Notice of vacancy OMB/6/2015 for a Legal Assistant of grade AST 1 to AST 3 in the European Ombudsman's Office

Permanent post open only to:

• Officials of the European Ombudsman’s Office in accordance with Article 29(1)(a) of the Staff Regulations;
• Officials of all the European Union institutions in accordance with Article 29(1)(b) of the Staff Regulations;
• Candidates placed on reserve lists further to an open competition organised by the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO)[1].

The European Ombudsman

The European Ombudsman seeks fair outcomes to complaints against European Union institutions, encourages transparency, and promotes an administrative culture of service. She aims to build trust through dialogue between citizens and the European Union and to foster the highest standards of behaviour in the Union's institutions.

Our guiding principles: Integrity, Fairness, Accountability, Dialogue, and Service.

The European Ombudsman is an equal opportunity employer who encourages applications from qualified men and women and does not discriminate on the basis of, among others, age, disability, race, religion, or sexual orientation.

Category and grade

Legal assistant of grade AST 1 to AST 3.

Candidates who have succeeded at EPSO competitions will be recruited at the grade foreseen by the reserve list on which they have been placed. Only candidates placed on reserve lists for grades AST 1 to AST 3 may apply.

Place of employment

Brussels.

These posts may involve missions to other working places of the institutions. They may also involve missions to other countries in or outside the European Union.

Nature of the tasks

• Providing administrative and legal assistance in relation to the Ombudsman's work on own-initiative inquiries, including:
  • undertaking research to prepare own-initiative inquiries,
  • producing draft proposals for own-initiative inquiries and related documents for the Ombudsman's signature,
  • preparing public consultations launched by the Ombudsman,
  • producing a summary of responses to those public consultations,
  • preparing replies to respondents,
  • assisting with the redaction of documents for publication;
• Drafting reports to enable the Secretariat-General to draw up the Ombudsman's position in a range of policy areas;
• Assisting in the Ombudsman's work in relation to EU Agencies;
• Helping with the preparation of the Ombudsman's 'Putting it Right' report;
• Assisting the Ombudsman's Data Protection Officer;
• Providing the necessary administrative support in relation to securing external expertise in the context of inquiries;
• Preparing, attending and reporting back on events.

Qualifications and knowledge required

• A level of education which corresponds to completed university studies of at least three years attested to by a diploma;
• A diploma in the legal domain;
• Very good knowledge of the institutions, administration and law of the EU;
• Thorough knowledge of one of the European Union's official languages and satisfactory knowledge of other of these languages;
• Very good knowledge of English (both oral and written);
• Knowledge of additional official language(s) of the European Union would be an advantage.

Professional experience

No specific professional experience is required. However, experience in drafting and/or research (either in the legal domain or in other fields) would be an advantage.

Skills and qualities required

• Excellent research skills, notably the ability to seek out the most relevant information and to present it clearly and concisely in writing;
• Very good drafting skills;
• Ability to:
  • take personal responsibility and initiative for delivering work to a high standard of quality within set procedures;
  • develop and improve personal skills and knowledge of the organisation and its environment;
  • prioritise the most important tasks, work flexibly and organise own workload efficiently;
  • work co-operatively with others in teams and across organisational boundaries and respect differences between people;
  • work in a multicultural environment;
• Commitment to a culture of service.

Applications

Applications^[2] must refer to the notice of vacancy: OMB/06/2015 - Legal Assistant AST 1 to AST 3 and must be sent by mail to the postal address indicated below. The date of posting of the application shall be 30 June 2015 at the latest. Applications posted after 30 June 2015 or sent by e-mail shall be deemed inadmissible.

European Ombudsman's Office
Personnel, Administration, and Budget Unit
Notice of vacancy OMB/06/2015- Legal Assistant of grade AST 1 to AST 3
1, avenue du Président Robert Schuman
CS 30403
67001 Strasbourg Cedex
France

At the closing date for applications, applications must include:

a) A duly filled in application form, which can be found on the European Ombudsman's website at the following address: http://ombudsman.europa.eu/vacancy;

b) a letter explaining the candidate's reasons for applying;

c) a copy of the candidate's curriculum vitae (preferably a Europass CV: http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu);

d) For officials of EU institutions, a copy of the applicant's three most recent staff reports[3].

Incomplete applications will be excluded from the selection. Documentation submitted after the closing date for applications will not be accepted.

Candidates are invited to provide a valid e-mail address to be used for communications by the Ombudsman's Office concerning this procedure.

Strasbourg, 15/06/15

Emily O'Reilly

[1] Candidates placed on reserve lists for temporary agents or contract agents (CAST lists) are not eligible in the present selection.

[2] The processing of personal data by the European Ombudsman is governed by Regulation (EC) No. 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 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, OJ 2001 L 8, p. 1. By submitting an application for a post within the European Ombudsman's Office, candidates are understood to have given their consent, within the meaning of Article 5(d) of the Regulation, to the processing of the personal data contained in the application and the supporting documents enclosed therewith. The personal data in question are collected by the European Ombudsman's Office for the sole purpose of the present selection procedure. Candidates have a right to access and to rectify their own personal data kept by the European Ombudsman's Office.

Personal data concerning unsuccessful candidates shall be destroyed two years after the position was filled. Applications submitted for the purposes of the present selection procedure shall not be taken into consideration for the purposes of future ones.

Personal data concerning the recruited candidates shall be kept by the European Ombudsman's Office and might be transferred to other Community Institutions for administrative purposes.

Candidates may at any time consult the European Ombudsman's Data Protection Officer or have recourse to the European Data Protection Supervisor.

[3] If less than three staff reports have been drawn up for a candidate so far, the latter must send those staff reports which have been drawn up.