The European Patent Office in Munich is seeking a Director (Application Management Administration)

Description

Mission

• Within the EPO governance in automation is structured into Business Process Areas (BPAs) and each BPA is supported by application management.
• The overall goal of application management is to ensure the proper delivery of cost effective automation services for the user communities, within the framework provided by the business process area steering committees and the application management guidelines.
• The Director, as a staff-position holder, is directly responsible to the Vice President DG 4 for ensuring the proper functioning of application management in the Business Process Area Administrative and Legal (BPA A&L).
• The majority of the applications belong to DG 4 Administration and DG 5 Legal/International Affairs, which support the provision of office wide services.
• Within the BPA A&L application management units exist in the various parts of the business processes, e.g. Human Resources, Finance, General Administration, Legal Affairs and Patent Information.
• The Director coordinates with the Application Managers within the BPA A&L.

Ensuring the proper functioning of application management in the BPA A&L, including:

• advising on automation strategy and policy
• co-ordination of all Application Management services within the BPA A&L
• supervising the work of the application management units of the BPA

A&L directorate, regarding in particular:

• implementation of the A&L automation strategy
• business analysis, functional specification (including ergonomic aspects), priority setting, budgeting, user acceptance testing, user training and support (with the relevant training and support departments), post implementation review and project participation
• liaison with user and technical management areas, and with the Application Management units of the other BPA’s affected by the work of the BPA A&L
• the usage of the proper project methodology (PRINCE 2) coordination of the automation budget and reporting on the budget implementation for the BPA A&L
• representing application management in the various business process areas and other steering committees

Profile

• Good understanding of the needs and opportunities of Business Process Areas, especially in Administration and Legal Affairs, of the BPA A&L for information management and support by EDP applications
• Ability to translate the strategic vision for the services of Business Process Areas, especially in Administration and Legal Affairs, of the BPA A&L into concrete initiatives of information management
• A thorough understanding of the processes and principles involved in application and project management, especially PRINCE 2
• Good knowledge and understanding of technical solutions, excellent knowledge of external technology evolution and developments in the automation area
• Proven professional experience of managing technical and functional change in a business environment
• Structured approach to staff and project management
• Proven ability to work in a matrix organisational structure and to actively participate in cross-functional teams
• Excellent ability to communicate orally and in writing with a wide range of staff in the user, technical and senior management areas
• Evidence of good all-round management skills
• Previous experience in the field of Application Management
• Previous experience in project management, especially PRINCE 2
• Excellent knowledge of one official language (English, French and German) and ability to understand the other two.

The competition shall be based on qualifications and tests. Prior to the interviews pre-selected applicants will be invited to participate in an assessment centre. This will comprise of exercises and interviews evaluating management skills and abilities. The results of the assessment centre are communicated to the Selection Board and serve as input in its proceedings.

Contact

• Apply

Application until: 30.5.2008