Financial Assistant

1. Introduction

The Global Health EDCTP3 Joint Undertaking (GH EDCTP3 JU) is a partnership between the European Union and the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) Association whose members are several European and African countries. The GH EDCTP3 JU is established by Council Regulation (EU) 2021/2085 of 19 November 2021 establishing the Joint Undertakings under Horizon Europe. It aims at supporting clinical research to deliver solutions to reduce the burden of infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa and strengthen research capacities to prepare and respond to emerging infectious diseases. 

Since 2003, the first and second European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) programmes represent a flagship for conducting sound multi-country clinical trials in sub-Saharan Africa, building a true partnership between Europe and Africa, and fostering African leadership in scientific research. These programmes have also contributed to improving linkages between African research organisations, which resulted in the launch of four African Regional Networks of Excellence for clinical trials and more than 200 multi-country clinical trials and clinical studies. Moreover, these programmes have strengthened the ethics review capacity and national regulatory authorities in many African countries and 
contributed to establish relevant organisations in the region.

Building on the positive experience of the previous EDCTP programmes, GH EDCTP3 intends to: 
• Reduce the socio-economic burden of infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa by promoting the development and uptake of new or improved health technologies; 
• Increase health security in sub-Saharan Africa and globally by strengthening the research and innovation-based capacities for preparedness and response to control infectious diseases.
GH EDCTP3 JU is implementing a budget of approximately EUR 1.6 billion for the period 2021-2027 and consolidating a programme office of around 34 highly qualified, scientific, clinical and administrative professionals from multi-cultural backgrounds from Europe and Africa, operating in a multilingual context. 

The budget comes from the European Union Horizon Europe Framework Programme of Research and Innovation, the EDCTP Association member countries and additional contributing partners, such as philanthropic organisations and industry, which contribute on an ad-hoc basis. More information can be found in the mentioned Council Regulation establishing the Joint Undertakings under Horizon Europe, notably in its Articles 99-114.

GH EDCTP3 JU is established until 31 December 2031 and is located in Brussels.

For more information, please visit the Global Health EDCTP3 website at: https://globalhealth-edctp3.eu/

2. Job description

The GH EDCTP3 JU is organising a call for expressions of interest with a view to recruiting and establishing a 
reserve list of Contract Agents (3a) for the position of Financial Assistant.

2.1 Profile
Under the supervision of Head of Administration and Finance, the job holder will assist in the financial transactions and budgetary processes of the Global Health EDCTP3 and provide support in a range of activities and services related to budget and finance.

2.2 Tasks
Duties and responsibilities
The Financial Assistant main duties and responsibilities will include, but not limited to the following:

Financial initiation:
• Initiate administrative financial transactions in the ABAC accounting system, including invoices, payments, commitments, de-commitments, recovery orders;
• Register and process incoming invoices;
• Provide assistance for the opening and closing of the financial year;
• Reconcile payments in the invoicing application;
• Carry out other related tasks requested by line management in the interest of the service and acting as a back-up for other staff members.

Budget monitoring and verification:
• Verify financial transactions in the ABAC accounting system, including commitments, de-commitments, payment requests, recovery orders;
• Assist in ensuring the compliance of financial transactions and their compliance with the Financial Regulation, Staff Regulations, internal rules on budget implementation, financial decisions, and other related rules and budgetary dispositions;
• Follow-up and report on the administrative payments execution with regular review of budget and commitments monitoring tables, per budget line;
• Follow-up and reconcile budgetary and legal commitments execution and contracts monitoring.
• Producing various reports on financial, budget or grant management issues and preparing payment statistics.

Audit, control and inspection:
• Implementing necessary ex-ante and post-measures related to project management in accordance with the organisational control strategy;
• Verify and implement ex-post audit files.

Project management:
• Carrying out the financial management of GH EDCTP3 projects throughout their entire lifecycle, including during grant agreement preparation, amendments and reporting and payments in Sygma/Compass and ABAC Worfklow;
• Ensuring that the relevant financial transactions (commitments, invoices and payments, recovery orders, forecast of revenue, de-commitments or guarantee fund interventions, where relevant), including documentation and data, are financially correct and in conformity with the grant agreement and the applicable regulatory framework;
• Verifying project expenditure as reported in cost statements and providing reasonable assurance that claimed costs comply with the contractual requirements;
• Providing visa as a Financial Initiator/Financial Verificator, and/or as a Support Officer/FVA in eGrants/eExpert workflows;
• Analysing financial capacity of applicants and providing advice on financial capacity assessment, where applicable;
• Regularly reviewing legal instruments and methodology in the financial domain;
• Preparing financial procedures and keeping them up to date. 

The successful candidate may be required to undertake other tasks and activities as necessary according to the evolution and development of the GH EDCTP3 JU’s structure or activities. Duties may evolve depending on the needs of the GH EDCTP3 JU.

3. Eligibility criteria

Candidates will be considered for the selection phase on the basis of the following requirements, to be fulfilled by the closing date for applications and maintained throughout the selection procedure and appointment:

3.1 Nationality
• Be a national of a member state of the European Union;

3.2 Education and professional experience
• Have a level of post-secondary education attested by a diploma , 
OR 
• Have a level of secondary education attested by a diploma giving access to post-secondary education and, after having obtained the diploma, at least three (3) years full-time of appropriate professional experience;

3.3 Languages
• Have a thorough knowledge of one of the official EU languages and a satisfactory knowledge (at least B2 level) of another of these languages to the extent necessary for the performance of their duties (candidates are invited to specify in their CV possible language certificates they have obtained, which can demonstrate their language skills).
Candidates should clearly specify each criterion (nationality, diploma, and languages) in their CV. 
Failure to comply with any of the eligibility criteria or failure to mention them in the applicant’s CV will result in the disqualification of the applicant.

4. Selection criteria
Eligible candidates will be considered for the selection phase on the basis of the following criteria, to be fulfilled by the closing date of applications:

4.1 Essential qualifications and experience
• Suitability to perform the tasks described in point 2.2;
• Demonstrated professional experience of at least three (3) years with EU budgetary and financial management and/or EU-funded programmes and related financial rules and procedures, example FP7, H2020 OR Horizon Europe grant management;
• Very good knowledge of the EU Financial Regulation and EC accounting rules and instructions;
• Professional experience in working in a multicultural, international and multidisciplinary environment;
• Very good written and spoken English.

4.2 Advantageous criteria
• Experience of EU working tools (e.g. ABAC, SAP, Sygma/Compass etc.);
• Ability to use electronic office tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, MS Teams, etc).

4.3 Behavioural competences
• Ability to balance multiple high-priority projects simultaneously in a highly dynamic work environment;
• Excellent interpersonal and collaboration skills: ability to work both independently and as a team player;
• Very good analytical and problem-solving skills and ability to think creatively.
Candidates are invited to be as detailed and as clear as possible when describing their professional experience and specific skills and competences in their application. In order to be evaluated in the best possible way, candidates are advised to give evidence of their knowledge and detailed professional experience with specific examples and detailed professional experience. 

5. Conditions of Employment
The successful candidate will be appointed as a Contractual Agent, FGIII, pursuant to Article 3(a) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, for a period of three years, with a probation period of 9 months. After an evaluation of the post holder's performance, and subject to budget availability, the term of office may be extended. The period of engagement will not in any case exceed the lifetime of the GH EDCTP3 JU.

Remuneration
The successful candidate who is offered a contract of employment will be graded on entry into service in the step 1, according to the length of his/her professional experience.
The basic monthly salaries for a Contract Agent, FGIII, as of 1 January 2024 in Brussels, are:
FGIII, grade 8, step 1: EUR 3,204.55 (for less than 5 years of professional experience)
FGIII, grade 9, step 1: EUR 3,625.74 (for more than 5 years of professional experience)

In addition to the basic salary, staff members may be entitled to various allowances, in particular expatriation or foreign residence allowance, family allowances including household allowance, dependent child allowance, pre-school allowance and an education allowance.
The salary is subject to a Community tax deducted at source and staff members are exempt of national taxation.
For any further information on contractual and working conditions, please refer to the Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants (CEOS) of the European Union, which is available on the following web page:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:1962R0031:20140101:EN:PDF

6. Important note
Candidates are invited to read the ANNEX that represents an integral part of this vacancy and provides information on how to complete the application, the steps of the selection process and appeal procedures.

Link to the Annex: 

https://globalhealth-edctp3.eu/sites/default/files/2024-11/ANNEX%20to%20the%20Vacancy%20Notice.pdf