Budget Officer & Financial Initiating Agent - Administrative Budget M/F

General information
Organisation details The European Climate, Environment and Infrastructure Executive Agency (CINEA) started its activities on 1 April 2021 in order to implement parts of certain d EU programmes in the field of transport and energy infrastructure; climate, energy and mobility research and innovation; environment, nature and biodiversity; transition to low-carbon technologies; and maritime and fisheries. CINEA plays a key role in supporting the EU Green Deal through the efficient and effective implementation of its delegated programmes. The Agency fosters an efficient knowledge sharing and synergies between its different programmes and establishes strong partnerships with its stakeholders. It is a dynamic and innovative working place, where professional and experienced staff feel empowered and committed to achieve the
organisation’s mission and strategic objectives.
In 2021 CINEA will launch and manage some inter-agency staff selection procedures together with other Executive Agencies: EISMEA, ERCEA, EACEA, REA and HaDEA, thus promoting synergies and increasing efficiency in the selection and recruitment of staff. More information
about the participating agencies and the type of procedure can be found in the vacancy notice attached to each joint selection.

Position description
Country Belgium
Publication start date 13/08/2021
Publication end date 10/09/2021
Profile Finance - Budget Officer
Position title Budget Officer & Financial Initiating Agent - Administrative Budget M/F
Contract Contract agent
Grade FGIII
Mission description Under the direct supervision of the Financial and Budget Coordinator, under the overall guidance of the Head of Unit and deputy Head of Unit and in close collaboration with the relevant units, the jobholder contributes to the preparation, coordination and monitoring of the administrative budget of the agency (50-60 MEUR annually). S/he supports the Financial and Budget Coordinator with all the aspects of the budgetary cycle and ensures the quality and accuracy of the budgetary forecasts drawn by the relevant units, while ensuring a good coordination and cooperation. As part of the Administrative Finance and Budget Team, the jobholder will also acts as Financial Initiating Agent when requested, by supporting relevant units with commitments and payments initiation. S/he ensures that the internal budgetary and financial procedures are kept updated at all times.
Salary range 35-50 k€
Tasks Main tasks:

• Contribute to the preparation of the administrative budget of the Agency in accordance with the Commission’s budgetary circular. In that context, follow-up the yearly Commission’s budgetary procedure as appropriate;
• Support the Financial and Budget Coordinator in monitoring the budget implementation in close coordination with the other Financial Initiating Agents of the team and the resource/operational units. Closely follow-up the consumption of commitment and payments appropriations, ensuring data quality;
• Ensure that the dedicated budgetary follow-up tables are up to date and synchronised with the information in ABAC/SUMMA in order to be able to report at all time to management on the administrative budget situation;
• Support the Financial and Budget Coordinator with the preparation, monitoring and follow-up of the annual carry-forward exercise;
• Prepare budgetary and financial monthly reporting and contribute to the drafting of the Annual Work Programme;
• Organize the Publication of the Administrative Budget on CINEA website and in the Official Journal. Provide advice and guidance to all units on budgetary and financial issues, ensuring compliance with the Financial Regulation applicable to the Executive Agencies;
• Act as Financial Initiating Agent when required, thereby supporting relevant units with commitments and payments initiation using ABAC/SUMMA;
• Develop and maintain the content of the budget and finance pages of the agency’s online manual of procedure;
• Establish and maintain contact with the relevant services in the agency and in the European Commission, keeping abreast of the latest applicable rules and guidelines.

Interview period - from : 01/10/2021
Interview period : to 30/11/2021
Selection procedure A - Written tests (30 min)
A case study in English designed to test:

• Your knowledge in the field of the profile
• Your ability to understand, analyse and summarise
• Your drafting ability

This test will be marked out of 40 (pass mark: 20).
Total time allowed for this test: 30 minutes.
B – Oral test (30 min)
Interview with the Selection Committee in English to assess:

• your suitability to carry out the duties of a Budget Officer & Financial Initiating Agent
• Your specialist knowledge in the field
• Your communication, inter-personal and problem-solving skills
• Your general knowledge about the CINEA and related policies

This test will be marked out of 100 (pass mark: 50).
Both the oral and written tests will be combined on a total of 140. Minimum mark: 84 out of 140.
Applicants receiving the minimum score and above (84 out 140), all tests combined, will be included in a reserve list of suitable candidates. Please note that inclusion in the reserve list does not guarantee recruitment.
The Agency may have a second interview with the candidates in the reserve list.
Application procedure For applications to be valid, candidates smust submit:

• a detailed curriculum vitae, in EU CV format ;
• a letter of motivation, including his/her views on the proposed position (2 pages maximum).

Your CAST application ID number and the reference of CAST must be mentioned in your CV and motivation letter.
Please note that the motivation letter forms an essential basis for the pre-selection decision.
Applications must be submitted through the eRecruitment system on our website at https://cinea.ec.europa.eu/about-us/job-opportunities_en
Closing date: Applications must be sent no later than 10th September 2021 midnight.
Supporting documents showing evidence of the provided information may be requested at a later stage. No document will be sent back to candidates.
Candidates are invited to apply in English to facilitate the selection process.
In no circumstances should candidates approach the Selection Committee themselves, either directly or indirectly concerning this recruitment. The authority habilitated to conclude contracts reserves itself the right to disqualify any candidate who disregards these instructions.
Appointment and conditions of employment
The jobholder will be appointed on the basis of a shortlist proposed by the selection committee.
The jobholder will be recruited as contract staff, in function group III, pursuant to Article 3a of the new Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities (CEOS).
The basic monthly salary within this function group will depend on the number of years of relevant professional experience at appropriate level (in function group III, either grade 8, grade 9 or grade 10).
The jobholder will serve a probation period of nine months.
The initial contract will be for a duration of 1 year. Afterwards, the contract may be renewed for 1 additional year. If the contract is renewed again, it shall be concluded for an indefinite period.
The place of employment will be Brussels where the Agency has its activities.
For reasons related to the Agency’s operational requirements, the candidate will be required to be available at short notice.
For further information on the legal framework of contract agents see the web site of the Directorate-General for Human Resources and Security (DG HR) on the internet at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?
uri=CONSLEG:1962R0031:20140101:EN:PDF

Candidate criteria
Eligibility criteria A. Eligibility criteria

• Having passed a CAST in the grade for which you are applying* OR be registered in the EPSO/CAST/P/1/2017 before applying**;
• A post-secondary education attested by a diploma OR a secondary education attested by a diploma giving access to post-secondary education and appropriate professional experience of three years;
• Thorough knowledge of one of the languages of the European Union and a satisfactory knowledge of another EU language to the extent necessary to perform his/her duties.

Other eligibility criteria Only candidates that have successfully passed the EPSO CAST selection will then be invited for an interview.
In addition, in order to be eligible a candidate must:

• be a national of one of the Member States of the European Union;
• be entitled to his/her full rights as citizen;
• meet the appropriate character reference as to his/her suitability for the performance of his/her duties;
• have fulfilled any obligations imposed by the applicable laws concerning military service, and;
• be physically fit to perform the duties linked to the post.

Please note that only candidates that comply with the Eligibility criteria will be considered for further steps of the Selection procedure.
Selection criteria

Essential:

• Professional experience relevant to the tasks described above, in particular, budget management for at least 2 years in the last 5 years;
• Advanced knowledge of Excel and demonstration of numeracy and accuracy skills;
• Demonstration of successfully contributing to budget cycles through excellent organisational and interpersonal skills, while being resilient and respecting strict deadlines;
• Experience as Financial Initiating Agent (initiation of financial/budgetary transactions);
• Good knowledge of English required (minimum B2).

Advantageous:

• Experience with budgetary management in an EU Institution;
• Experience in giving guidance and/or small-scale trainings on budgetary procedures;
• Knowledge and practice of reporting tools such as Business Objects (building reports and running easy queries);
• Diploma in Finance or Accounting.

Personal qualities essential for the position (evaluated during the interview):

• High degree of organisational skills and ability to work under pressure;
• Good interpersonal and communication skills;
• Proven ability to work as a team member;
• Ability to appreciate and follow priorities.

After having been preselected by the Selection Committee, the Agency will invite for an interview the best candidates, that are owner of a CAST in the relevant function group or that have successfully passed the EPSO CAST selection EPSO/CAST/P/1/2017, with a maximum
of 10 candidates invited to the interview.
Languages English (Proficient C1)
Updates on the application process
An acknowledgement of receipt will be sent to all candidates by email to confirm the reception of their application.
All candidates will be informed in due time about the status of their application, i.e. whether they are invited for the selection phase described above or not. These notifications will be sent via email only.
A candidate may request clarifications about the processing of his/her application by sending an email quoting the reference of the vacancy notice concerned, to the following address:
CINEA-HR-RECRUITMENT@ec.europa.eu
Equal opportunities, appeal
procedure & data protection
Equal opportunities
The European Union institutions apply a policy of equal opportunities and accept applications without discrimination on the 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.
Appeal procedure: for complete list of means of redress please browse the following link: https://cinea.ec.europa.eu/about-us/job-opportunities/means-redress_en
Data protection
The purpose of processing of the data submitted by candidates is to manage the applications in view of a possible pre-selection and recruitment at the CINEA. The personal information requested from candidates will be processed in line with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data.

• Candidates must be included in the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) database for contract agents in function group III and have successfully passed the EPSO selection tests for that function group. Please note that candidates who are on a valid EPSO list published in 2010 (CAST2010) are eligible on the condition they have successfully passed the complementary tests (DB3), as an Annex to the selection procedure CAST2010. The candidates concerned are invited to consult the letter they received from EPSO for further information.

** In the context of the call for expression of interest EPSO/CAST/P/1/2017 (1) procedure, your application will be considered only if you are available to be flagged for the EPSO testing request during the screening phase of this selection process (2). The pre-selected candidates
will be requested by the Agency to undergo the EPSO tests.

(1) https://epso.europa.eu/contact/faq/contract-agents/cast-permanent_en

(2) Candidates who are blocked and therefore cannot be flagged in order to be invited by EPSO to undergo the EPSO/CAST/P/1/2017 competition, because they have failed in the previous testing windows, will be considered as not eligible regardless of the relevance or not of their CV.

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