We are

The European External Action Service (EEAS) supports the work of the High Representative in defining and implementing an effective and coherent EU foreign policy. The EEAS supports his/her tasks of conducting the Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy and chairing the Foreign Affairs Council. It also supports the High Representative in his/her capacity as Vice President of the Commission with regard to his/her responsibilities within the Commission in the external relations field including the coordination of other aspects of the Union's external action. The EEAS works in close cooperation with Member States, the Council and relevant services of the European Commission.

The AFRICA.3 Division is responsible for relations with the 16 countries in West Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo) as well as regional organisations, such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), and the G5 Sahel. The Division is composed of 14 colleagues.

We propose

The position of Secretary, Contract Agent FGII, as per article 3b of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union (CEOS)[1].

Place of employment: EEAS Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium

Post available: Immediately

We look for

A dynamic, proactive and highly motivated colleague with very good communication and organisational skills and with a developed sense of service. He/she, under the supervision of the Head of Division will be entrusted with the following main tasks:

• provide efficient and effective administrative and secretarial support for the management of everyday business of the Division;
• follow attentively all requests such as briefing requests (e-Brief and informal briefing requests), replies to letters, Inter-Service Consultations, and Parliamentary Questions, by allocating tasks to the relevant political officers, documenting requests, and following-up as appropriate, thereby contributing to the respect of deadlines;
• assist in the preparation of briefing files and the collation of key documents, such as for missions, meetings, and speaking engagements;
• ensure proper document management, record incoming and outgoing correspondence using the Advanced Records System (ARES) and manage secure documents (RESCOM, Cortesy) in accordance with the regulations in force; assist political officers in finalising and transmitting outgoing correspondence in accordance with the procedures in force;
• carry out various administrative tasks such as diary-keeping, leave planning, filtering telephone calls, filing and ordering supplies;
• organise missions of staff using the MIPS application;
• organise routine meetings and events (room reservations, and Webex), including responding to requests from those outside the EU/EEAS
• assist in organising high level events, such a Ministerial Meetings, Senior Officials’ Meetings; and ad-hoc workshops/seminars/conferences
• receive and accompany outside visitors, in accordance with security regulations;
• coordinate the creation, keeping up-to-date and retrieval of documents and data in the appropriate files and databases;
• manage the functional mailboxes and send requested information and documents; 
• facilitate communication within MD Africa, within the EEAS (notably with protocol services), as well as with external partners including the Embassies of the West African States; and
• provide support on the administrative arrangements relating to the selection, recruitment and arrival of new members of staff.

Legal basis

The vacancy is to be filled in accordance with the conditions stipulated under the CEOS, in particular Article 82 thereof.

Subject to having passes the CAST exam, the successful candidate will be offered a contract agent position (Function group II), on the basis of a contract with an initial duration of one year that may be successively renewed for a maximum duration of 6 years.  

Eligibility criteria

Candidates for this contract agent II post should:

• (i) have passed a valid EPSO CAST in a valid FG for this post

Or

• (ii) be registered in the EPSO Permanent CAST in a valid FG for this post (https://epso.europa.eu/en/job-opportunities/open-for-application). In that case, while the registration will render the candidate eligible for the selection procedure, the recruitment of a candidate on this vacant post will be subject to their successfully passing the CAST exam that this candidate will be called to attend.
• 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 and appropriate professional experience of three years;
• have the capacity to work in languages of CFSP and external relations necessary for the performance of their duties. Knowledge of other EU languages would be an asset.
• be a national of one of the member States of the European Union and enjoy full rights as a citizen.

Selection Criteria

Candidates should have

• proven experience in the secretarial field; experience in the field of external relations will be an asset;
• an ability to be well organised and to deal with files in a timely manner;
• proven capacities of a team player with good inter-personal and communication skills;

• sound computer skills (MS Office – Word, Excel,…) and good knowledge of standard administrative, workflow based IT applications (ARES, MIPS+, Sysper2, e-Brief, EU-Learn, DECIDE, RESCOM, LegisWrite, e-Greffe) and administrative procedures.
• an ability to perform multiple tasks and adjust to changing priorities and respect deadlines;
• a good working knowledge of English and French.

Furthermore the following would be considered as assets:

• experience of working in a team in multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural environment; and
• experience in working with or within other EU institutions.

Specific conditions of employment

The signature of the contract will be subject to prior favourable opinion of the Medical Service.

Personnel Security Clearance (PSC)

The requested level of security clearance for this post is: SECRET UE/EU SECRET. A description of the EU classified information levels is available under Article 2 of the Decision ADMIN(2017) 10 on the security rules of the EEAS^[2].

The selected candidate should hold, or be in the position to obtain, a valid Personnel Security Clearance (PSC)^[3] issued by the competent authority of the Member State concerned.

Candidates who do not already have a valid PSC will be required to go through the security clearance vetting procedure of their Member State to obtain this clearance in accordance with national laws and regulations and with the procedure laid down in the Decision ADMIN(2019)7 on Security Clearance Requirements and Procedures for the EEAS of 08 March 2019 and in Annex A I of the Decision ADMIN(2017) 10 on the security rules of the EEAS^[4]. Until the PSC is issued by the competent authority of the Member State concerned, the selected candidate will not be authorised to access EUCI at the level of CONFIDENTIEL UE/EU CONFIDENTIAL or above, or to participate in any meetings or workflow where EUCI is processed.

Please note that the necessary procedure for obtaining a PSC can be initiated on request of the employer only, and not by the individual candidate.

In case of failure to obtain or renew the required PSC, the AACC may take the appropriate measures in accordance with Article 3(3) of the Decision ADMIN(2019) 7 on Security Clearance Requirements and Procedures for the EEAS of 08 March 2019.

Equal Opportunities

The EEAS is committed to an equal opportunities policy for all its employees and applicants for employment. As an employer, the EEAS is committed to promoting gender equality and to preventing discrimination on any grounds. It actively welcomes applications from all qualified candidates from diverse backgrounds and from the broadest possible geographical basis amongst the EU Member States. We aim at a service, which is truly representative of society, where each staff member feels respected, is able to give their best and can develop their full potential.

Candidates with disabilities are invited to contact [email protected]  in order to accommodate any special needs and provide assistance to ensure the possibility to pass the selection procedure in equality of opportunities with other candidates. If a candidate with a disability is selected for a vacant post, the EEAS is committed to providing reasonable accommodation in accordance with Art 1d.4 of the Staff Regulations.

Application and selection procedure[5]

Please send your CV and cover letter (with your EPSO CAST number), in English or French via email, with reference to the Vacancy Number in the Subject field, to

EEAS AFRICA 3: [email protected]

Deadline for sending application: 24/04/2024 at 12.00 (CET).

Candidates shall draft their CV using the Europass CV, which can be found at the following internet address:http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/en/documents/curriculum-vitae.

Late applications will not be accepted.

The selection panel will make a pre-selection on the basis of the qualifications and professional experience described in the CV and motivational letter, and will produce a shortlist of eligible candidates who best meet the selection criteria for the post. Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be informed about the outcome of the pre-selection phase.

The candidates who have been preselected will be invited for an interview by a selection panel.

The selection panel may decide, in addition to the interview, to organise written tests, either for all pre-selected candidates or to the best ranked ones, after the interview. The content of such written tests will be defined by the selection panel and may include, but not be limited to, multiple choice questions, open questions and/or topics for a short essay.

Pre-selected candidates shall also be invited to sit the CAST exam before or after the interview stage by the  selection panel (in accordance with the eligibility criteria set out above). The panel will then recommend a shortlist of candidates for a final decision by the Authority Authorised to Conclude Contracts of Employment (AACC). The AACC may decide to interview the candidates on the final shortlist before taking this decision.

If, exceptionally, on the date of recruitment, the successful candidate has not yet had the opportunity to pass the tests necessary to obtain the CAST, the latter will be engaged on condition that he obtains the CAST within six months of taking up his duties. Failure to obtain the required CAST will give the EEAS the right to terminate the employment contract.

It is recalled, that the selection procedure may be terminated at any stage in the interest of the service.

In the interest of the service, after identifying the candidate that best fulfils the requirement of the post as set out in the vacancy notice, the AACC may also establish a reserve list of candidates. These candidates shall be informed that the reserve list shall remain valid for a period of one year from when it is established and that it may be used to fill the same post or an equivalent post in the EEAS having the same job profile.

[1]    Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union (SR) and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union (CEOS). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:01962R0031-20140501&from=EN

[2]    OJ C 126, 10 April 2018, p.1.

[3]    The ‘Personnel Security Clearance’ is defined under point 2 of Annex A I of the Decision ADMIN(2017) 10 on the security rules of the EEAS as “a statement by a competent authority of a Member State which is made following completion of a security investigation conducted by the competent authorities of a Member State and which certifies that an individual may, provided his ‘need-to-know’ has been determined, be granted access to EUCI up to a specified level (CONFIDENTIEL UE/EU CONFIDENTIAL or above) until a specified date; the individual thus described is said to be ‘security cleared’.”

[4]    OJ C 126, 10 April 2018, p.1.

[5]    Your personal data will be processed in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, as implemented by ADMIN(2019)8 Decision of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The privacy statement is available on the Europa website: (https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/eeas-privacy-statement-data-protection-notice-purpose-processing-personal-data-related-public_en) and on the EEAS Intranet:(https://intranet.eeas.europa.eu/page/eeas-work/data-protection/privacy-statements-dp-notices).