LONG-TERM CONTRACT VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT

National Long-Term Reporting and Financial Expert supporting Component 4

Vacancy Code: 13/AICSTIRANA/2023

Profile: National Long-Term Expert for Reporting, Financial and Administrative issues to support

the implementation of activities and tasks of Component 4 within the framework of the project

"Improve the capacity of Independent Justice Institutions in Albania - EU4Justice

IPA/2022/436-032", funded by the European Union and implemented by AICS, FIIAPP and EF

SAS.

Applicable regulations:

Law of 11 August 2014, n. 125 as amended, entitled "Disciplina generale sulla cooperazione

internazionale allo sviluppo" (General law on International Development Cooperation").

The decree of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAECI) of 22 July 2015, n. 1 13 as amended

entitled "Statuto dell A genzia italiana per la cooperazione allo sviluppo" ("Statute of the Italian

Agency for Development Cooperation"), and in particular article 1 1, paragraph 1, letter c)

Resolution n. 101, issued by the AICS/MAECI Joint Committee on 19 November 2019

Multi Partner Contribution Agreement of December 2022 Ref. IPA/2022/436-032 for the

financing in decentralized cooperation of the initiative "Improve the capacity of the Independent

Justice Institution in Albania (EU4Justice)- AID 012761/01/0.

Decree of the Director of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation of 18 January 2023 nr

1925 on the mandate to the Representative of AICS Office in Tirana to manage the initiative AID

012761/01/0.

The AICS Tirana Regional Office intends to recruit a National Long-Term Expert for

Component 4 of the project Improve the capacity of Independent Justice Institutions in Albania

- EU4Justice- IPA/2022/436-032"

Duty station: Tirana, Albania.

Typology of contract: Long-term full-time contract of employment based on Albanian law and

respecting the fundamental principles of the Italian legal system

Remuneration: 'The gross annual salary for the position cannot exceed 27,600 Euro/year.

Duration: 12 (twelve months) -- including a 2-month probation period - with possible extension

based on project implementation.

Expected start date of employment: At the end of the selection procedure.

Type of project: Contribution Agreement - Instrument of Pre-Accession (IPA I).

Sector: Justice and Rule of Law.

Action: Improve the capacity of Independent Justice Institutions in Albania -. EU4Justice

IPA/2022/436-032

Contracting Authority: European Union Delegation to Albania.

Target Group: Albanian self-governance institutions, namely High Judicial Council (HJC), High

Prosecutorial Council (HPC) and High Justice Inspector (HJI).

Implementing Entity: Agenzia Italiana per la Cooperazione allo sviluppo - AICS Tirana office

Consortium: International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public

Policies (FIIAPP) and Expertise France (EF).

Specific objective: To contribute to the strengthening of the rule of justice system in Albania.

Expected results (ER)

ER 1: Improved performance of HJC, HPC and HJI in the consolidation of judicial independence,

accountability, transparency and finctionality.

ER 2: Improved coordination and communication mechanism among HPC, HJC and HJI in line

with the EU best practices.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

1. KEY FUNCTIONS

The National Expert will support the implementation of the Component 4 of the project and assist the Project Team Leader. The Expert will deal with the all the Project reporting and work plan, the financial issues as well as the provision of administrative support. The National Expert will be supervised by the Project Coordinator and the Team Leader.

Description of assignment: under Project Component 4, the National Expert will be expected to serve in accordance with the following Terms of Reference:

Ensure the fulfillment of the project's financial reporting and accounting obligations;

Initiate and coordinate procurement processes in collaboration with the Project Coordinator;

Prepare and monitor the EU4Justice financial plans and amendments;

Prepare financial statements and manage payments related to purchase and contracts signed

and executed in the framework of the EU4Justice initiative,

Maintain of financial data records (costs incurred, forecast budget, funds remaining);

Ensure all financial transactions have the appropriate and required supporting document in compliance Albanian Law, donor's policies and procedures, terms and conditions;

Act as contact focal point for all financial and administrative issues;

Support the Project Coordinator in financial reporting and controlling.

Act as a focal point for the collection, analysis and dissemination of Project reports;

Identify gaps and develop appropriate reporting formats to meet all reporting requirements of the Project;

Provide quality assurance evaluation, including data verification on all reports and information;

On products produced by the project ensuring qualitative and quantitative consistency;

Draft, review and finalize all ad hoc reports on the implementation and progress of activities;

against the targets of the Project;

Perform any other tasks that are necessary for the proper administrative management of the Project, at the request of the Project Team Leader and Project Coordinator.

Prohibition to engage in other activities: The selected candidate must not have carried out, during the last three years, any entrepreneurial, for-profit activity in the country of service, or be in a situation of conflict, even potential, of interests that undermine the impartial exercise of the functions, as provided for in Article 53 of Legislative Decree no. 165 of 2001, referred to in Law

No. 190 of 2012 and by the Code of Ethics and Conduct of AICS referred to in point 6 below.' The administration reserves the right to verify compliance of what has been declared in this regard by the selected candidate under penalty of exclusion.

2. ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Candidates will be considered eligible for selection based on the following essential requirements, to be fulfilled by the deadline for application:

a) Age not exceeding (at the time of signing the contract) that required for retirement by local regulations (65 years);

b) Medically fit for employment;

c) Legally eligible to work in Albania;

d) To have acquired the academic qualification required by the selection notice, in accordance with point 2.1;

e) To have acquired the professional experience required by the selection notice, in accordance with point 2.1;

Fluency in written and spoken English (level C1 - Common European Framework of Reference).

g) Proficiency with the main IT tools and office package software (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).

The requirements mentioned above should be possessed throughout all the duration of the contract.

2.1 Essential requirements under penalty of exelusion

a) General requirement for access to the professional level: Bachelor degree in Finance, Accountancy, Monitoring & Evaluation, Business Administration, Political Science, or Economics, Other degrees of the same level may be considered if accompanied by at least three years of sector-specific working experience. Although not a public competition, candidates may use the equipollence for admission to public competitions, published on the Ministry of Education, University and Research website www.miur.it;

b) Specific requirements for access to the specialist profile: Minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in administrative and financial sectors in the framework of international funded development programs. The documented activity carried out in the sector of reference of the vacancy notice in the context of cooperation initiatives may also be assessed for the purpose of achieving the "General requirement for access to the professional level' referred to in point.

2.1a) only for the part exceeding 5 years

2.2 Preferential requirements:

The following will constitute the preferential requirements for the position:

Educational level higher than the compulsory required in point 2.1.a) above;

Language skills in addition to the essential requirements;

Demonstrated experience in accounting and financial project reporting, acquired through previous professional experiences, in the implementation of EU or/and Italian cooperation/AICS funded projects;

Demonstrated experience in grant management and tender processes, as well as for thorough knowledge of EU rules, regulations and procedures (PRAG), acquired through previous professional experiences;

Demonstrated solid experience in project monitoring and evaluation in developing countries with international organizations, governmental and/or nongovernmental, acquired through previous professional experiences;

Previous experience in accounting and financial reporting;

Excellent knowledge of the Albanian and Italian languages.

2.3 Core competencies:

Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, reporting and analytical capacity;

Flexibility and maturity of judgement;

Experience in working in multicultural and fast-paced environment;

Ability to work under pressure and to meet deadlines;

Strategic perspective;

Results orientation;

Cultural awareness.

Before submitting their application, candidates should assess whether they fulfil all the essential requirements specified in this vacancy notice. The curriculum vitae should clearly state the start and end dates of all previous positions and indication on whether they were full or part-time.

Details of any professional experience, training, research, or studies must be provided in the application. Upon request, candidates must provide supporting documentation indicating the duration and nature of those experiences.

For the purposes of the essential requirements, referred to in point 2.1, professional experiences that have a temporal overlap are not considered. The candidate will declare the one deemed most relevant.

3. HOW TO APPLY

3.1 In the application, candidates must declare under their responsibility, in the form of a self- certification declaration (Annex 2) according to art. 46 and 47 of the DPR 28.12.2000 n. 445:

a)surname, name, date and place of birth;

b) residence;

c) citizenship;

d) the enjoyment of civil and political

c) not having received criminal convictions, not being the recipient of preventive measures and not being subjected to criminal or accounting proceedings both in Italy and abroad; if not having incurred in the removal, dispensation, forfeiture, or dismissal from employment in a public administration, both in Italy and abroad;

g) own a valid permit of stay / visa in Albania (only for candidates with a different nationality than that of the duty station).

Should any check carried out by AICS reveal the untruthfulness of the content of the statements made, the interested party will incur the criminal sanctions referred to in Article 76 of the D.P.R.

n. 445/00 and subsequent amendments, immediately forfeiting the use and any other benefits obtained on the basis of the false declaration.

3.2 The application must be accompanied by:

a) Curriculum vitae in Europass format, dated and signed, including the authorization_to process personal data, such as: "I hereby provide my unambiguous consent to the use of my personal data for the purpose of this selection process (D. L.gs. n. 196/2003)" (Annex 1).

b) Self-certification declaration, dated and signed, as per point 3.1 (Annex 2 - Legally binding statement);

c) Copy of a valid identity document. The candidate must also indicate the address, telephone number, email address to which all necessary communication must be sent. In the absence of such information, the residence address will be used. The candidate is obliged to communicate any changes made after applying.

Applications for participation in the selection, duly dated and signed, and the relative attachments referred to in point 3.2 must be received, under penalty of exclusion, in non-modifiable format (PDF), no later than 12:00 hours (Tirana time) on June 16, 2023, to the following email address:

tirana@aics.gov.it

The email must have as its subject the code: 13/AICSTIRANA/2023

We encourage applicants to submit the application well before the deadline date, since heavy internet traffic or connection problems could lead to difficulties in submission. AICS cannot be held responsible for any delay due to such difficulties.

4. EXCLUSION FROM SELECTION PROCEDURES

The following will be excluded from the selection procedure:

a) Applications lacking one or more admission requirement;

b) Applications received after the deadline stated in this announcement and/or with modalities other than those provided for in this notice;

c) Applications with documents not signed.

5. EVALUATION OF APPLICATIONS

Once the terms of validity of the notice have elapsed, the Representative of AICS Tirana assesses the admissibility of the application requests, estimates if the applications meet the admission requirements and assess the absence of grounds for exclusion. 'The exclusion is communicated to the candidates concerned.

Subsequently, a Commission composed of three members and appointed following art. 2 of the Deliberation approved with the Joint Committee Resolution no. 101/2019, evaluates the applications on merit, assigning a maximum overall score of 100 points according to the methods specified below:

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

AND

LANGUAGE

SKILLS,

QUALIFICATIONS,

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES (Max 70 points)

Academic titles in addition to the essential requirements: up to 10 points (points cannot be cumulated) for post-graduate studies related explicitly with the vacancy key functions, assigned with the following criteria: i) 10 points for PhD degrees; ii) 5 points for Master degrees; ii) 2 points for other academic titles of post-graduate specialization having a duration not less than one academic year;

Language skills in addition to the essential requirements: up to 10 points assigned with the following criteria: i) up to 5 points for the knowledge of Albanian language written and spoken at least at C2 level of Common European Framework of Reference: level C2 (5 points); ii) up to 3 points for the knowledge of English language written and spoken at least at C2 level of Common European Framework of Reference: level C2 (3 points); ii) up to 2 points for the knowledge of Italian language written and spoken at C1/C2 level of Common European Framework of Reference: level C1/C2 (2 points); Professional experience: up to 40 points assigned with the following criteria: i) Up to 20 points for demonstrated experience in accounting and financial project reporting, acquired through previous professional experiences in the implementation of EU or/and Italian cooperation/AICS fiunded projects: from 3 to 5 years (5 points), from 5 to 10 years (15 points), superior to 10 years (20 points); i) Up to 20 points for demonstrated experience in grant management and tender processes, as well as for thorough knowledge of EU rules, regulations and procedures (PRAG), acquired through previous professional experiences: from 3 to 5 years (5 points), from 5 to 10 years (15 points), superior to 10 years (20 points).

Other titles or professional competences: up to 10 points assigned with the following criteria: Up to 10 points for demonstrated solid experience in project monitoring and evaluation in developing countries with international organizations, governmental and/or nongovernmental, acquired through previous professional experiences: from 2 to 3 years (3 points), from 3 to 5 years (5 points), superior to 5 years (10 points).

INTERVIEW (Max 30 points)

Candidates with a qualification score of at least 40 points are called for an interview. A maximum score of 30 points is awarded for the interview. 'The interview takes place at the premises of AICS Tirana or via audio-video connection if candidates cannot go to the interview location. 'The interview takes place in the languages indicated in the announcement (even more than one if required), and it is aimed at assessing the candidate's knowledge and experience, the ability to carry out the task in question, the language skills required and anything else considered necessary to evaluate the candidate's profile for the position to be filled. 

The invitation to the interview is sent by email to the address stated by the candidate at the time of the application. Candidates are not entitled to reimbursement of any expenses incurred to sit the interview.

Following the interview process, a list of candidates is elaborated, including only candidates with an overall score of not less than 60% of the maximum attributable points (60 points).

6. RESULTS OF THE SELECTION

The candidate with the highest score in the ranking is declared the winner, he/she is informed by email or through appropriate means. The ranking list remains valid for one year, and it can be extended for another year for justified needs related to the Project. In case of renunciation of the highest-ranking candidate, or early termination of the contract, the Office can utilize the ranking list, if the necessary financial resources are available. In case of equal scores, the younger candidate will be preferred.

The ranking list is published on the AICS Roma and AICS Tirana websites. Within the framework of the employment contract stipulated between AICS Tirana and the employee - selected through this selection procedure - it is possible for the parties to withdraw from the contract in the presence of a just cause, or a fact of such gravity that does not allow the continuation, not even provisional, of the employment relationship.

In any case, the employee is allowed to exercise the withdrawal from the employment relationship with a 2-month notice.

The employment contract must provide for the commitment of the employee to sign the Code of Ethics and Behavior of the staff hired by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation according to art. 11, paragraph 1, let. c) of the Ministerial Decree of 22 July 2015, n. 113.

7. PROTECTION OF PRIVACY

The submission of an application by a candidate implies his/her consent to the processing of personal data, including sensitive data, by personnel assigned to the custody and storage of applications and their use for the selection process.

The Head of AICS Tirana Office is responsible for personal data handling.

8. SUSPENSION AND PROTECTION CLAUSES

AICS reserves the right to cancel this vacancy notice for justified reasons of organizational and/or financial nature,

9. TRANSPARENCY

This announcement is published on the AICS Rome and AICS Tirana websites.