Vacancy announcement

The vacancy

The Joint Secretariat of the Interreg V-A Slovakia-Hungary Cooperation Programme, operating within Széchenyi Programme Office Nonprofit LLC. is recruiting two full time Programme Managers (one of them with specific financial tasks) in its Budapest Office in Hungary.

About the Joint Secretariat

The Joint Secretariat (JS) works in close co-operation with the Managing Authority while being independent from the national administrative structures. The Joint Secretariat assists the Managing Authority, the National Authority, the Monitoring Committee, the Audit Authority and the Certifying Authority in carrying out their respective duties.

The duties of the JS include activities related to general programme co-ordination and implementation, technical and administrative management, information and publicity, project development and selection. More specifically, this includes the conclusion of Annual Reports; the preparation of proposals for programme amendments; the organisation of technical meetings, workshops and info days; the promotion of the project generation activities and participation in the project selection process; support of the Info Points in Košice, Nitra and Bratislava in its activities; updating of the programme’s internet homepage; secretariat tasks in support of the Monitoring Committee including preparation of documents, decisions, minutes and reports; contribution to the regular updating of the programme monitoring system, incl. data insertion into the system.

The Joint Secretariat is established within Széchenyi Programme Office Nonprofit LLC. in Budapest.

About the Interreg V-A Slovakia-Hungary Cooperation Programme

Interreg V-A Slovakia-Hungary Cooperation Programme promotes cross-border cooperation and territorial development. The priorities of the programme include:

• the integrated development of nature and culture,
• enhancement of cross-border mobility, (by increasing the density between border crossing points along the Hungarian-Slovak border and improving cross-border public transport services);
• promotion of sustainable and quality employment and supporting labour mobility;
• development of cross-border cooperation of public authorities and people.

The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) budget of the programme makes up to 155,8 million euro for the period of 2014-2020. In order to have a broader view on the programme and the tasks of the JS please read the Cooperation Programme, as well as other program related documents on the official web-site of the programme http://www.skhu.eu/.

Vacancy position: SKHU Programme Manager

General job description

The Programme Manager is responsible for the monitoring and control of the implementation of the approved projects under the supervision of the Head of JS and according to the principles and decisions of the programme partners. S/he is also the contact to applicants and project beneficiaries for providing consultancy on administrative and content related requirements of the applications and the project implementation.

The programme strives for international staff and a balanced knowledge of programme languages and cultural backgrounds within the whole team. The tasks require an understanding of EU funding instruments and especially the European Regional Development Fund or, specifically, European Territorial Cooperation (ETC). In depth knowledge of the programme priorities is an asset.

Main tasks

• providing support and consultancy to project applicants during the application phase;
• participating actively in the project selection and evaluation procedure according to the programme’s manuals;
• assisting and closely monitoring project beneficiaries throughout project implementation;
• reviewing project reports and project follow-up reports;
• preparing documents and materials for decisions of the Monitoring Committee;
• organizing and active participation at information days, project seminars, conferences and other events;
• preparing statistics and monitoring figures at programme level for the Monitoring Committee, the Managing and National Authorities, the Audit Authority, Certifying Authority and the European Commission, and assisting the organisation of their meetings; preparing minutes;
• preparing payment forecast for the programme account;
• preparing thematic reports on progress of projects and reporting to programme actors on financial progress of the projects;
• preparation of reports to the programme actors on the implementation of the programme;
• performing other relevant duties, administrative tasks deriving from the management of the programme.

Requirements for the candidate

Minimum requirements

• Work experience in public and/or state and/or international administration and/or in private sector in minimum 2 years;
• Fluent in spoken and written English, as well as in Slovak and/or Hungarian;
• Relevant university or college degree (bachelor`s/master’s/doctorate degree, completed with a diploma) in public administration and/or regional development and/or economic/social sciences and/or finance/business.

Additional requirements

• Team spirit and flexibility: The position involves fitting into a small team and sometimes lending a hand with whatever needs doing, including administration, practical and routine-type tasks;
• Ability to take personal responsibility for delivery of high quality results to tight deadlines;
• Attention to detail and accuracy;
• Excellent computer literacy;
• Pro-active approach and willingness to develop yourself and your work;
• Availability to work overtime when necessary;
• Good advisory, presentation skills;
• Analytical, creative and problem-solving skills;
• Willingness to travel.

Assets

• Good understanding and knowledge of the needs of the programme area;
• Experience/skills regarding the content of priority axis defined by the programme (e.g. engineering, technical skills, cooperation of public authorities);
• Experience of working in project management and/or in cross-border co-operation projects;
• Good administrative skills and understanding of the EU regulatory framework.

Terms of employment

• The position is based on a full-time contract under Hungarian law.
• Members of staff are employed by the Széchenyi Programme Office Nonprofit LLC.
• The location of work is the Széchenyi Programme Office Nonprofit LLC’ office in Budapest.
• The working language is English.
• The competitive salary will be related to qualifications, experience.
• One of the contracts of the full time programme manager positions is foreseen until the replacement of a colleague on maternity leave.
• One of the contracts of the full time programme manager positions is for indefinite period.
• Probation period of 3 months will be applied in both cases.

Selection procedure

How to apply

The application process will be managed through electronic correspondence. The interested candidates are invited to submit their Curriculum Vitae (CV) in Europass format in English with photo.

Assessment of applications

The submitted documents will form the basis of the initial stage of candidate assessment. If successful at this stage, candidates will be asked to attend an interview.

Interviews with short-listed candidates are foreseen to be held in June of 2021 in Budapest (or in online form). The interview/selection team will consist of the Managing Authority, National Authority and Joint Secretariat. The interviews will be conducted in English. Only those candidates who are invited for interviews will be contacted. Travel costs to Budapest for the invited candidates will not be reimbursed.

Clause

By submitting the application the candidate gives consent that within the Interreg V-A Slovakia-Hungary Cooperation Programme the personal data provided by the candidate in the submitted documents will be handled in line with the relevant national and community laws. The aim of the data collection is to establish an employment relationship with the selected candidate. The information submitted by the candidates and the selection process documentation might be shared with other management organizations (e.g.: Managing Authority, National Authority), who are involved in the decision making process. In case it is requested by the candidate, his/her data will be deleted from the database of the involved organizations.