Head of Unit

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Position description

1. Who we are

The European Ombudsman’s mission is to help resolve complaints and ensure that the EU administration applies the highest standards of integrity, transparency, accountability and responsiveness. We do this by putting citizens and their rights at the heart of our actions and by fostering constructive dialogue with the EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies (‘EU IBOAs’), as well as engaging with other relevant stakeholders.

This important role provides people and organisations with a means of redress in situations where they consider that their concerns remain unresolved by the EU IBOAs concerned. It also empowers the Ombudsman to carry out own-initiative inquiries and to engage with the EU IBOAs and other stakeholders to proactively identify areas for improvement and address systemic issues. In doing so, the Ombudsman contributes to ensuring good administration and thus to strengthening the democratic standards and values on which the EU is founded.

The Office’s guiding principles are integrity, fairness, impartiality, independence and accountability.

Respect, openness, inclusiveness, collaboration and efficiency are our core values.

The European Ombudsman is a small, dynamic office with an establishment plan of roughly 75 posts and an annual budget of approximately EUR 16 million.

Its offices are located in Strasbourg and Brussels.

It offers a dynamic and respectful workplace including a good balance between professional and private life and a pleasant working atmosphere. The Office’s organisational structure encourages participation, facilitates skills’ development and our modern working tools allow for efficiency and flexibility.

2. Your role as Head of Unit

We seek experienced and highly qualified professionals with a strong sense of integrity who are eager to contribute to the Ombudsman’s mission.

This job requires excellent understanding of the Ombudsman’s strategy and of the EU legal and institutional context. Very good coordination and communication skills as well as a strong sense of initiative and responsibility are essential. We value dynamic colleagues who take initiative and are at ease assuming responsibility. Collaborative work and service-orientation are essential. Commitment to maintaining a positive work environment and ability to resolve conflicts are also essential.

a. General description

The Head of Unit is responsible for leading and managing a team of Inquiries Officers within the Directorate of Inquiries The post-holder ensures the effective handling of inquiries in line with the Ombudsman’s mandate, maintaining high standards of legal analysis, drafting, and procedural quality. The role contributes to the strategic objectives of the Office and supports the Director of Inquiries in delivering timely, impactful, and well-reasoned decisions.

b. Main duties and responsibilities

As Head of Unit, you shall:

• Lead and manage a team of Inquiries Officers, fostering a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performing working environment;
• Ensure the effective coordination, allocation, and timely handling of complaints and inquiries, including appropriate supervision and quality control of casework;
• Guarantee a high standard of legal analysis and drafting in all inquiries, ensuring consistency with the Ombudsman’s mandate, case-law, and established practices;
• Support and advise the Ombudsman, the Secretary-General, and the Director on inquiry-related matters and broader institutional issues;
• Contribute to the development and implementation of the Ombudsman’s strategic priorities, including the identification and proposal of own initiative inquiries;
• Coordinate the activities of the Unit, including planning, monitoring performance, and ensuring the efficient use of resources;
• Contribute to the planning and reporting of the Directorate’s activities, including input to annual management plans and reports;
• Prepare, develop, and implement policies and internal guidelines relevant to the Ombudsman’s work;
• Manage personnel matters within the Unit, including appraisals and promotions , setting objectives, providing feedback, supporting staff development and learning, and contributing to selection procedures;
• Manage and coordinate projects across the different areas of activity of the European Ombudsman;
• Represent the Office in meetings with external stakeholders, including EU institutions, bodies, agencies, and other relevant actors;
• Support cooperation and coordination within the Directorate and across the Office.

c. Reporting line

The Head of Unit reports to the Director of the Inquiries.

d. Place of employment

Brussels or Strasbourg depending on the needs of the service.

Qualifications

a. Eligibility requirements

Applicants must, on the closing date for the receipt of applications:

• Be established officials of the European Ombudsman at grade AD 8 and have a seniority of at least two years in that grade, or
• Be established officials of the European Ombudsman or another EU institution, body, office or agency of the European Union at grades AD 9 to AD 12.

When a post is to be filled by way of promotion (Article 29, paragraph 1a, point iii) of the SR), the concerned officials must demonstrate the ability to work in a third language (Article 45 § 2 of the SR) before their first promotion since their recruitment.

b. Knowledge and skills required

• Thorough knowledge of the mandate, role, procedures, and strategic objectives of the European Ombudsman, including principles of good administration and oversight within the EU institutional framework;
• Excellent knowledge of the European Union institutional and legal framework, in particular EU administrative law and jurisprudence;
• Leadership and people management skills, including the ability to lead, motivate, develop, and support a multidisciplinary team in a collaborative and inclusive working environment;
• Excellent analytical, legal reasoning, and problem-solving skills, including the ability to assess complex and sensitive cases and provide sound, well-balanced recommendations;
• Sound judgement and strong decision-making capacity, particularly in complex or high-profile situations;
• Demonstrated ability to manage complex workloads, competing priorities, and deadlines while ensuring high standards of quality, consistency, and efficiency;
• Strong organisational, coordination, and project management skills, including the ability to lead cross-functional cooperation and support organisational change and continuous improvement;
• Excellent drafting, communication, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to communicate effectively and diplomatically with internal and external stakeholders at all levels;
• Strong sense of integrity, impartiality, responsibility, and service orientation, combined with high ethical and professional standards;
• Ability to contribute strategically to the work of the Office, including identifying emerging issues, supporting institutional priorities, and promoting impactful own-initiative inquiries;
• Ability to work effectively in a multilingual, multicultural environment, fostering cooperation, inclusion, and mutual respect;
• Excellent knowledge of English.

As the official seat of the European Ombudsman is in Strasbourg and the institution has offices in both Strasbourg and Brussels, very good knowledge of French will be an asset.

5. Independence and declaration of interests

Before taking up their duties, candidates are required to identify and declare any potential or actual conflict of interest they may have in relation to the position offered, to allow the Office to take appropriate mitigating measures.

6. Data protection

Personal data which candidates provide for the purposes of this selection procedure will be processed in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC.

7. Selection procedure

a. Advisory Selection Committee

In choosing the successful candidates the appointing authority shall be assisted by an Advisory Selection Committee. The decision appointing the Committee will be published on the Ombudsman’s website.

b. Assessment of eligibility

The Advisory Selection Committee will review the received applications with the help of its secretariat to identify all eligible applications

The Advisory Selection Committee will establish and adopt the list of eligible candidates.

c. Assessment of eligible candidates by the Advisory Selection Committee

i. Assessment of applications

The Advisory Selection Committee will initially evaluate and compare the qualifications, experience and motivation of all the applicants, on the basis of their applications.

The assessment will be based on the evaluation criteria mentioned in section ‘Knowledge and skills required’ above and the relative weight assigned to each of them by the Committee prior to the assessment.

The pass mark of the applications’ assessment is set at 75% of the total points in this first assessment step. Only the nine top candidates having passed the 75% threshold will be invited for an interview with the Advisory Selection Committee.

ii. Interviews with the Advisory Selection Committee

The Committee will interview the candidates meeting the above-mentioned conditions.

Before the interview candidates may be asked to draft a short text based on a situational case which may also be discussed during the interview.

The interviews will be conducted mainly in English. Knowledge of French will also be tested.

The Committee will establish a list of candidates having reached the 80% pass mark in the interview, in alphabetical order.

d. Interviews with the Ombudsman

All shortlisted candidates will subsequently be invited to an interview with the Ombudsman. The Secretary-General will also attend the interview.

Application instructions

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