The EIB, the European Union’s Bank, is seeking to recruit for its General Secretariat (SG), Advisory Services Department (ASD) – European PPP Expertise Centre (EPEC) at its headquarters in Luxembourg, a: 

EPEC ADVISERS

Appointment will be made on the basis of a fixed term contract of 3 years

This is a preliminary campaign in anticipation of future vacancies

Purpose

EPEC Advisers will join a small team of PPP experts in the European PPP Expertise Centre (EPEC) which is an important component of the EIB’s new integrated Advisory Services (AS) department. EPEC advisers will provide PPP institutional/regulatory, policy and upstream project-related advice to support the lending activities of the Bank, the implementation of EU policies and programmes and the network activities and bilateral requests of EPEC’s country Members (primarily central/national PPP Units of EU Member and neighbouring states). This is an excellent opportunity for those who wish to be an integral part of a pan-EU strategic policy and upstream project-related advisory service delivered by the EIB. 

Post environment

EPEC is a network-based expertise initiative established by the EIB, the European Commission and EPEC Member countries in September 2008.  Its purpose is to help strengthen the capacity of the public sector to undertake public-private partnerships (PPPs), by providing capacity building PPP policy and programme support through its networking and bilateral activities. EPEC now has over 41 members (mainly national/central PPP units of the EU Member States and neighbouring countries) and has established itself as a core source of PPP policy support in the region. Building on this work, an important focus for EPEC over the next few years will be to help Members respond to their challenges in terms of adopting conducive policy/institutional/legal frameworks, building sound PPP pipelines, accelerating investments and delivering value for money. 

Operating network

External: EPEC is an outward-facing team, responding to and interacting with a number of external boding, particularly EPEC country Members and related public sector bodies who represent and contribute materially to the EPEC network. 

Internal: Advisers will report to the Head of EPEC and work together with the existing team of EPEC advisers and support staff. As part of the EIB’s AS department, EPEC provides advice and support to the lending and associated activities of the Bank (particularly the lending and projects departments). Close cooperation with other parts of AS and relevant departments of the Bank is critical to the continued success of EPEC. 

Accountabilities

This preliminary recruitment campaign is for EPEC Advisers of different levels of seniority, able to work autonomously shortly after appointment, who will:

• Contribute to the development of EPEC’s work programme and business plan, including new initiatives and activities
• Participate fully in the implementation of the work programme, both networking activities involving the membership and working bilaterally to advise individual Members or related public bodies
• Establish/maintain relationships with EPEC’s Members and PPP policy stakeholders in relevant countries
• Liaise with the Bank’s other Advisory Services initiatives, lending departments (Operations Directorate), sector specialists (Projects Directorate), particularly with a view to drawing on the wider expertise relating to PPPs within the Bank and establishing synergies with EPEC’s activities
• Define externally delivered consultancy assignments, appoint consultants and manage delivery of assignment objectives
• Represent EPEC at high level meetings, conferences and other events 

In addition to the above, senior advisers will: 

• Manage/lead programmes of PPP support within EPEC’s work programme and bilateral activities/assignments
• Assist in identifying potential new assignments for EPEC, developing Terms of Reference, assessing resource needs and timeframes for delivery
• Manage more junior staff and EPEC secondees in the delivery of the EPEC annual work programme to time, budget and quality
• Contribute to the development of systems for the management of EPEC’s activities and to the quality control of EPEC’s outputs
• Contribute to the recruitment of EPEC staff, both EIB appointments and external staff (e.g. private and public sector secondees, trainees)
• Assist the Head of EPEC in the relationship/reporting with/to EPEC sponsors and EPEC governing bodies 

Qualifications

• University degree in a relevant field, such as, finance, economics, engineering, law or business administration
• At least 5 years of relevant professional experience, including: exposure to the financial, economic, technical, legal and/or policy aspects of PPPs
• Sound knowledge of PPPs in a European context, with knowledge/experience of at least two EU countries
• Experience in advising public sector clients on PPP policy, programmes and projects would be an advantage
• PPP transaction experience (e.g. technical, financial, legal) would be an advantage to support EPEC’s upstream project-related work
• Knowledge of the requirements and procedures for EU grant application would be an advantage for support to grant-PPP blended projects
• Excellent written and spoken English and a good command of French (*), knowledge of other EU languages would be an advantage
• Good understanding of the EIB’s mission, strategy and activities 

Competencies

• Ability to convince and command the confidence of senior European decision-takers in the infrastructure investment and PPP arena
• Strategic thinking, excellent analysis and problem solving skills
• Excellent written communication skills, including report writing in English
• Strong oral/presentational skills
• Ability to establish and maintain effective collaborative working relationships with clients, peers, senior management and more junior staff
• Strong quantitative skills
• Strong client orientation
• Excellent team worker
• Strong organisational and project management skills

(*) There may be certain flexibility on this requirement, but limited to particularly suitable candidates who may not yet be proficient in one of the two languages. If selected, such candidates will be hired on the condition that they build up rapidly knowledge of the relevant language and accept that their future career in the EIB may be subject to the attainment of sufficient proficiency in both of the Bank's working languages

Deadline for applications: 27th February 2015

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