Director-General (grade AD15) for Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA)

Description

The function of Head of HERA (ranked as a Director-General) is to be responsible for taking, in close coordination with the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, all measures necessary for the efficient functioning of the HERA consistent with the regulations in force and the authority delegated to them. The tasks will be the following:

• prepare a multiannual strategic plan for HERA and an annual draft work programme for HERA’s various fields of activity, taking into account the programming cycle calendar of contributing Union programmes;
• negotiate and conclude procurement and other contracts related to medical countermeasures with third parties;
• be responsible as Authorising Officer by Delegation (AOD) for the implementation of HERA’s activities and for the financial administration, respecting the governance of contributing Union programmes, in particular EU4Health, Horizon Europe and RescEU;
• determine the internal organisation of HERA, within the constraints of the budget allocated to it by the budgetary authority;
• within the limits of the powers delegated to them, exercise the powers conferred upon the appointing authority by the Staff Regulations of officials and upon the authority empowered to conclude contracts by the conditions of employment of other servants;
• regularly report to the Commissioner for Health and Food Safety;
• chair the HERA board.

We look for (selection criteria)

Candidates should have:
Specialist skills and experience:

• very good understanding of health policies and related issues;
• excellent ability to define and focus on strategic priorities, evaluate progress and oversee implementation;
• very good understanding of crisis management and related issues;
• proven professional experience in a field relevant for this position.

Management skills:

• proven capacity to think creatively and strategically so as to generate a clear vision and policy for the Directorate-General, taking account of needs, resources and constraints, while ensuring consistency with the overall objectives of the Commission;
• strong achievements as a leader, manager and communicator, involving management of larger teams and financial resources at high level, being able to direct and motivate a DG staffed with highly competent professionals;
• experience in effective planning and management of human and financial resources at senior management level.

Personal qualities:

• Accomplished interpersonal, decision-making and negotiating skills at high level (including the political sphere) and a very good capacity to communicate effectively and efficiently with all stakeholders inside or outside the Commission and to build trusted relationships with them, in particular in crisis management situations;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, being able to communicate effectively with all of the HERA’s stakeholders.

Candidates must (eligibility requirements)

Candidates will only be considered for the selection phase on the basis of the following formal requirements to be fulfilled by the deadline for applications:

• Nationality: candidates must be a citizen of one of the Member States of the European Union.
• University degree or diploma: candidates must have:
  • either a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma when the normal period of university education is 4 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 1 year when the normal period of university education is at least 3 years (this one year’s professional experience cannot be included in the postgraduate professional experience required below).
• Professional experience: candidates must have at least 15 years postgraduate professional experience 1 at a level to which the qualifications referred to above give admission.
• Management experience at least 5 years of the post-graduate professional experience must have been gained in a high–level management function.
• Languages: candidates must have a thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the European Union and a satisfactory knowledge of another of these official languages. Selection panels will verify during the interview(s) whether candidates comply with the requirement of a satisfactory knowledge of another official EU language. This may include (part of) the interview being conducted in this other language.
• Age limit: candidates must not have reached regular retirement age, which for officials of the European Union is defined as being the end of the month in which the person reaches the age of 66 years (see Article 52 lit (a) of the Staff Regulations 4).

Deadline

30 November 2022 (12:00)

For further information: EPSO