Secretary General, CEER

Description

CEER is a not-for-profit association under Belgian law and is the independent voice of 39 national energy regulators across Europe. Through CEER and its Secretariat based in Brussels, European energy regulators cooperate, exchange best practice and develop regulatory policy to benefit Europe’s energy consumers. Further information is available at www.ceer.eu

CEER is seeking a CEER Secretary General for at least a 2-year term to fill an upcoming position vacancy, based in the CEER office in Brussels. The salary for the position is between €105,000 and €115,000 gross per annum, with the exact remuneration package to be negotiated between the successful candidate and the CEER President. Ideally the candidate is available to start on 1st January 2024 (or earlier if possible).

Role Profile
The CEER Secretary General is the head of the CEER Secretariat in Brussels. The Secretary General leads the Secretariat’s staff of circa 9/10 people as well as being the project leader of the EU4Energy project, serving the interests of CEER’s energy regulators and European energy consumers. The Secretary General plays a key role in developing and implementing CEER’s strategic objectives, with responsibilities including (but not limited to):

• Leading and managing the Secretariat to support and foster effective collaboration among CEER’s regulators, General Assembly, Working Groups, Board and with ACER;
• Advising on CEER energy regulatory policy priorities, strategy development / implementation and policy positions;
• Communicating and advocating CEER policy positions externally and representing the organisation;
• Proposing and delivering on Secretariat initiatives such as the Training Academy, operational support strategy and regulatory capacity-building;
• Leading CEER external communications as well as public events, including with international partners;
• Leading the Secretariat staff and HR, including performance management;
• Being the project leader of the EU4Energy project;
• Managing CEER office administration, IT and facilities (exact work division to be defined);
• Ensuring robust organisational governance, financial control and legal compliance.

Person Specification
The Secretary General must be educated to at least an honours degree (university) level, and candidates for this position should ideally demonstrate competencies related to the following four areas:

European Regulatory Architecture
• Principles of independent energy (electricity and gas) regulation and the relationship between regulators and policy-makers at national and European level, including the EU Institutions, i.e. European Commission, European Parliament and Council of the EU.
• EU energy legislation development/implementation and the relevant decision-making processes, especially in the EU Institutions.
• Advocating regulatory/policy positions with external stakeholders, including influencing legislative developments in the EU Institutions.
• The roles of CEER, ACER and NRAs and the relationship between them.

European Regulatory Policy
• At least 7 years of experience in an energy regulatory office and/or a regulatory/policy/not-for-profit environment, preferably with international experience.
• Principles and roles of energy regulation across the European energy regulatory value chain, covering wholesale markets, networks and retail/consumer issues.
• Strong technical ability and knowledge of key developments/trends across competitive energy wholesale and retail markets, energy networks, and consumer protection/empowerment issues.

People Skills
• Strong communication skills in English, verbally and in writing, including an ability to explain complex issues clearly and succinctly, with skills in another EU language(s) an advantage.
• Networking and influencing skills, engaging diplomatically at a senior level internally and externally in the interests of CEER and energy consumers.
• Leading and motivating staff in a multinational environment to achieve organisational objectives, with core values based on integrity, respect and service excellence.
• HR skills including staff selection and performance management.

Operations Management
• Organisational, coordination, planning and project management skills in a busy operations environment, with the focus on excellent service delivery to CEER regulators and multiple external stakeholders.
• Developing, tracking and implementing organisational strategy in a fast-changing sector.
• Managing external events, conferences, client training and external capacity-building programmes.
• Managing budgets, financial controls, IT and office/property facilities (exact work division to be defined);
• Ensuring best-practice governance and legal compliance for a not-for-profit association based in Belgium.

Selection Process
Applications for the position must be submitted in English, consisting of a letter of motivation (of no more than 2 pages) and CV, to board@ceer.eu.

The deadline for a valid application is 17:00 CET on Friday, 17 November 2023.

For selected applicants, there will be a 2-stage interview process including CEER Board members. Applicants who are called to a Stage 1 interview will be informed by 23 November 2023. The stage 1 interview is expected to occur on Thursday 30 November (morning) and can be facilitated by videoconference (if requested by the candidate). For those candidates selected from Stage 1, this will be followed by a Stage 2 interview expected to occur on Monday 11 December, for which candidates must present themselves in person at the CEER office in Brussels. The selection process, including interviews, will be competency-based, with a focus on the person specification indicated above.

Job announcement: https://www.ceer.eu/documents/104400/3639903/CEER-Sec-Gen/750aeaeb-8fa3-f33b-1463-ab5eda3b2070

Jobs at CEER: https://www.ceer.eu/eer_about/jobs#