ORGANISATIONAL CONTEXT

This selection procedure is intended to establish a reserve list of successful candidates. It is envisaged to start using the reserve list in Q3/Q4 2024.

Europol retains the right to make use of the reserve list to select candidates for similar posts within the organisation, should business needs require so.

The post of Senior Strategic Analyst is considered a restricted post that may be filled without limitation to candidates coming from a competent authority, as stipulated in Annex II of the relevant decision of the Management Board of Europol of 19 March 2024. The Europol Recruitment Guidelines may be consulted for further details.

Organisational setting: The post of Senior Strategic Analyst is located in the Strategic Analysis Team, Analysis and Strategic Coordination Unit, Operational & Analysis Centre, Operations Directorate. The Operations Directorate deals with the core business of Europol, improving the effectiveness and cooperation of the competent authorities in the Member States in preventing and combating serious and organised crime, as well as terrorism affecting the Member States. This requires close cooperation with the Liaison Bureaux at Europol and via them with the Operational Teams in the Member States. Europol delivers a number of products and services to national law enforcement agencies to support them in their fight against international serious and organised crime, as well as terrorism. The Operations Directorate hosts five distinct Departments: The Operational & Analysis Centre, European Serious Organised Crime Centre, European Cyber Crime Centre, European Counter Terrorism Centre, and The European Financial and Economic Crime Centre.The Analysis and Strategic Coordination Unit is part of Operational & Analysis Centre. The Unit focuses on enhancing the coordination of cross-department aspects of analytical work, both on operational and strategic analysis, such as analysis training, analysis standards and quality control, data analysis support and analysis processes. The Unit also coordinates strategic horizontal topics with a strong operational 'flavour' such as EMPACT support activities, Europol Liaison Officers, support to MS and Third Party LBx and other Europol operational and strategic stakeholders. The Strategic Analysis Team performs strategic analysis for the whole of the Operations Directorate, covering serious and organised crime, cybercrime, terrorism, and financial and economic crimes. The team is responsible for drafting threat and risk assessments, early warnings and intelligence notifications. The analysis is based on data originating from criminal and terrorist investigations and other relevant sources. Purpose of the post: The Senior Strategic Analyst will assume responsibility for high-impact strategic intelligence products and will coordinate and/or execute the collecting, processing and analysing of criminal intelligence in the field of serious and organised crime, cybercrime, financial and economic crime and terrorism.

FUNCTIONS AND DUTIES

Purpose of the post:

More specifically, as Head of Office the incumbent will review and supervise the work of other staff members/Analysts and contribute to the (further) development of analysis capabilities. S/he will further assure quality of products developed and standards of performance and will draft flagship strategic reports. Reporting lines: The incumbent reports to the Head of the Strategic Analysis Team/Head of the Analysis and Strategic Coordination Unit.

Functions and duties

The incumbent carries out the following main functions and duties:• Perform strategic analysis on operational data, including threat, risk and statistical analysis;• Design and draft strategic analysis products in the areas of Europol’s Centres and on horizontal topics in the domain of serious and organised crime, including cybercrime, financial crimes and terrorism; • Ensure continuous follow-up of available information and trends on specific sub-areas of serious and organised crime and terrorism;• Review strategic analysis reports; • Coordinate and supervise the work of other analysts; allocate and review work performed and offer advice, guidance and support; • Contribute to the continuous development of Europol’s strategic analysis portfolio in concert with all relevant stakeholders; ensure analytical products are informed and developed as a result of consultation and feedback with key stakeholders, clients and the wider organisation;• Provide quality assurance against established practice for strategic analysis support across the organisation reflecting an aligned approach;• Contribute to the development and enhancement of methods and techniques in relation to strategic analysis used by Europol and keep up to date with relevant developments; • Prepare briefings, policy papers, speeches, presentations etc. on a variety of topics;• Develop and deliver strategic analysis training;• Effectively engage and cooperate with partners and stakeholders relevant for strategic analysis on serious and organised crime and terrorism, and represent Europol in meetings and conferences;• Perform any other duties in the area of competence as assigned by line management.

Requirements - Eligibility criteria

a. Candidates must • Be a national of one of the Member States of the European Union and enjoy full rights as a citizen;• Have fulfilled any obligations imposed by the applicable laws on military service;• Produce appropriate character references as to his or her suitability for the performance of the duties;• Be physically fit to perform the duties pertaining to the post as further specified in Article 13 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union (CEOS);• Produce evidence of a thorough knowledge of one of the languages of the Union and a satisfactory knowledge of another language of the Union to the extent necessary for the performance of the duties. b. Candidates must have • A level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma when the normal period of university education is four years or more;

REQUIREMENTS - ELIGIBILITY AND SELECTION CRITERIA

OR  • A level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma and appropriate professional experience of at least one year when the normal period of university education is at least three years; OR • Professional training of an equivalent level in a relevant area (e.g. Police Officer’s School) and after having completed the training, at least the number of years of relevant professional experience as indicated below: Duration of professional training Professional experience More than 6 months and up to 1 year 4 yearsMore than 1 year and up to 2 years 3 yearsMore than 2 years and up to 3 years 2 yearsMore than 3 years 1 year • In addition to the above at least 6 years of total professional work experience gained after the award of the diploma. a. Professional experience  Essential: • Professional work experience in the area of strategic analysis or research in the areas mentioned above, preferably of 7 years or more;• Experience drafting strategic intelligence reports and developing other intelligence products;• Experience in handling operational data for the purpose of strategic analysis;• Experience using qualitative and quantitative software and / or tools in support of strategic analysis. Candidates are required to indicate in their application form which software / tools were used and how, in case it is not allowed by the organisation to name the tools, a description of the tools should be included; • Experience in supervising, reviewing and performing quality control of analytical work / products;• Experience in working in law enforcement or any other public sector related to internal or external security, including intelligence services, military or defence, in particular in the area of terrorism, cybercrime or financial crimes. b. Professional knowledge  Essential: • Knowledge of quantitative and qualitative strategic analysis techniques and methods;• Knowledge of open source exploitation and analysis/ research techniques and methods; • Knowledge of statistical analysis;• Knowledge of handling and analysing operational data;• Ability to think strategically, preferably coupled with an understanding of geopolitical trends;• Knowledge in the area of terrorism, cybercrime or financial crimes; • Training in the area of strategic analysis, preferably confirmed by a certificate. c. General competencies  Essential: Communicating • Excellent communication skills in English, both orally and in writing;• Excellent presentation skills; • Ability to draft clear and concise documents on complex matters for various audiences. Analysing & problem solving: • Structured approach to work aimed at getting results;• Excellent analytical and critical thinking skills;• Competent user of Microsoft Office applications (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook) and the internet. Delivering quality and results: • High degree of commitment and flexibility;• High level of customer and service-orientation. Prioritising and organising: • Excellent organizational skills including the ability to plan own work load, establish clear priorities and exercise initiative;• Ability to manage projects and familiarity with project management terminology and methodology. Resilience: • Strong ability to work well both independently and in a team;• Very good interpersonal skills, including the ability to effectively liaise with other departments, groups and teams as well as with external partners;• Ability to remain effective under a heavy workload and demonstrate resistance to stress. Living diversity: • Ability to establish and maintain effective working relations with co-workers in an international and multi-disciplinary work environment. Advising: • Ability to synthesise various data into a coherent and relevant whole, transforming it into a valuable and correct conclusion;• Building constructive relationships with clients, adequately identifying and managing their needs and expectations, and giving well-grounded advice. Team supervision: • Ability to manage a diverse team including the ability to motivate staff, effectively plan and monitor the work of other staff members and to provide guidance. d. Additional conditions: Fulfil the condition stipulated in Article 5 of the Decision of the Executive Director on the Duration of contracts of employment for Temporary Agents, on the start date of the possible contract of employment which may be offered. Selection procedure All applications for Temporary Agent posts must be submitted through the online recruitment system accessible via Europol’s website. For further information, please consult the Europol Recruitment Guidelines.
The Authority Authorised to Conclude Contracts of Employment (AACC) sets up a Selection Committee, composed of at least three members, consisting of one chair and at least one member from the administration and one member designated by the Staff Committee.