URBAN INNOVATIVE ACTIONS PROGRAMME
PERMAMENT SECRETARIAT RECRUITMENT 2015
Call for one job position on a long term contract
A FINANCE COORDINATOR
In the Urban Innovative Actions Permanent Secretariat in Lille
(France)
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JOB DESCRIPTION : FINANCE COORDINATOR (long term contract)
Reporting to : Programme Director
1. General
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Coordination of finance functions :
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Coordination of Finance Officers, allocation of tasks, planning, day-to-day guidance of
the work carried out by the Finance Officers
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Participation with the Programme Director and the Project Coordinator in the general
management of the Permanent Secretariat
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Coordination of recruitment and tasks of the trainees in coordination with the
Managing Authority (called “Entrusted Entity” (EE), according to Article 60 of
Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the
Council)
2. Programme Implementation
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Main contact relating to administrative and financial issues with the Managing
Authority (EE), the Certifying and Paying Authority, and the European Commission
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Coordination and supervision of the audit trail implementation at programme level
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Monitoring of the Programme budget (financial tables, ERDF follow up, N+3, audit
headlines, certification of expenditure, etc)
3. Project Development
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Coordination and supervision of the assistance given to individual applicants in the
development of their project on administrative, management and financial matters
(via guidelines, meetings, seminars, etc).
4. Project Assessment
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Participation in the project assessment procedure: review of all project applications
received, discussion with the assessors of each project's merits, coherent ranking list,
etc.
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Contribution to the preparation of relevant items for different meetings
5. Project Implementation
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Advise and issue guidance to Finance Officers with a view to harmonising the
standard applied to projects
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Organization of the project implementation process (drafting Grant Offer Letters,
processing payment claims, budget line and action plan modification, revised
application form, etc)
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Reviewing payment claim assessment report on individual projects and authorising
the Certifying and Paying Authority to proceed with ERDF payments
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Monitoring the state of progress of payment claims and related financial issues in
general
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Analysis of project modifications: budget line modifications, extensions, content
modifications;
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Participation in meetings with problematic projects
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Organisation of the inputs for tailored events (audit seminars);
6. Technical Assistance
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Coordination and monitoring of the TA budget (including approval of the monthly
reports)
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Approval of all individual TA invoices
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Liaison with the legal employer (GECOTTI) for all administrative and financial matters
7. Basic requirements
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Degree and minimum ideally 5 to 10 years demonstrated experience in any field of
relevance to the above tasks (accountancy, finance, business studies, etc.);
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3 years Demonstrated experience in the management of an international team;
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Knowledge of EU law, institutions and policies, in particular the European Structural
Funds financial regulations, State aid and the de minimis Regulations;
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Experience in EU-funded projects or programmes;
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High level of proficiency and fluency in English and French;
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Good communication and drafting skills;
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Excellent computer literacy (including MS Excel...);
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Excellent coordinating and leadership skills including both team and finance
management;
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Flexible approach to work; prepared to travel and work irregular hours.
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GENERAL INFORMATION FOR APPLICANTS
 Applications should reach the Managing Authority (EE) by 03/07/2015 at midnight.
We will not consider any application sent beyond that deadline.
 A cover letter should be emailed along with your CV to the following email address
only : [email protected]. Those documents should be in English or in
French. Please indicate in the subject line of your email the job position you are
applying for.
 An individual email will be sent to all short-listed candidates by 06/07/2015 at the
latest. Candidates will be expected to confirm their participation to interviews by
email return. They will then receive full information package (location, hotel...)
 Interviews will take in our offices located in Lille, France, on 20/07/2015,
21/07/2015, or 22/07/2015. Transport and accomadation costs will be reimbursed in
compliance with the programme rules.
 All the candidates who have not been short-listed will be notified. Due to the large
number of applications foreseen, we will not be able to provide further inidvidual
feedback at that stage.
Confidentiality
Candiates are reminded that the selection is confidential and that all requests for
information in relation to the selection should be emailed to :
Mr Jean-Pierre LEGRAND – Project Director : [email protected]
Equal opportunities
Equal opportunities policy without distinction on the grounds of gender, racial, religion or
belief, diability age or sexual orientation will be applied
Terms and conditions of employment
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The working place is located at the office based in Lille, France
The position is based on a contract under French law.
Contract will be made between the individual and the GECOTTI (employer), on behalf
of the Région Nord - Pas de Calais, Managing Authority (EE) of the programme.
The corresponding assignment is based on long term contract and is expected to
start as soon as possible.
The jobholder will be offered a grossmonthly salary starting from € 4702 (around €
3610 net before income tax).
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THE URBAN INNOVATIVE ACTIONS PROGRAMME
1 / Background
One of the aims for the delivery of the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI
Funds) for the period 2014-2020 is to promote sustainable urban development. In particular,
the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) may support innovative actions in this
area. This requires detailed rules in form of delegated acts supplementing the provisions set
out in Regulation (EU) No 1301/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
One of most important new elements of the legislative framework in the period 2014-2020
is the introduction of innovative actions. These are implemented at the initiative of the
Commission indirectly via the delegation of budget implementation tasks to the entities or
bodies referred to in Article 58(1)(c) and Article 60 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012
of the European Parliament and of the Council. The ERDF may support innovative actions in
the area of sustainable urban development. Such actions shall include studies and pilot
projects to identify or test new solutions which address issues that are related to sustainable
urban development and are of relevance at Union level.
2 / What is in this new program
This is to identify or test new solutions to the challenges of sustainable urban development
and of interest to the EU level.
These innovative actions at the initiative of the Commission will finance studies and specific
projects proposed by the urban authorities of more than 50 000 people throughout the
European territory. (Cities, group or association of cities or urban authority).
3 / Budget and Programming
This program will have a budget of € 372 million for the period 2015-2024. Of these a lump
sum contribution of 7% is to finance the management activities to be performed by the
Managing Authority (EE) (and its secretariat) in charge of this initiative.
A work program will be developed annually and approved by the Commission before the 31
of October.
4 / Projects
Calls for projects will be defined and agreed in the annual work program. The first call for
projects could be launched in the second semester of 2015.
Projects should be developed along the following lines : a high degree of innovation, good
quality, with a strong partnership, transferable at the EU level ; results oriented and
measurable. The projects will be implemented over a maxim period of 3 years. Project
selection will be including on the basis of the recommendations of a panel of experts
approved by the Commission.
Approximately 15 and 20 innovative actions will be funded each year from 2015 to 2021 on
one or more topics proposed by the Commission. Each action can receive up to a maximum
of 5 Million € ERDF co-financing. The co-financing rate will be 80% maximum, and payment
terms are 50% on signing of the agreement, 30 % on the basis of an interim report and 20 %
on the basis of a final report.
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THE ROLE OF THE SECRETARIAT
The Managing Authority (EE) of the UIA initiative is the Région Nord-Pas de Calais based in
Lille, France.
The EE has created an international legal body, called GECOTTI, to host 3 INTERREG
Programmes in Lille and now this new programme. The legal body under private law is the
legal employer of the members of the Permanent Secretariat (PS) Staff.
The secretariat assists the Managing Authority (EE), the External of Auditors, the Certifying
Authority, in the implementation of their tasks and responsibilities.
The Mission of the secretariat is defined as follows :
Its mission is to deliver high quality, responsive and pro-active services to its main
stakeholders: EE, Commission and projects partners.
To this end, the PS will:
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Ensure the coordination of the whole of the territorial animation ;
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Participate, together with the Managing Authority (EE) and the whole partners of
the programme to the framework plan for the programme’s communication and
publicity ;
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Be responsible for providing the secretariat for the external Auditors and for
various work groups set up by the Managing Authority (EE) ;
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Be responsible for some audits of projects.
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Collect submitted projects, acknowledging their receipt and ensure their
instruction by associating with it the services instructors of the partners of the
programme and the experts;
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Draw up, the conventions signed by the Managing Authority (EE) relating to
Europe’s commitment to contribute to and carry out administrative monitoring
for accepted projects ;
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Collecting biannual activity reports from the final beneficiaries and carrying out a
physical project progress summary (presented in a format which incorporates
monitoring, implementation and impact indicators), for submission to the
secretariat in order to draw up the annual or final execution report ;
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Set up a data collection system to ascertain how the programme is progressing, to
aid programme management operating ;
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Update the systems for computerised data management and encode the
necessary elements for project monitoring ;
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Manage the monitoring of programming and consolidate the progress reported in
the annual and final execution report, and will draw up the financial part of these
reports;
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Carry out a check that all documents relating to payment of the European share
are in order, before submission by the Managing Authority (EE) to the Certifying
Authority
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Carry out the day to day implementation of the EE’s responsibilities foreseen in
the AWP (Annual Work Programme and in the regulations (except specific
procedures i.e. 1st level control...)
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