Digital Finance Expert

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) is an independent European Union Authority established on 1 January 2011 by Regulation (EU) No. 1094/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010.

EIOPA is at the heart of insurance and occupational pensions in the EU.

Our mission is to contribute to a sound, effective and consistent level of regulation and supervision of insurance and occupational pensions sectors in Europe, and to promote transparency, simplicity and fairness in the market for consumer financial products or services across the internal market for the benefit of EU citizens. Through our activities we help protect insurance policyholders, pension scheme members, customers and consumers and other beneficiaries. We furthermore play a key role in supporting the stability of the financial system, transparency of financial markets and products, and we contribute to strengthening coordination among financial supervisors at the international level.

EIOPA is part of the European System of Financial Supervision (ESFS) which includes the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB).

Further information on EIOPA is available on EIOPA’s website: https://www.eiopa.europa.eu/

As an European Union Authority, EIOPA is committed to fostering an inclusive and dynamic working environment, providing equal opportunities to all its employees and applicants. EIOPA is committed to ensuring gender equality and to preventing discrimination on any grounds. EIOPA actively welcomes applications from all qualified candidates from diverse backgrounds, across all abilities, without any distinction on any ground such as sex, 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, marital status or family situation or sexual orientation.

Job Purpose

Digital Finance Expert

Major purpose

The Digital Finance Expert will be responsible for supporting implementation of the remaining two-years of the project “EU Supervisory Digital Finance Academy” (EU SDFA).

The European Commission has partnered with the ESAs and the European University to offer Member States support in building up capacity with respect to the supervision of digital finance, and notably for the establishment and implementation of the Supervisory Digital Finance Academy during its duration.

The aim of the Academy is to strengthen supervisory capacity in the area of innovative digital finance, thus supporting the objectives of the EU Digital Finance Strategy[1]. This initiative will ultimately inform and improve the development of supervisory tools and practices that might be implemented in many Member States, potentially reducing costs and increasing harmonisation of supervisory practices.

The Academy was established for an initial duration of three years. During this period, the Academy will enable both the dissemination of knowledge on innovative applications of technology to financial activities to supervisors, as well as information gathering and sharing from NCAs’ practical experience with respect to digital finance issues.

Within the Academy, the first objective will be achieved through the provision of a comprehensive training curriculum on digital finance, including seminars, lessons and self-guided study initiatives, while the second objective will be attained by establishing a series of yearly workshops on practical issues stemming from the regulation and supervision of innovations used by financial entities and related service providers. These inputs will be summarised and analysed in yearly reports which would ultimately feed into the development of supervisory tools and practices, while also contributing to future regulatory developments.

The successful candidate will be a member of the Digital Finance Unit within the Consumer Protection Department, supporting the Project Manager in tasks related to project, including the development of supervisory tools and practices and will report to the Head of the Digital Finance Unit.

[1]“Digital finance package” adopted by the Commission on 24 September 2020: ec.europa.eu/info/publications/200924-digital-finance-proposals_en

Main Responsibilities

The Digital Finance Expert will assist the Project Manager and the Head of Unit with project related administrative work and content work, in particular the development of supervisory tools and practices, particularly with:

interim reporting throughout the project for European Commission;
drafting a Final Report on the lessons learnt from the Academy, including a comprehensive overview of training activities, workshops and feedback collected from all training and workshop’s participants over its whole duration, with information on the internal use and dissemination of the Academy training activities, learning materials and expertise within the Beneficiary Member States Authorities, as well as recommendations for the follow-up of the Action;
liaising with other ESAs, European Commission and EUI;
organising internal project meetings;
organising EIOPA supervisory workshops (agenda, speakers, catering, invitations, material, follow-surveys and meetings, etc.);
taking note of issues signaled and relevant experience provided by experts over the training cycles and especially during the workshop sessions and proposing and developing supervisory material on issues signaled;
proposing and developing supervisory tools and practices on digital topics aiming at either guidance to the insurance market or to national competent authorities;
ensuring a proper internal governance for the internal management of the project;
facilitating interaction with Beneficiary Member States (e.g. in light of the survey to map training needs);
following-up surveys to ensure training needs are up-dated on an annual basis;
any other task related to the organisation of the project and follow-up work.

Eligibility Criteria

Thorough knowledge of one of the languages of the Communities and a satisfactory knowledge of another language of the Communities;
Be a national of a Member State of the European Union, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein;
Be entitled to his or her full rights as a citizen [1];
Have fulfilled any obligations imposed by the applicable laws on military service;
Be physically fit to perform the duties linked to the post [2];

[1] Prior to the appointment, the successful candidate will be asked to provide a Police certificate confirming the absence of any criminal record.

[2] Before being engaged, a candidate shall be medically examined by one of the institution’s medical officers in order that the institution may be satisfied that he fulfils the requirements of Article 12 (2)(d) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities.

Essential Skills and Knowledge

Qualification:

a) a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma, when the normal period of university education is four years or more; or

b) a level of education 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;

Have at least 3 years of proven full-time professional experience acquired after the qualification required under a) or b) above;

Note: Your professional experience will be counted from the time you obtained the certificate or diploma required for admission to the selection procedure.

Part-time work will be taken into account in proportion to the stated percentage in relation to full-time work. In case of internship, only paid internship is considered.

Proven experience in digital finance from insurance industry or supervision of digital business models;
Proven experience in project assistance;
Proven experience of drafting reports for decision making bodies;
Fluent in English oral and written communication;
Good knowledge of MS Office, in particular Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Desirable Skills and Knowledge

Knowledge of EU financial services law, in particular familiarity with EU Directives in the insurance sector;
Knowledge of project management, in particular certificate in project management, preferably PRINCE 2;
Knowledge of supervisory processes and different supervisory tools and methodologies; digital finance; or regulatory framework relevant for digital finance;
Work experience in a multicultural environment;
Knowledge of a third EU language.

Behavioural Competencies required

The following behavioural competencies have to be fulfilled:

Flexibility in terms of openness to taking over other tasks within EIOPA in view of the dynamic and evolving institutional environment;
Excellent team player sharing relevant information and supporting team members without taking over responsibility for their work, able to work in different teams with different levels of stakeholders in a multicultural environment; strong interpersonal and networking skills;
Being able to have and express a critical view towards own performance and open to learn from experience;
Being able to manage multiple assignments and track progress on numerous processes simultaneously; deliver results within tight time frames and respect deadlines; prioritise tasks and pay attention to detail; proactively anticipate what needs to be done within own area of responsibility, informing others and taking action as required;
Curiosity: being able to promote open discourse and engage through challenging dialogue: challenge the status quo and exercise professional skepticism; use questions strategically, as a tool to advance insight, understanding and deepen awareness;
Influencing: being able to demonstrate resilience in difficult situations: push through resistance and continue to work with others in a constructive manner; identify and respond constructively to underlying attitudes or behaviour patterns;
Communication: being able to frame clear communication messages in line with audience experience, background and expectations, in an engaging manner; stand ground when needed; adopt appropriate influencing styles;
Being able to establish and maintain cooperative relationships with staff and management at all levels, both inside and outside the organisation; understand who the internal and external stakeholders are as well as their needs and expectations;
Showing a positive mindset; seeing obstacles as challenges and approaching them with a can-do attitude; setting high levels of quality and productivity for self; self-motivated.

Contractual conditions

Place of employment

Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Function group and grade

CA FG IV

Monthly basic salary

CA FG IV Grade 13: 3,943.39 EUR

CA FG IV Grade 14: 4,461.74 EUR

CA FG IV Grade 16: 5,711.77 EUR

plus specific allowances where applicable*.

*Summary of Conditions of Employment

1. Successful external candidates will be classified in FG IV, Grade 13, 14 or 16 in line with the applicable rules.

Function Group /Grade^[1]	Monthly basic salary^[2]	Monthly net salary, excluding allowances	Monthly net salary, including specific allowances ^[3]
FG IV/GRADE 13 Step 1	3,943.39 EUR	3,100.41 EUR	4,819.33 EUR
FG IV/GRADE 14 Step 1	4,461.74 EUR	3,352.24 EUR	5,317.08 EUR
FG IV/GRADE 16 Step 1	5,711.77 EUR	4,508.06 EUR	6,483.35 EUR

[1] Implementing rules concerning the use and engagement of contract agents

[2] The basic salary is weighted by the current correction coefficient for Germany.

[3] An estimation of net salary, including the deduction for tax and social security and adding the allowances (this estimation has been calculated with expatriation allowance, household allowance and with one dependent child allowance). Allowances depend in any case on the personal situation of the candidate.

Salaries are subject to a Union tax deducted at source and are exempt from national taxation;
Depending on the individual family situation and the place of origin, the successful jobholder may be entitled to: expatriation allowance (16% of the basic salary), household allowance, dependent child allowance, education allowance, pre-school allowance, installation allowance, reimbursement of removal costs, initial temporary daily subsistence allowance, and other benefits;
Annual leave entitlement of two days per calendar month plus additional days for grade, distance from the place of origin and in addition on average 15 EIOPA holidays per year;
EU Pension Scheme (after 10 years of service);
EU Joint Sickness and Insurance Scheme (JSIS), accident and occupational disease insurance coverage, unemployment and invalidity allowance and travel insurance;
General and relevant technical training plus professional development opportunities;
Modern and flexible working conditions, combining presence in the office and teleworking opportunities (certain geographical restrictions apply).

Envisaged start date

1 February 2024

Contract type and duration

Successful candidates may be offered an employment contract for a fixed period of maximum two years as a Contract Agent (ending no later than February 2026).

Reserve list

Possibility of reserve list with validity until 31 December 2024, with possibility of extension.

Recruitment procedure

The recruitment process will include a panel interview and a written test. In addition, there may be a pre-screening exercise, a presentation to be delivered by the candidate and a bilateral interview.

The online application form should be submitted in English language.
(1) Curriculum Vitae clearly indicating (among all):

Qualifications (please list exact dates of your academic qualifications gained)
Responsibilities, experience and skills gained in previous positions (please list exact dates of your work experience gained)
Nationality/Citizenship
Language skills

(2) Motivation explaining why you are interested in the post and what would be your added value you would bring to EIOPA if selected.

Applicants will be assessed on the basis of the eligibility and selection criteria specified in the vacancy notice and these must be met by the closing date of the vacancy notice.

Vacancy Notice publication start date: 20 November 2023

Application Deadline: 12 December 2023 23:59 CET

Applications after the deadline are not considered.

The successful candidate will be required to make an annual declaration in respect of any interests which might be considered prejudicial to their independence. Before recruiting a member of staff, EIOPA’s Executive Director will examine whether the successful candidate has any personal interest which may impair their independence or any other conflict of interest. To that end, the successful candidate, using a specific form, shall inform the Executive Director via the Ethics Officer of any actual or potential conflict of interest.

For more information on the selection process of temporary agents and on the contractual and working conditions, please, refer to: