Reference: 2017-018-EXT
Functional area: Legal Services
Function:
The Financial Law Division of the ECB’s Directorate General Legal Services is seeking to appoint a Legal Counsel or Senior Legal Counsel. The position requires in-depth expertise and experience on financial law.
The Directorate General Legal Services advises on all legal aspects of the regulatory, contractual and institutional framework of the ECB, the European System of Central Banks (ESCB), the Eurosystem and the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), prepares legal instruments and works on questions relating to the interpretation of the EU Treaties and secondary EU law. It prepares ECB opinions on draft EU and national legislation within its field of competence, and contributes to the definition of the legal position taken by the ECB vis-à-vis other EU institutions and in international fora. It also provides legal advice to the ECB’s management on administrative matters and represents the ECB in court. The Directorate General consists of four divisions: the Financial Law Division, the Institutional Law Division, the Supervisory Law Division and the Legislation Division.
As part of the team of the Financial Law Division you will contribute to provide advises on legal questions related to monetary policy (including the Eurosystem’s lending operations and asset purchase programmes), foreign reserves and own funds management, financial market infrastructures (including TARGET2 and TARGET2-Securities), financial regulation, European Union including Economic and Monetary Union, international financial institutions and statistics. The Division also represents the ECB in national and EU courts and it has been closely involved in work on the financial crisis and the measures taken in its aftermath.
As Legal Counsel in the Financial Law Division you will be entrusted with several of the following tasks, depending on your experience and expertise, and the needs of the organization:
• providing advice on issues relating to financial law, in particular the legal and contractual framework for monetary policy operations, foreign reserves and own funds management, statistics, financial market infrastructures and EU financial regulation;
• assessing and preparing legal documentation pertaining to the work of the Division;
• preparing complex legal assessments in a multi-jurisdictional environment;
• when necessary, acting as agent of the ECB in court, including before the Court of Justice of the European Union;
• where relevant, advising on matters of national law;
• ensuring proper knowledge sharing and adherence to agreed business processes;
• contributing to any other relevant work of the Directorate General.
The successful candidate will be expected to:
• handle complex legal matters, both independently and as part of a team, and to interact with internal and external counterparts;
• research, prepare and submit documents to the appropriate bodies;
• take initiatives and advise direct line management on issues related to his/her areas of responsibility.
Qualifications and experience: You will bring to the role:
• a master’s degree in law obtained in an EU Member State or a professional legal qualification allowing the applicant to be recognised as a lawyer in an EU Member State under Council Directive 77/249/EEC of 22 March 1977 to facilitate the effective exercise by lawyers of freedom to provide services;
• at least three years of professional experience in the field of financial law, preferably obtained in the legal department of a central bank, regulatory authority or financial institution or in a law firm or other legal practice active in the field of financial markets (the three years of experience constitutes a minimum requirement; applications from candidates with more experience are welcome);
• sound knowledge of the international and EU regulatory framework applicable to financial markets;
• a postgraduate qualification (master’s and/or PhD) in EU or financial law and admission to the bar in an EU Member State would be considered an asset;
• professional experience in litigating before national courts or the Court of Justice of the European Union would be considered an asset.
• an advanced command of English with proven drafting ability;
• an advanced command of at least one other official language of the EU;
• an advanced command of French or German would be an asset;
• a working knowledge of MS Office, in particular Word, Excel and PowerPoint;
• knowledge of document management and archiving systems, such as OpenText Livelink, would be an asset.
Competencies: You will also bring with you an ability to show a high level of commitment, initiative and flexibility, work efficiently under pressure and to tight deadlines, manage multiple assignments and track progress on numerous processes simultaneously, work alone on challenging assignments, examine issues critically, analyse complex information from a variety of sources and then present results clearly; you will be also expected to share information, seek the opinions of knowledgeable colleagues and keep the relevant stakeholders informed; support to other members of the team without assuming responsibility for their work is also required, as well as ability to negotiate skilfully in difficult situations involving both internal and external parties, addressing conflict situations constructively and establishing mutually agreeable solutions.
Further Information: Three-year fixed-term contract, with possible conversion to a contract of indefinite duration subject to individual performance and organisational needs.
To further enhance the diversity of its workforce, the ECB particularly encourages applications from female candidates.
The successful candidate will occasionally be expected to perform work during non-standard working hours and work at the ECB’s standby sites, to enable the Division to maintain its business continuity capability.
How to apply: Applications are to be made in English and submitted using our online application form. An "Applicants' Guide" can be downloaded from our recruitment pages.
For more information on how to apply, please visit: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/careers/vacancies/html/index.en.html
The recruitment process may include a pre-screening exercise, a written exercise, a presentation and interviews.
Further information on the ECB's conditions of employment for fixed-term positions can be found at:
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/careers/what-we-offer/contract/fixed/html/index.en.html
Applications are accepted from nationals of Member States of the European Union.
The requirements laid down in the vacancy notice must be met by the closing date for applications.
This vacancy notice may be used to fill the same position again, or similar positions, within 12 months of the selection decision.
This position has been allocated to salary band: F/G
Closing Date for Applications: Tue, 21 Feb 2017