Financial Engineering Manager

Vacancy Notice

Financial Engineering Manager

Contract Agent
(Ref. CINEA/2021/CA/FGIV/25)

The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA)

The European Climate, Environment and Infrastructure Executive Agency (CINEA) is the successor organization of the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA). Officially established on 15 February 2021, it has started its activities on 1 April 2021. Its mission is to support stakeholders in delivering the European Green Deal through high-quality programme management that helps to implement projects contributing to decarbonisation and sustainable growth. CINEA implements parts of EU funding programmes for transport, energy and climate action: for the financial perspectives 2021-2027 the Agency has expanded its portfolio of programmes with strong focus on contributing to the European Commission’s Green Deal priority.

The main programmes currently managed by CINEA are:

• The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF): supports high-performing, sustainable and interconnected Trans-European Networks.
• Horizon Europe: the EU’s Research and Innovation programme for which CINEA manages he areas of cluster on Climate, Energy and Mobility (Cluster 5).
• The Innovation Fund: one of the world’s largest climate innovation funding programmes, which is likely to have €10 billion for demonstration of innovative low-carbon technologies between 2020-2030.
• LIFE Programme: entirely dedicated to environmental, climate and clean energy objectives.
• European Maritime, Aquaculture and Fisheries Fund: targets public support for the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), the Union’s Maritime Policy and the EU’s agenda for international ocean governance.

In addition in 2021 the agency will start implementing the EU Renewable Energy Mechanism and the Just Transition Mechanism.

Working environment

CINEA is based in Brussels and has a multinational team of more than 500 persons. The number of staff will grow further over the coming years, in view of the Agency’s new portfolio and the purpose of this publication is therefore to set up a reserve list, which will be used to cover the growing needs of the Agency.

More information on CINEA

Check our website: https://cinea.ec.europa.eu/index_en

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Description of the job

Overall Purpose

In the context of the LIFE Programme, the Agency has been entrusted with the management and implementation of an advisory initiative, GREEN ASSIST, that will allow grouping and channeling green expertise available in the market to: a) project promoters and b) implementing and advisory partners under Invest EU lacking green expertise.

CINEA will establish and operate GREEN ASSIST for the purpose of strengthening investment teams, helping with both greening of traditional investments and developing deep green investments (including investments in nature-based solutions), ideally at the early design stage. Advisory should help to create/structure opportunities, and business models with appropriate economic/financial return resulting from green or greening investments.

GREEN ASSIST Advisory support services will consist of the following components:

In the context of GREEN ASSIST, the Financial Engineering Manager will contribute to the generation of a portfolio of projects addressing environmental and sustainable objectives of the European Commission, by procuring, organizing and managing access to advisory services.

In the context of other programmes implemented by CINEA, in particular the Innovation Fund and CEF, the Financial Engineering Manager may contribute to the evaluation of calls for proposals, by interacting with financial and cost benefit analysis experts involved in the external evaluation of calls for proposals. For the Innovation fund, (s)he may also support the management of the investment aspects of grant agreement preparations and of project monitoring.

The Financial Engineering Manager will be part of a quickly growing Financial Engineering team of CINEA, situated within the Unit responsible for Programme support, Coordination and Communication. He/she will work with other Financial Engineering Managers in support of CINA’s Senior Financial Engineering Managers and will coordinate his/her work with them. He/she will also work closely and collaborate fully with a wider team of colleagues from the Agency, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank and other financing institutions.

Main duties

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS and ADVICE

Organisation of advisory services in the context of GREEN ASSIST:

• Contribute to the development of strong pipelines of mature projects to achieve EU policy objectives of the Agency’s parent DGs
• Identify and select external experts, ensuring their capacity to deliver relevant and high quality advisory services.
• Analyse and validate requests for advisory services, and organize their efficient procurement and management
• Organise and ensure the quality of advisory support services and deliverables

POLICY DEVELOPMENT

Policy feedback, coordination and communication:

• Coordinate an efficient and effective policy feedback to the European Commission, notably reporting on the activities of GREEN ASSIST,
• Feed back to the Commission outcomes from Capacity Building and Market Development Studies implemented by GREEN ASSIST
• Participate to activities with Commission services in order to ensure synergies between GREEN ASSIST and the implementation of EU funding programmes and financial instruments
• Contribute to lessons learned and propose and implement improvements to future initiatives.

PROGRAM / PROCESS / PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Programme/project implementation, in particular related to the Innovation Fund and the Connecting Europe Facility:

• Contribute to financial engineering activities in relation to programmes of the agency
• Identify and select external financial experts, ensuring their diversified and high quality input to the evaluation of projects applying for grants
• Contribute to the implementation of work programmes, call texts and documentation and the relevant working documents such as guidance to external evaluators
• Monitor implementation of aspects of projects relevant to financial engineering, in particular with respect to the milestones related to reaching financial close.
• Support the evaluation of financial and economic components (e.g. funding gaps) of project proposals

REPRESENTATION, STRATEGY and CAPACITY BUILDING

Effective representation and contribution to coordination and strategy:

• Contribute to the overall strategy and objectives of the Financial Engineering sector
• Further develop, maintain and demonstrate good working knowledge of financial markets trends for financing sustainable projects contributing to preservation of natural resources, including natural capital accounting, sustainable finance reporting, and business models relevant to natural capital and circular economy projects.
• Promote the Agencies’ financial engineering-related activities with the parent DGs and cultivate and maintain contacts with partners, stakeholders and project promoters and represent the Agency in meetings, working groups and task forces with EU institutions, the EIB, Member States and other bodies

Qualifications and experience required

A. Eligibility criteria

• Be owner of a CAST in the grade for which you are applying* Or be registered in the EPSO/CAST/P/2017 calls** before applying;
• A level of education which corresponds to completed university studies of at least three years attested by a diploma Or, When in a member state of the European Union access to a profession of an equivalent level to function group IV is by State examination, professional training or any other equivalent procedure, the authority authorized to conclude contract of employment may agree to recognize this qualification as being equivalent to a university degree;
• Thorough knowledge of one of the languages of the European Union and a satisfactory knowledge of another one to the extent necessary to perform his/her duties.

• Candidates must be included in the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) database for contract agents in function group IV 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[1]EPSO/CAST/P/2017procedure, your application will be considered only if not outdated and 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. 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 this Selection procedure.

B. Selection criteria

Essential:

• At least four years of relevant professional experience acquired
• Excellent drafting skills and proven experience in drafting analytical reports
• Very good command of English (C1)
• Proven experience in financial and risk analysis and financing (either debt or equity/venture capital) of investment projects
• Proven experience with developing or analysis of business models relevant to the greening of economy and to overcoming related economic or financial obstacles.

Advantageous:

• Knowledge of natural capital accounting, sustainable finance and ESG guidelines and/or financing or technical experience in sectors facing environmental opportunities and constraints, such as those related to the preservation or development of natural capital, circular economy, etc.
• Experience in implementation of technical or financial advisory services in the field of environmentally sustainable development and/or in financial modelling.
• Experience with procurement and contract management and/or experience in experts selection and management
• Understanding of Invest EU and EU policies relevant to the Innovation fund and the European Green deal

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

• High degree of organisational skills, attention to detail and ability to work under pressure
• Good interpersonal, problem-solving, drafting and communication skills
• Proven ability to work as a team member
• Dynamic, pro-active and service-oriented approach
• Ability to appreciate and follow priorities, sense of initiative and capability to take up responsibility

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/2017 with amaximum of 20 candidates.

Appointment and conditions of employment

The jobholder will be assigned on the basis of a shortlist proposed by the selection committee.

The jobholder will be recruited as contract staff, in function group IV, pursuant to Article 3a of the 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 IV, either grade 13, grade 14 or grade 16).

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

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.

Application procedure

For applications to be valid, candidates must submit:

• a detailed curriculum vitae, in EU CV format[3];
• 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 17 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.

Selection procedure

Oral test (30 min)

Interview with the Selection Committee in English to assess:

• your suitability to carry out the duties of a Financial Engineering Manager,
• your knowledge and experience in the field of Financial Engineering,
• your communication, inter-personal and problem-solving skills,
• your general knowledge about the CINEA and related policies,
• your motivation and your ability to adjust to working as a Contractual Agent in a multicultural environment.

This test will be marked out of 100 (pass mark: 60).

Applicants receiving the minimum score as above (60 out of 100) 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.

Information to candidates

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.

Means of Redress

A. Request for review

Candidates may request a review of any decision taken by the Selection Committee that establishes their results and/or determines whether they can proceed to the next stage of the selection procedure or are excluded. Requests for review may be based on:

• a material irregularity in the selection process; and/or
• non-compliance, by the Selection Committee, with the Staff Regulations, the vacancy notice of the selection procedure, its annexes and/or case law.

Candidates are not allowed to challenge the validity of the Selection Committee’s assessment of the quality of their performance in a test or the relevance of qualifications and professional experience. This assessment is a value judgment made by the Selection Committee and disagreement with the Selection Committee’s evaluation of tests, experience and/or qualifications does not prove that it has made an error. Requests for review submitted on this basis will not lead to a positive outcome.

Candidates may ask for a request for review within 15 calendar days of the date on the email notifying the rejection of his/her application, indicating clearly the decision that he/she wish to contest and on what grounds. The request should be addressed to the Chairman of the Selection Committee, quoting the number of the selection procedure concerned at the following address: CINEA-HR-RECRUITMENT@ec.europa.eu. Requests received after the deadline will not be taken into account.

Candidates who asked for a request for review will receive an acknowledgment of receipt within 15 working days. The Selection Committee will analyse and decide on the request and candidates will receive a reasoned reply as soon as possible.

B. Other forms of contestation

Candidates may address an administrative complaint under Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations to the Director of CINEA acting as the appointing authority.

Candidates may submit a complaint against a decision, or lack thereof, that directly and immediately affects their legal status as a candidate, only if the rules governing the selection procedure have clearly been infringed. The Director of CINEA cannot overturn a value judgment made by a Selection Committee.

Candidates may submit their administrative complaint by contacting CINEA within three months of notification of the contested decision or of the date by which a decision should have been made.

The request, indicating clearly the decision that the candidate wish to contest and on what grounds and quoting the number of the selection procedure concerned, should be sent to the following address: CINEA-HR-RECRUITMENT@ec.europa.eu. Requests received after the deadline will not be taken into account.

Candidates may submit a judicial appeal to the General Court, under Article 270 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 91 of the Staff Regulations.

Note that appeals against decisions taken by CINEA’s appointing authority rather than by the Selection Committee will not be admissible before the General Court unless an administrative complaint under Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations has first been made (see section B.1 administrative complaints).

For the arrangements for judicial appeals please consult the website of the General Court (http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/).

Candidates, like all EU citizens and residents, may submit a complaint to the Ombudsman. Before submitting a complaint to the Ombudsman, candidates must first make the appropriate administrative approaches to the institutions and bodies concerned (see section B.1 Administrative complaints).

Making a complaint to the Ombudsman does not extend the deadlines for lodging administrative complaints or judicial appeals.

For the arrangements for complaints to the Ombudsman please consult the website of the European Ombudsman (http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/).

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.