Head of Section AMR and Healthcare-Associated Infections

Contract length: 5 years (renewable)
Location: Stockholm

Is this job for you?

You will work in the AMR and Healthcare-Associated Infections section in the One Health related Diseases (OHD) unit. To find out more about what the unit does, visit https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/about-us/ecdcs-organisational-structure.

Reporting to the Head of Unit (HoU) One Health related Diseases, you will manage a team of approximately 16 people supporting the Centre’s work related to the prevention and control of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and healthcare-associated infections (HAI).

In this position, you will have a wide variety of tasks that will give you the opportunity to:

• Manage and lead the AMR and Healthcare-Associated Infections Section by creating a strong team with a service-oriented spirit and promoting a learning culture;
• Ensure that the Section’s work planning, management of human and financial resources, including performance management, are carried out efficiently and effectively;
• Collaborate closely with the HoU OHD and support the operational Unit management as part of the Unit Management Team and support the HoU in Public Health Emergency management as needed. Contribute, within the area of your expertise (i.e. AMR/HAI) to the development of an overall ECDC strategy;
• Implement the ECDC strategy and the annual workplan within the Section, liaise with colleagues throughout the organisation and plan, supervise and coordinate the activities of the Section to ensure implementation of the annual workplan;
• Ensure a high scientific and technical quality of the Section outputs;
• Identify and address needs for risk assessments, technical advice, guidance and surveillance within prevention and control of the disease areas covered by the Section;
• Ensure close collaboration and coordination with the EU/EEA Member States, the European Commission, WHO and other international partners on projects related to AMR and Healthcare-Associated Infections and One Health;
• Participate in ECDC missions/ long-term deployments, travelling within and outside Europe;
• Contribute to other activities of ECDC as required, within your field of competence.

Administrative and operational tasks in the job mostly relate to developing public procurement procedures for outsourcing research and analysis tasks, such as scientific studies and technical reports, providing strategic direction to external contractors and monitoring the quality of their work.

What are we looking for?

Formal requirements

For your application to be considered eligible you must fulfil all the following requirements by the application deadline:

• A level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma when the normal period of university education is 4 years or more, or a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma and appropriate professional experience of at least 1 year when the normal period of university education is at least 3 years[1];
• At least 9 years of professional experience[2] (following the award of the diploma);
• Thorough knowledge of one of the official EU languages and a satisfactory knowledge of another official EU language to the extent necessary for the performance of your duties[3];
• Nationality of one of the EU Member States or of Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and to be entitled to your full rights as a citizen;
• To have fulfilled any obligations imposed by the applicable laws on military service;
• Meet the character requirements for the duties involved[4]; and
• Be physically fit to perform the duties linked to the post.

You will need to provide appropriate documents to show that you meet all of the above criteria.

Selection criteria

For your application to be evaluated further, you will also need:

• At least 8 years of professional experience (following the award of the diploma), in positions relevant to the job description;
• At least 3 years of proven experience in management, including managing a team, assessing performance, work planning and responsibility for budget implementation;
• Thorough knowledge of prevention and control of AMR, antimicrobial consumption (AMC) and Healthcare-Associated Infections;
• Good knowledge of Infection Prevention and Control in hospital settings;
• Good knowledge of the One Health concept and of surveillance of infection diseases at national level and/or international level;
• Experience in public health in a national or international/multicultural setting;
• Excellent command of English, both written and spoken.

Additionally, we will assess the following competencies:

• Strategic vision and ability to communicate this vision;
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to deal with people effectively, respectfully and courteously; ability to build productive and cooperative working relationships internally and with external stakeholders;
• Excellent managerial skills, including coaching and managing performance and strong ability to lead and motivate others;
• Excellent planning, coordination, priority setting and organising abilities;
• Very good negotiation and communication skills.

Depending on the number of applications received, the selection committee may apply stricter requirements within the aforementioned selection criteria.

Why ECDC?

You will play an active role in making a tangible difference in public health. 

At ECDC you will join a team of more than 400 colleagues with diverse backgrounds and professions who work together for the common goal of helping countries prevent and respond to outbreaks and public health threats. Every position at ECDC plays an important part, and we cooperate closely for our collective goals. 

ECDC is an equal opportunities employer and encourages applications from all suitably qualified candidates without any distinction on grounds of age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, ethnic or social origin, religion, or belief. Women are currently under-represented in management functions and to achieve a better gender balance, we strongly encourage women to apply for this vacancy.

You will have access to the latest European-level surveillance data and dedicated expertise in your field, collaborate with various experts and organisations across Europe and beyond, and you will be part of public health-relevant infectious disease networks. 

You will be joining ECDC at interesting times. In October 2022, the European Parliament endorsed an extended mandate that will allow ECDC to adopt a stronger role in supporting EU Member States in the prevention and control of infectious disease threats and improve European preparedness and response. This includes real-time surveillance systems, mobilising an EU Health Task Force to assist local responses in Member States and building a network of EU reference laboratories. 

What can we offer you?

We offer a competitive salary and a range of benefits, including health insurance, learning opportunities and flexible work arrangements such as flexible working hours and teleworking in the Stockholm area for part of the week. Additionally, you can work up to 10 days a year from outside the Stockholm area.

Depending on your experience, the monthly basic salary usually starts at € 8651.92 and may be supplemented by various allowances including, as applicable, expatriation and/or generous family allowances. Salary is exempt from national tax and instead an Agency tax is deducted. We also provide financial support when relocating to Stockholm.

Our benefits package is designed to support a healthy work-life balance and we are committed to creating a supportive and inclusive work environment that values the well-being of our employees. 

Learn more about the benefits of joining ECDC here: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/about-ecdc/work-ecdc/staff-positions/what-we-offer 

How does our selection process work?

Our selection process takes, on average, three months from the application deadline. All selection processes include a remote written test and a video conference interview; some selection processes may include additional steps.

After a candidate has been selected for the position, additional shortlisted candidates can be placed on a reserve list. The reserve list may be used when ECDC needs to fill similar positions at the same level in the future. The reserve list is valid until 31 December 2026 and may be extended.

Visit https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/about-us/work-with-us/internal-procedure-recruitment-selection for an overview of the different steps in the selection process and see the ECDC-candidate-guide.pdf (europa.eu) for a detailed explanation of the selection and recruitment process. 

When starting a new contract under the EU staff regulations, all new staff must successfully complete a probationary period of nine months.

How do you apply?

To apply for this vacancy, please create/ log in to your ECDC e-recruitment user account.

See detailed instructions on how to apply here: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/Candidate-E-recruitment-user-guide.pdf

Please submit your application well ahead of the deadline in case of technical issues and/or heavy traffic on the website. After submitting your application, you will receive an automatic email message confirming receipt of your application. Ensure that the email address you provide for your applicant account is correct and that you check your email regularly.

ECDC does not accept applications submitted after the deadline or applications submitted by email, mail or any other means.

Only candidates selected for interviews will be notified. You can see the progress of the selection process from within your e-recruitment account. 

Translations of this vacancy notice in all EU languages can be obtained by using the automatic translation function on this website.

Note: 

While this vacancy notice can be translated into all official EU languages from its English original, the language of day-to-day operations in the Agency is generally English. ECDC therefore prefers to receive the application in English.

Disclaimer: Please note that in the event of any differences in meaning or interpretation between the original English version of this content and a translation, the original English version takes precedence

We welcome your application!