible, the applicant is required to create an account in eu-LISA e-Recruitment tool, fill in the personal and CV information as well as eligibility and selection criteria checklists.

If you wish to apply for a position at eu-LISA, you must apply to a vacancy via the e- Recruitment tool. eu-LISA does not accept applications submitted by any other means (e.g. e-mail or post), or any speculative applications.

The closing date for submission of applications is: 16 January 2020 at 23:59 EEST (Eastern European Time) and 22:59 CEST (Central European Time).

Applicants are strongly advised not to wait until the last day to submit their applications, since heavy internet traffic or a fault with the internet connection could lead to difficulties in submission. eu-LISA cannot be held responsible for any delay due to such difficulties.

Once the applications have been received by eu-LISA e-Recruitment tool, applicants will receive an automatic acknowledgement message by e-mail confirming the receipt of the application.

Please note that if at any stage of the selection procedure it is established that any of the requested information provided by an applicant is false, the applicant in question will be disqualified.

In case of any queries about the selection process, please contact us via e-mail: eulisa-RECRUITMENT@eulisa.europa.eu.

You will be requested to supply documentary evidence in support of the statements that you make for this application if you are selected for further steps of the selection procedure.

Please note that the time period between the closing date for applications submission and the end of the short listing applicants for the interview may take up to several months.

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