Executive Assistant to the Executive Director

Position description

1. About IHI JU

The Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) aims to translate health research and innovation into real benefits for patients and society, and to ensure that Europe remains at the cutting edge of interdisciplinary, sustainable, patient-centric health research. Health research and healthcare increasingly involve diverse sectors. By supporting projects that bring these sectors together, IHI will pave the way for a more integrated approach to healthcare, covering prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and disease management.

IHI is a partnership between the European Union and European industry associations representing the pharmaceutical, medical technology, biotechnology, digital health and vaccine industries, namely COCIR, EFPIA, EuropaBio, MedTech Europe, and Vaccines Europe.

IHI’s total budget is EUR 2.4 billion. Half of this comes from Horizon Europe, the EU’s research and innovation programme. The IHI industry partners have committed EUR 1 billion to IHI, and a further EUR 200 million can be committed by other organisations that decide to support the objectives of IHI in specific areas of research by becoming contributing partners. IHI builds on the successes of the Innovative Medicines Initiative, and the IHI Programme Office continues to manage projects launched under IMI.

For more information, please visit the IHI JU website: www.ihi.europa.eu.

2. Job description

The Executive Assistant provides administrative and operational support to the IHI JU Executive Director (ED). Collaborating across the whole organisation, the Executive Assistant coordinates the Executive Director’s Office, contributes to the organisation’s good reputation with external stakeholders and ensures professional document management. He/she reports directly to the Executive Director.

The Executive Assistant is responsible for the following tasks in particular:

Administrative support and coordination of the Executive Director’s activities:

• Providing proactive support to the Executive Director, including but not limited to planning and managing his agenda, flagging priorities for the ED, and highlighting items for delegation. The Executive Assistant coordinates the preparation of agendas, presentations, briefing notes, preparatory meetings, etc.;
• Assisting in the organisation and coordination of high-level internal and external meetings, including preparation of the agenda, comprehensive briefing materials, and follow-up of related operational conclusions;
• Taking minutes of meetings as needed (e.g. IHI JU management team, external visits), follow-up on agreed action items, and assisting in the implementation of the Executive Director’s decisions;
• Maintaining an overview of the Executive Director’s decisions, ensuring follow-up and that deadlines related to the Executive Director’s activities are respected;
• Assisting in planning and monitoring of activities, internal work processes, and in the management of priorities and workflows to ensure that deadlines are met;
• Acting as a focal point for contacts between the Executive Director and IHI JU staff as well as external stakeholders, facilitating communication and ensuring the efficient flow of information. Contributing to maintaining strong relationships with all departments and external stakeholders;
• Providing assistance and support for the Executive Director’s external engagements and business trips; organising the Executive Director’s business trips (including preparation of mission files, making travel arrangements, managing contacts with external institutions, processing reimbursements, etc.), in line with the budget and travel policies in place.

Draft and manage the ED’s documents:

• Organising, overseeing and improving procedures for the Executive Director as the Authorising Officer for IHI and expediting the flow of working documents in collaboration with other units and teams;
• Managing and prioritising the incoming and outgoing correspondence through the relevant electronic tools; preparing documents for transmission and maintaining files; filing documents and maintaining the filing system for the Executive Office; providing administrative monitoring and quality checks on incoming/outgoing files for the Executive Director’s signature;
• Coordinating drafting, editing and organising versions of briefings, presentations, spreadsheets, and other documents; archiving correspondence, presentations and documents for record keeping;
• Maintaining the ED’s Office Intranet/SharePoint areas.

The successful candidate may be required to undertake other tasks and activities as necessary under the responsibility of the Executive Director, as tasks may evolve according to the development of the IHI JU’s structure or activities.

3. Eligibility criteria

Candidates will be considered for the selection phase on the basis of the following criteria to be fulfilled by the closing date for applications:

3.1 General conditions:

• be a national of a member state of the European Union;
• enjoy his/her full rights as a citizen1;
• have fulfilled any obligations imposed by the applicable laws concerning military service;
• be physically fit to perform the duties linked to the post2;
• meet the character requirements for the duties involved;
• have a thorough knowledge of one of the official EU languages and a satisfactory knowledge (at least B2 level) of another of these languages to the extent necessary for the performance of their duties (candidates are invited to specify in their CV possible language certificates they have obtained and which can demonstrate their language skills).

3.2 Education:

• Have a level of post-secondary education attested by a diploma3;
  OR
• Have a level of secondary education attested by a diploma giving access to post-secondary education and, after having obtained the diploma, at least three (3) years full-time of appropriate professional experience.

3.3 Experience:

• In addition to the above, at least nine (9) years of full-time relevant professional work experience, acquired after the education referred to in Section 3.2 Education, in a field relevant to this position4.

In case you do not fulfil all the eligibility criteria, your application will not be taken into consideration.

Eligibility criteria must be fulfilled by the deadline for applications, and maintained throughout the selection procedure and appointment.

4. Selection criteria

Candidates will be considered for the selection phase on the basis of the following criteria, to be fulfilled by the closing date for applications:

4.1 Essential criteria:

• Suitability to perform the tasks described under section 2 job description;
• At least five (5) years of professional experience in the duties as indicated above (e.g. personal or executive assistant to senior management);
• Experience with drafting, proofreading, and preparing documents such as reports, presentations, minutes, formal decisions, or briefings for executive-level meetings;
• Experience in coordinating high-level meetings with internal and external stakeholders such as governance boards, industry associations, governmental bodies, international organisations, EU bodies, etc.;
• Excellent command of Microsoft Office/MS365 environment (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Teams, etc.);
• Fluent written and spoken English and French.

4.2 Advantageous criteria:

• Working experience in EU institutions and/or familiarity with administrative EU IT tools (e.g. ARES, MIPS, etc.);
• Experience with managing and organising document centres and MS SharePoint areas;
• Working experience in international organisations or multicultural environments.

4.3 Behavioural competences:

Throughout the different phases of the selection procedure candidates will also be assessed on the following criteria that are essential to the post:

• developed sense of ownership, initiative and a proactive attitude;
• strong judgement and ability to handle confidential and sensitive information;
• excellent organisational and planning skills and ability to work autonomously;
• ability to manage priorities, work under pressure and meet tight deadlines on a regular basis with high quality;
• accuracy and attention to detail;
• excellent analytical and problem-solving skills;
• strong customer service-oriented approach;
• excellent communication skills;
• excellent teamwork skills and ability to work well in a multicultural environment.

In order to be evaluated in the best possible way, candidates are advised to give evidence of their knowledge with specific examples and/or detailed professional experience. Candidates are invited to be as detailed and as clear as possible when describing their professional experience and specific skills and competences in their application form.

Failure to comply with the eligibility and/or essential selection criteria will result in the disqualification of the applicant concerned.

5. Appointment and reserve list

The recruitment will take place upon a decision of the IHI JU Executive Director (the Appointing Authority).

The Executive Director of the IHI JU will select a successful candidate from the reserve list and offer them the post. A binding commitment can only be made after the verification of all conditions5 and will take the form of a contract signed by the Appointing Authority of the IHI JU.

The successful candidate will be required to make a declaration of their commitment to act independently in the public interest and to make a declaration in relation to interests that might be considered prejudicial to his/her independence. Candidates must confirm their willingness to do so in their application.

The reserve list could be used to fulfil other positions within the IHI JU depending on the needs of the Joint Undertaking and will be valid until the date indicated in the relevant vacancy (the validity of the reserve list may be extended).

Candidates should note that inclusion on the reserve list does not guarantee recruitment. Recruitment will be based on the availability of posts and budget. The IHI JU may decide at any time during the procedure not to pursue the recruitment.

The reserve list for this post will be valid until 31 December 2026 and may be extended at the discretion of the Appointing Authority of IHI JU.

6. Deadline for applications

Interested candidates are invited to submit their application by no later than 06 January 2025 at 23:59 (Central European Time/Brussels time), following the instruction in the ANNEX.

7. Condition of employment

The place of employment will be Brussels, where the Joint Undertaking premises are located.

The successful candidate will be recruited as a Temporary Agent AST 4, pursuant to Article 2(f) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities, for a period of three (3) years. After an evaluation of the post holder’s performance, and subject to budget availability, the term of office may be extended. The period of engagement will not in any case exceed the lifetime of IHI JU.

The basic monthly salary for AST 4, step 1 is EUR € 5.013,79 subject to an annual review of remuneration provided for in Article 65(1) of the Staff Regulations, and to a Community tax deducted at source and staff members are exempt of national taxation. In addition to the basic salary, staff members may be entitled to various allowances, in particular expatriation allowance (16% of basic salary), household allowance, dependent child allowance and education allowance.

A comprehensive welfare package including pension scheme, medical, accident and occupational disease insurance coverage, unemployment and invalidity allowance, and travel insurance. Further information regarding rights, conditions of employment and benefits can be found at the following link: Staff Regulations.

IMPORTANT NOTE

Candidates are invited to read the ANNEX that represents an integral part of this vacancy and provides information on how to complete the application, the steps of the selection process and appeal procedures.

1Prior to the appointment, the successful candidate will be asked to provide a certificate of good conduct, confirming the absence of any criminal record;
2Before taking up his/her duties, the successful candidate will undergo a medical examination by one of the institutions’ medical officers in order that the IHI JU may be satisfied that he/she fulfils the requirement of article 28(e) of the Staff Regulations of the Officials of the European Communities;
3Only qualifications issued by EU Member State authorities and qualifications recognised as equivalent by the relevant EU Member State authorities will be accepted. Any academic qualification mentioned in the application form shall be duly supported by evidence (original or certified copies of e.g. diplomas, certification, etc.). In instances where diplomas are obtained from a non-EU Member State, IHI JU may request the candidate to provide a relevant document of comparability issued by a recognised authority;
4Any professional experience mentioned in the application form shall be duly supported by evidence (original or certified copies of e.g. contracts, payslips etc.). Professional experience shall be taken into account from the date on which the person fulfils the minimum qualifications for engagement. In order for your professional experience to be taken into consideration, it must be supported by relevant documents attesting an actual work relationship defined by the following elements: real, genuine work; on a paid basis; as employee (any type of contract), or provider of a service. Any given period may be counted only once (in order to be calculated as eligible, years of studies or professional experience to be taken into account shall not overlap with other periods of studies or professional experience). Professional activities pursued part-time will be calculated pro-rata on the basis of the certified percentage of full-time hours worked. Remunerated PhDs acquired in a field relevant to the job description can be counted as professional experience up to 3 years. Paid traineeships are counted as working experience. Prior to contract signature, the successful candidate(s) will need to provide original versions of documents proving the candidate’s work experience;
5Before the appointment, a successful candidate shall undergo a medical examination by the medical services of the Commission in order that the IHI JU may be satisfied that she/he fulfils the requirement of article 28(e) of the Staff Regulation of the Officials of the European Communitie.

Application instructions

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