Seconded National Expert: Gender-based Violence

The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE)¹ invites applications with a view to establish a reserve list for the post of Seconded National Expert (SNE) – Gender-Based Violence (GBV).

The registration of applications will begin on 26 September 2024 and will close on 18 October 2024 at 13:30 Eastern European Time (EET).

The Agency

Based in Vilnius, Lithuania, EIGE is a decentralised agency of the European Union (EU) entrusted with specific objectives envisaged to contribute and strengthen the promotion of gender equality.

To achieve its goals, the Agency collects and analyses comparable and reliable information at EU level and develops appropriate methodological tools for the integration of gender equality into all EU policies. It fosters the exchange of good practices and dialogue between stakeholders and raises EU citizen awareness of this policy area by providing technical assistance to EU institutions, in particular the European Commission, as well as the authorities of the Member States.

In the course of its work to promote and strengthen gender equality, EIGE supports policymakers with high quality research and comparable data relevant to their work.   

Job description

Context

Combating gender-based violence is one of the European Commission’s policy priorities for the period 2020-2025, as set out in the document A Union of Equality: Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025.

In 2023, the European Union ratified the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (CETS No. 210), known as the Istanbul Convention and in May 2024 the Directive (EU) 2024/1385 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 on combating violence against women and domestic violence, was adopted. 

The Directive criminalises at EU level certain forms of violence against women offline and online and requires Member States to put in place strong measures on prevention, protection, access to justice, support, coordination and cooperation between authorities, alongside a system for the collection, development, production and dissemination of statistics on violence against women and domestic violence.

There is thus an increased demand from EU institutions and the Member States for support in strengthening their institutional response to combating violence against women together with collecting comprehensive and comparable data to inform effective policies. EIGE is mandated to support the Member States in data gathering by developing common standards and provide  evidence-based research and data-driven analyses.

Job profile and duties

Under the supervision of the Head of the Research and Policy Support Unit and the Gender-based Violence Team Leader, and working in close collaboration with other colleagues, the selected Seconded National Expert will enhance the Unit’s operational and research capacity on GBV.

The post requires a very good understanding of contemporary policies, research and data on violence against women in addition to analytical skills, project management, excellent writing skills in English and very good communication abilities.

Besides contributing to EIGE’s core GBV research (including administrative data collection and the analysis of institutional response to combat different forms of violence against women), the jobholder will contribute to EIGE’s emerging themes and topics of interest, including the new digital dimension of violence, and GBV in times of crisis.

The following tasks and activities are relevant to the duties of this post:

• Support the development of the terms of reference for GBV research projects;
• Manage all aspects of specific contracted research, ensuring the high quality of the content;
• Assess and ensure the quality of relevant data, indicators and statistics, and develop new indicators relevant to EIGE’s work on GBV;
• Analyse latest developments in policies to combat GBV, research and data collection including methodologies, at national and European levels;
• Draft and edit high quality policy relevant reports, recommendations and presentations on the status of GBV in cooperation with the Agency's communications team;
• Assist in the preparation of GBV related reports, communications and presentations and oversee the quality of deliverables provided by external experts and contractors;
• Build and maintain an exchange of research information with relevant national, international and EU institutions;
• Initiate and organise expert meetings to support the Agency’s work on GBV;
• Any other relevant tasks assigned by EIGE’s management.

Formal requirements & selection criteria

Formal requirements

To be considered eligible for selection, an applicant must meet the following formal requirements by the closing date of this call:

• a university degree, or a level of formation which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma and appropriate professional experience of at least one year when the normal period of university education is at least three years;
• very good command of both spoken and written English, which is the predominant working language at the Agency and a satisfactory knowledge of a second EU language;
• entitlement to full rights as a European citizen or nationality of an EU candidate country or an EFTA country or a country with which the European Council has decided to open accession negotiations and which has concluded a specific agreement with the Commission on staff secondments;
• any obligations imposed by the national laws concerning military service.

Selection criteria 

Eligible candidates will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria:

Essential 

• At least four years of professional experience gained after the award of the relevant qualification and at a suitable level corresponding to performance of tasks as defined above;
• Thorough knowledge on policies, procedures, and regulations pertaining to GBV;
• An accurate understanding of the magnitude, trends and patterns of GBV enabling data analysis and presentation;
• Practical experience of working with related statistical and research data, tools and methods, developing or managing capacity building initiatives and/or prevention programmes on GBV;
• Very good command of English which is the predominant working language at the Agency;
• The ability to perform research and produce high quality analytical reports;
• The ability to work with a high volume of data, information and to provide good assessment of existing information in sound developed conclusions and reports;
• The capacity to conceptualize and structure information and to communicate it effectively;
• Evident organisational skills, including the ability to manage priorities, work under pressure and reach tight deadlines;
• Good computer skills, especially in preparing and editing texts and presentations;
• Good presentation and communication skills;
• Excellent interpersonal and problem-solving skills, including ability to work with multiple stakeholders in a multicultural environment.

Advantageous

• Knowledge of EU policies related to gender-based violence and/or gender equality issues in general;
• Proven experience with quantitative data analysis software, e.g. Excel, SPSS, Stata, R;
• Experience of developing policies and recommendations on work with gender equality or gender-based violence in an EU Member State;
• A good knowledge of the EU institutional framework and policies.

Selection procedure and application

Selection procedure

Selection will include the following steps:

• Only duly completed applications submitted electronically within the deadline will be taken into consideration.
• Each duly completed application will be examined with a view to establishing that the candidate meets all eligibility criteria.
• The best-admissible candidates will be short-listed for an interview.
• Interviews will be held in English.

• A selection panel will examine the candidates' profiles and assess their relevancy for the post in question. The chosen candidate will be requested to furnish:

  
  -- a copy of identity card, passport or other official document specifying citizenship,

   

  -- a copy of diploma certifying a required level of academic qualifications,

   

  -- documentary evidence of professional experience, clearly indicating starting and finishing dates.

  
  Copies of the above mentioned documents will be retained by the Agency; 

• If at any stage of the procedure, it is established that information in the application has been knowingly falsified, the candidate shall be disqualified from the procedure.
• The initial period of secondment shall be specified in the exchange of letters between the Agency and the employer of the selected SNE.

Soliciting on behalf of a candidate can lead to immediate disqualification.

Applications

For applications to be valid, candidates must complete an EIGE application form, available only in English and which is to be forwarded electronically to eige.hr@eige.europa.eu . The subject title should include the vacancy reference number. Applications may also be forwarded to EIGE on behalf of applicants by the Permanent Representations of the EU Member States.

An application form is available on this webpage. Applicants are requested not to attach any supporting documents at this stage (e.g. copies of ID cards, diplomas, evidence of previous professional experience, etc.). Only shortlisted candidates will be asked to present copies of these documents for verification. Applications will not be returned to candidates but will be kept on the file by the Agency in line with its data protection guidelines.

Due to the large volume of applications, the Agency regrets that only candidates selected for the interviews will be contacted.

Conditions of secondment

The purpose of the secondment is to provide the SNE with experience of the Agency's working methods and policies, to enable them to gain practical experience and understanding of the day-today work of its work and to give them the opportunity to work in a multicultural, multilingual environment. It also serves to enable staff of national administrations to put into practice the knowledge they have acquired in their studies, particularly in their respective areas of responsibility.

The SNE shall remain in the service of his/her employer throughout the period of secondment and shall continue to be paid by that employer.  The SNE shall be entitled to daily and monthly subsistence allowances in line with EIGE Decision MB 2024/003 on the engagement and use of national experts and national experts in professional training to the European Institute for Gender Equality. These allowances do not apply to candidates from Lithuania as per Article 16.2 of these rules.

Each candidate should before applying obtain the assurance of the support of his/her employer for his/her candidacy as well as the commitment of that they shall continue to pay a salary during the period of the secondment. The final stage to secure the secondment will be confirmed by an exchange of letters between the Agency and the employer in the Member State concerned.

Subject to a probationary period, it is proposed that the secondment will be for a minimum of one year. It may be extended further accordingly.  The place of secondment is Vilnius, Lithuania. 

Independence & declarations of interest

The selected SNE will be required to enter into a commitment to act independently in the public interest and to make complete declarations of any direct or indirect interests that might be considered prejudicial to his or her independence.

Equal opportunities

The Agency applies a policy of equal opportunities in line with the formal requirements noted above.

Applications are accepted without distinction on any grounds of gender, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation.

EIGE is committed to promote diversity and inclusion in its working environment and organisational culture. This includes Reasonable Accommodation for applicants with a disability².

Appeal procedures

If a candidate considers that s/he has been adversely affected by a particular decision, s/he can lodge a complaint under Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, by writing to The Director, European Institute for Gender Equality, Gedimino Prospektas 16, Vilnius, Lithuania LT01103.

The complaint must be lodged within three months. The time limit for initiating this type of procedure (see Staff Regulations as modified by Council Regulation No 723/2004 of 22nd March 2004 published in the Official Journal of the European Union L 124 of 27th April 2004) starts to run from the time the candidate is notified of the act adversely affecting her/him. 

Pursuant to Article 195(1) of the Treaty establishing the European Community and in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Decision of the European Parliament of 9 March 1994 on the Staff Regulations and the general conditions governing the performance of the Ombudsman’s duties, published in Official Journal of the European Union L 113 of 4 May 1994, it is also possible to write to: The European Ombudsman, 1 Avenue du Président Robert Schuman, CS 30403 67001 Strasbourg Cedex, France.

Protection of personal data

As the body responsible for organising the competition, the EIGE ensures that applicants’ personal data are processed as required by 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. This applies in particular to the confidentiality and security of such data.

Personal data shall thus be processed solely for the purpose of the selection procedure.

Lithuania and life in Vilnius 

Lithuania is a member of the Schengen Area and it borders Latvia, Belarus, Poland and the Kaliningrad region of Russia. Its western coastline -- noted for its fine beaches, dunes and majestic pines -- straddles the Baltic Sea.

Vilnius has an estimated population of just over 550,000 people. In addition to ample green spaces, it is beautifully situated on the banks of the river Neris, offering excellent opportunities for outdoor activities. Vilnius has impressive Baroque, Gothic, Renaissance and Russian architecture as well as one of Europe's largest medieval old towns, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1994. It has been a university city since the Middle Ages.

Today it is the centre of the country's politics, business, science, culture and entertainment and it attracts an increasingly varied assortment of local and international events. The city centre of Vilnius is compact, clean and safe. In addition to hosting a number of international schools, Vilnius has a well-developed infrastructure and ambitious future plans.

The city is easy to get around, has a good standard of living and an excellent working environment. EIGE’s premises are situated in the Europe House on the main thoroughfare of Vilnius City, Gedimino Prospektas, with easy access to amenities, both leisure and educational. 

Further information is available from Go Vilnius and Invest Lithuania.

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Footnotes

¹ Established by the European Parliament: See Council Regulation (EC) No 1922/2006 of 20 December 2006 (OJ L 403/9 of 30.12.2006).

² See EIGE’s Director’s decision 268/2022 on Reasonable Accommodation and the reference in the application form.