ERA Policy Officer COST-ESF

European Co-operation in the Field of Scientific & Technical Research

Brussels, Belgium

Following the COST Mission to promote cooperation in scientific and technological research across Europe, and in line with the objectives of the European Science Foundation, the position provides efficient and high-quality organizational and administrative assistance to the COST Director. Customer satisfaction, service oriented attitude and a profound engagement to improve and streamline procedures are important criteria for success in this position.

Adhering to values of excellence, discretion, and responsiveness, coupled with a commitment to promote ethical awareness and moral standards are essential requirements of this position. Additional success factors for this position are dealing with high level contacts requiring considerable discretion and judgement, deciding on priorities with diplomacy coupled with a thorough understanding of COST framework and policies and key external contacts, under the guidance of the COST Director.

The person should be available to start as soon as possible.

Position responsibilities:

• Monitor and identify current and relevant emerging EU policy issues in the field of R&D, S&T&I;
• Liaise with members of the European institutions (European Commission, Parliament, and Council) and networking activities at European level: identification of partners for cooperation in research policy;
• Contribute to the cooperation with national research funding programmes/councils;
• Draft reports, minutes, policy synthesis and analysis of EU documents and other relevant documents;
• Attend job related meetings and events (including occasional travel);
• Participate and contribute to the organization of European and international conferences as appropriate;
• Undertaking other administrative duties as necessary and at the request of the COST Office Director.

Profile and competencies:

Specific competencies

• Strong academic record, with a Master's Degree in European affairs, international relations, law or any other relevant disciplines (political sciences);
• Minimum working experience of 2-5 years;
• Thorough understanding of the functioning of the European institutions and decision making process;
• Substantial European Public Affairs experience;
• Sound knowledge of the R&D, S&T&I field and familiarity with the European and COST Member States' R&D landscape;
• Proficient in both written and spoken English. Knowledge of additional EU languages (such as French, German, Spanish) would be a plus;
• Good, practical working knowledge of MS Office systems (especially MS Word, Access, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint).

Inter-personal competencies

• Team-orientated work ethic with specific attention to maintain transparency and a collaborative team spirit;
• Task-orientated, responsible and autonomous, and continuous improvement minded;
• Excellent inter-personal and communication skills within a multi-national context;
• Diplomacy skills and rigorous discretion and confidentiality capacities;
• Commitment to deliver on allocated tasks and respond in a timely manner to deadlines.

The ESF offers:

• Full-time contract of duration linked to the COST grant agreement II, with an initial probation period of 6 months;
• An international working environment located in Brussels at 1050, avenue Louise 149;
• Luncheon vouchers and complementary insurances package.

Electronic applications (motivation letter + CV) should be addressed to the HR Unit and sent to job@cost.eu.
Reference code: ERAOF. Deadline for application: 11 December 2011.

For general details see http://www.cost.eu.