Head of Unit

The ESPON EGTC is recruiting a Head of Unit to lead the unit dealing with territorial evidence and outreach activities according to the Single Operation under the ESPON 2020 Cooperation Programme that the ESPON EGTC is implementing.

The selected Head of Unit is supposed to take up the position as early as possible in last quarter of 2019.

 Please read before applying: What is the ESPON Programme and ESPON EGTC?

The job of Head of Unit for Evidence and Outreach

Your main role and responsibility is to ensure high quality content and progress of the activities related to applied research, targeted analyses and evidence support, territorial monitoring, use of ESPON tools and outreach activities in European and transnational contexts. In these efforts you will support necessary coordination of activities with shared responsibility with the Unit for Administration and Management.

As Head of Unit you will organise and plan the activities of the Unit in line with the Annual Work Plan, provide clear management to the team and allocate the necessary tasks to individual staff members. You will ensure deliveries are implemented on time and manage the human resources of the Unit. This will also include yearly staff interviews/reviews.

In the coordination at ESPON EGTC level you will play an important role together with the Director and the Head of Unit on Administration and Management in overseeing, managing, planning and steering the activities foreseen in the Single Operation and the successive Annual Work Plans, including a sound financial management.

What profile and experience should the Head of Unit have?

The post of Head of Unit requires leadership experience from comparable professional engagements.

In fulfilling this role, you should possess a mix of (1) a solid scientific background in the field of territorial research, (2) policy insight and experience in dialoguing with the policy makers at all levels and (3) good credentials in leading and managing a team and in supervising and overseeing the work of colleagues.

In short, your personal qualifications should clearly demonstrate that you possess:  

  • Leadership skills and relevant coordination experience
  • Experience in relation to European territorial evidence
  • European policy experience in relevant policy fields and with EU programmes
  • Excellent communication skills to engage with policy makers and the research community
  • Experience in outreach activities and knowledge transfer
  • Good credentials in project supervision, coordination and management
  • Dynamic and proactive performance with timely implementation of deliveries
  • Staff management experience and strong communication and inter-personal skills

Which qualifications are required for the Head of Unit post?

You carry a relevant university degree in geography, spatial planning, political science, European studies, regional economics or other related field of study.

You have preferably more than 10-15 years of relevant work experience including at least 5 years of experience in leading and managing a team.

Your work experience is linked to territorial development, regional policy and/or spatial planning and you are well acquainted with European policy development and programmes in the context of Cohesion Policy and territorial cohesion.

Part of your background is related to scientific work, either as a researcher or expert using research for analytical purposes.

You have gained experience working in a multicultural environment, are used to work under time pressure and ready to travel as the position will involve regular travel outside Luxembourg.

Your ability to communicate in English is at the high level necessary for the challenging task of communicating ESPON territorial evidence in European and transnational/local policy and academic contexts and promoting the use of ESPON at different administrative levels.

Applying for the post

Your application shall include:

  • A motivation letter expressing your motivation and expectations as well as your qualifications and experience in relation to the post.
  • A curriculum vitae (preferably in Europass format) including the main details concerning your professional experience and educational background of relevance for the post as well as the personal and language skills you may bring.

All documents should be sent in English.

In case you are selected for the post you will be asked to present certified copies of your degree/diplomas as part of the contracting.

Please send your application (motivation letter and CV) by e-mail to [email protected] indicating Head of Unit for Evidence and Outreach in the subject line of the email.

The deadline for submitting your application is Monday, 2 September 2019.

Selection procedure

The ESPON EGTC will establish a Selection Board, which will invite the best qualified candidates for an interview. All interviews will take place in Luxembourg and are planned to be organised in September and October 2019.

You will be informed by the end of October 2019 about the outcome of the selection.

The ESPON EGTC applies the principle of equal opportunities between men and women.

Conditions of employment

You will be contracted on an indefinite contract with the ESPON EGTC related to the implementation of the Single Operation of the ESPON 2020 Cooperation Programme.

A competitive salary will be paid commensurate with experience. Your workplace will be the premises of the ESPON EGTC at 4 rue Erasme in the Kirchberg area of Luxembourg City, in a multicultural environment close to European institutions and international schools, but the post implies traveling to various EU members and partners states.

The ESPON EGTC is serving a pan-European programme which is mirrored in the composition of staff. At the ESPON EGTC you will have a diversity of colleagues from different countries in Europe and be part of a multi-cultural working environment which favours cooperation and teamwork.

Requests for additional information

You may request further information about the vacant post and the ESPON EGTC by sending an email to [email protected] or by calling Mr Teofil GHERCA, Head of Administration and Management on +352 20 600 280 30.

What is the ESPON 2020 Cooperation programme?

The ESPON 2020 Cooperation Programme aims at promoting and fostering a European territorial dimension in development and cooperation by providing evidence, knowledge transfer and policy learning to public authorities and other policy actors at all levels.

The mission of ESPON 2020 is to continue the consolidation of a European Territorial Observatory Network and grow the provision and policy use of pan-European, comparable, systematic and reliable territorial evidence.

The objective of the ESPON 2020 Cooperation Programme is to support the reinforcement of the effectiveness of EU Cohesion Policy and other sectoral policies and programmes under European Structural Investment (ESI) funds as well as national and regional territorial development policies, through the production, dissemination and promotion of territorial evidence covering the entire territory of the 28 EU Members States, as well as 4 Partner States of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

The ESPON 2020 Cooperation Programme has a budget of EUR 48 million for the period 2014-2020 which is financed mainly by the European Commission, as well as by the 28 EU Member States and 4 Partner States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Luxembourg is the seat of the Managing Authority.

What is the ESPON EGTC?

The ESPON EGTC is a European Grouping on Territorial Cooperation and has been established to deliver the content envisaged by the ESPON 2020 Cooperation Programme.

What is the mission of the ESPON EGTC?

The ESPON EGTC is the Single Beneficiary of the ESPON 2020 Cooperation Programme established to implement:

  • Applied research projects on themes defined by policy demand where the European process needs better information and evidence.
  • Targeted analyses in cooperation with stakeholders from national, regional and local authorities as well as other programmes under European Structural and Investment Funds and European Macro-regions.
  • Observation and monitoring of territorial trends and dynamics within Europe as a basis for policy consideration covering the entire European territory, its regions and cities as well as European Macro-regions and cross-border entities.
  • Development and maintenance of a “toolbox” relevant for information and use of the territorial evidence base for policy making including data and indicators in the ESPON Database as well as tools for territorial analyses, urban benchmarking, mapping etc.
  • Outreach activities at European level as well as in the transnational and national contexts in order to promote the European perspective of territorial development and cohesion.

As an important element in the renewal of ESPON, the ESPON EGTC has been equipped to serve ongoing policy processes upon demand to deliver rapid analytical responses such as short papers, policy briefs, etc. based on the ESPON evidence base. At the same time, the ESPON EGTC is as a legal entity bound to a sound management and implementation of its activities.

The ESPON EGTC is currently employing 24 people within two units:

  • Unit for Evidence and Outreach devoted to the evidence production and outreach activities to be implemented as part of the Single Operation;
  • Unit for Administration and Management responsible for the Administration and Management of the ESPON EGTC. 

More information on ESPON

More information on the ESPON 2020 Cooperation Programme and the ESPON EGTC can be accessed on http://www.dat.public.lu/index.html and www.espon.eu.

ESPON 2020 – More information

ESPON EGTC

4 rue Erasme, L-1468 Luxembourg - Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

Phone: +352 20 600 280

Email: [email protected]

www.espon.eu, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube

The ESPON EGTC is the Single Beneficiary of the ESPON 2020 Cooperation Programme. The Single Operation within the programme is implemented by the ESPON EGTC and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, the EU Member States and the Partner States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

Documents

EGTC HoU-EO.pdf

  • Acrobat Document | 172KB