Date: 13/11/2014
ESMA/2014/VAC31/SNE
VACANCY NOTICE
SECONDED NATIONAL EXPERT – LEGAL COUNSEL (F/M)
REF.: ESMA/2014/VAC31/SNE
Type of contract
Function group and grade
Duration of contract
Division/Unit
Place of employment
Monthly basic salary
Deadline for applications
Reserve list valid until
Seconded National Expert (SNE)1
SNE
2 years, with possibility of extension2
Legal, Cooperation and Convergence (LCC) Unit
Paris, France
Monthly and daily allowance paid to SNE3
12 December 2014 7 January 2015 (23:59 hrs, Paris local
time)
31/12/2015 (the validity of the reserve list may be extended)
1. The Authority
ESMA is an independent EU Authority that was established on 1 January 2011. It works closely
with the national competent authorities who are members of the European System of Financial
Supervision and the other European Supervisory Authorities – the European Banking Authority
(EBA) responsible for banking and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions
Authority (EIOPA) responsible for insurance and occupational pensions.
ESMA’s mission is to enhance the protection of investors and promote stable and wellfunctioning financial markets in the European Union (EU). As an independent institution, ESMA
achieves this aim by building a single rule book for EU financial markets and ensuring its
consistent application across the EU. ESMA contributes to the regulation of financial services
firms with a pan-European reach, either through direct supervision or through the active coordination of national supervisory activity.
ESMA also contributes to the financial stability of the European Union, in the short, medium and
long-term, through its contribution to the work of the European Systemic Risk Board, which
identifies potential risks to the financial system and provides advice to diminish possible threats
to the financial stability of the Union. ESMA is also responsible for coordinating actions of
1
http://www.esma.europa.eu/system/files/2014-mb-67_-_decision_on_seconded_national_experts.pdf
SNE may be engaged under their 1st secondment contract for a fixed period of 12 months with automatic extension for another
period of 12 months. The contract may be renewed up to the total duration of 4 years.
3 Amount depends on the km distance between place of employment (Paris) and place of secondment. For more information please
consult http://ec.europa.eu/civil_service/job/sne/index_en.htm
2
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securities supervisors or adopting emergency measures when a crisis situation arises.
For further information, please refer to ESMA’s website www.esma.europa.eu
2. Job description
ESMA is looking for Seconded National Experts (SNEs) to contribute to ESMA’s missions in the
area of Institutional Cooperation within the Legal, Cooperation and Convergence (LCC) Unit.
The LCC Unit is responsible for providing support and expertise to the other units and divisions
of ESMA, to senior management and to the ESMA Board of Supervisors (BoS) in the following
three main areas:
• Legal advice;
• Cooperation with ESMA stakeholders as well as with European or international
institutions; and
• Supervisory convergence.
Under the responsibility of the Head of Unit and jointly with other colleagues, the successful
candidate will be responsible for:
• assisting the Chair and Executive Director in building a strategic relationship with the EU
institutions;
• preparing agendas for the meetings of the Board of Supervisors and the Management
Board, taking minutes and handling ad-hoc communication with Board members (in particular via the coordinators), working closely with the Chair’s PA;
• ensuring high-standards for ESMA decision-making processes are maintained and acting
as a contact person for decision-making processes;
• coordinating the briefings of key meetings at the Council (ECOFIN, EFC-FST and FSC)
and at other European Supervisory Authorities (EBA and EIOPA);
• monitoring developments in the European Parliament and reporting on these, preparing
ESMA Chair’s annual hearing and facilitating ESMA Executive Director’s discharge;
• preparing the Joint Committee, in coordination with EBA and EIOPA, with a special emphasis during 2015 when ESMA will chair the JC, and taking the lead on the follow-up of
the EFSF review;
• providing administrative and legal assistance to the Board of Appeal;
• designing ESMA strategy towards EU key bodies (eg ECB/SSM) as well as financial
markets authorities established in third countries (US SEC, US CFTC, Swiss FINMA,
etc.), and providing assistance concerning the organisation of the relationships with
them;
• drafting policy notes on issues of institutional relevance, in liaison with other relevant EU
bodies as appropriate;
• fulfilling any other relevant tasks assigned by Senior Management and the Head of Unit
(ESMA strategy, speeches, presentations etc.).
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3. Qualifications and experience required
A. Eligibility Criteria
To be considered eligible, candidates must satisfy all the eligibility criteria listed below, by the
deadline for submitting applications:
•
•
•
The candidates must be employed by a member of the European System of Financial
Supervision4 or another relevant public body.
The candidates must have worked for their employer on a permanent or contract basis
for at least 12 months before their secondment and shall remain in the service of that
employer throughout the period of secondment. Before the application, the candidates
should receive the formal approval/authorisation of their potential secondment from the
National Authority in which they are employed.
Except where the Executive Director grants a derogation, a SNE must be a national of an
EU or EFTA Member State or a country with which the Council has decided to open accession negotiations and which has concluded a specific agreement on staff secondments.
B. Selection criteria
PRE-SCREENING PHASE
The received applications will be screened by HR against the eligibility criteria listed in the
vacancy notice. Applications which fulfil the Eligibility criteria (part A) will be provided to hiring
managers (e.g. Head of Units/Divisions/Team Leaders) for assessment against both the
Essential and Advantageous requirements (part B.1 & B.2).
The respective hiring manager may contact directly the applicants, perform phone or personal
interviews, check availability of candidates and discuss mutual expectations with SNE’s
employer prior to the final selection decision. As a result, the hiring manager provides his/her
proposal about the candidate to be offered the secondment. The proposal is submitted for
decision to the ESMA Executive Director.
Short-listed candidates, who were not offered a secondment position, are placed on a reserve
list. The validity of the list is of one year, with a possibility of an extension for another year.
B.1. Essential requirements
a) A master’s degree in law or in a relevant field;
b) At least five years of professional experience in the policy and/or legal departments of a
4 As specified in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) no 1095/2010 establishing the European Securities and Markets Authority, including
those countries that have reached appropriate arrangements for participation in ESMA’s work within the meaning of Article 75 of the
Regulation.
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financial supervisory authority or central bank5;
c) Knowledge (acquired by experience or training) of EU regulatory or/and EU institutional
framework;
d) Very good command of English6.
B.2. Advantageous requirements
e) Additional years of work experience in excess to the criterion b) would be an asset;
f) Experience in securities and markets regulation, acquired in a public or private organisation;
g) Professional experience in drafting legal documents, decisions and opinions, including
developing governance models and rules of procedures for decision-making bodies;
h) Experience in advising policy-making bodies on carrying out their duties;
i) Professional experience in multicultural environment;
j) Motivation the advertised position.
INTERVIEWS & WRITTEN TESTS PHASE
Candidates invited for interviews and written tests will be assessed against all selection criteria
(part B1 & B2& B3).
B.3. Supplementary requirements
k) Excellent organisation skills and ability to handle large volume of work in an efficient and
timely manner;
l) Excellent communication skills;
m) Dynamic personality with strong aptitude for team work;
n) Developed sense of initiative with proven ability to work independently with minimum
supervision.
Candidates who receive at least 65% of the maximum points in both the interview and written
test will be included in the reserve list of suitable candidates.
The established reserve list may be used for the recruitment of a similar post depending on the
needs of ESMA. Please note that inclusion in the reserve list does not guarantee recruitment.
B.4. How to apply
Applications will be disregarded and not evaluated, if at least one of the following criteria is not
met:
5
Relevant to the job description/main tasks (see part 2 of the vacancy notice).
At least at the level of B2, according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/en/resources/european-language-levels-cefr
English: working language of ESMA.
6
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1. The application must include both CV and motivation letter in English (working
language of ESMA);
2. CV must be submitted in the European format7;
3. Application documents must be sent to [email protected] by the
specified deadline, which is indicated in the vacancy notice;
4. Application documents must be marked accordingly with the reference number of
the vacancy notice (see templates below):
CV in the European (Europass) format, saved as: ESMA_2014_VAC31_SNE_FAMILY
NAME_First name_CV
Example: ESMA_2014_VAC31_SNE_SMITH_Anna_CV
Motivation letter of no more than 2 pages, explaining the interest and motivation of the
candidate for this particular post, saved as: ESMA_2014_VAC31_SNE_FAMILY
NAME_First name_Motivation letter
Example: ESMA_2014_VAC31_SNE_SMITH_Anna_Motivation letter
Indication in the subject line of the email: ESMA_2014_VAC31_SNE_FAMILY
NAME_First name
Example: ESMA_2014_VAC31_SNE_SMITH_Anna
Applicants will be assessed on the basis of the eligibility and selection criteria specified in the
vacancy notice (as explained in part 3) and these must be met by the closing date of the
vacancy notice.
4. Conditions of secondment
For further information on the respective SNE conditions, please consult the ESMA website
and/or the EC website:
http://www.esma.europa.eu/system/files/2014-mb-67__decision_on_seconded_national_experts.pdf
http://ec.europa.eu/civil_service/job/sne/index_en.htm
7
http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/en/documents/curriculum-vitae
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