Fusion for Energy (F4E) is the European Union’s Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy. The organisation was created under the Euratom Treaty by a decision of the Council of the European Union in order to meet three objectives:
F4E is responsible for providing Europe’s contribution to ITER, the world’s largest scientific partnership that aims to demonstrate fusion as a viable and sustainable source of energy. ITER brings together seven parties that represent half of the world’s population – the EU, Russia, Japan, China, India, South Korea and the United States.
F4E also supports fusion research and development initiatives through the Broader Approach Agreement, signed with Japan – a fusion energy partnership which will last for 10 years.
Ultimately, F4E will contribute towards the construction of demonstration fusion reactors.
F4E is established for a period of 35 years from 19 April 2007 and is located in Barcelona, Spain.
Working at Fusion for Energy (F4E)
Working at F4E offers you the opportunity to join the European Union civil service, which brings together more than 35,000 civil servants across the Europe, where you can develop a challenging and rewarding career in a multicultural environment. F4E will need highly specialised and qualified staff to work at the cutting edge of fusion technology at its offices in Barcelona. Staff should normally be nationals of the Members of the Joint Undertaking.
A career at F4E offers you:
a challenging job at the heart of EU affairs;
excellent remuneration and working conditions;
career development and training opportunities;
a comprehensive welfare package and a pension scheme;
insurance coverage that covers medical expenses, accident and occupational disease;
unemployment and invalidity allowance.
F4E is staffed mainly by Temporary Agents and Contract Agents recruited through selection procedures.
Temporary Agents - The conditions of employment for Temporary Agents are described in the Staff Regulations and in the Conditions of Employment of other Servants of the European Community in Title II (Articles 8–50a).
A contract offer will be made as Temporary staff member, pursuant to Article 2(f) of the Conditions of Employment of other servants of the European Communities. Temporary Agent contracts are either:
5-year contracts, renewable for a second fixed-term period, and upon the second renewal converted into a contract of indefinite duration.
3-year non-renewable contracts. Non-renewable contracts starting in 2016 will have duration of 3 years. Should a non-renewable contract commence in 2017 or later, its maximum duration will be until December 2019 (less than 3 years).
This information appears in the vacancy notice of a specific position.
The probationary period for Temporary Agents is nine months.
Temporary Agent posts are classified according to the nature and importance of their duties:
Assistants' function group (AST): comprises eleven grades from AST 1 to AST 11 corresponding to executive, technical and clerical duties;
Administrators' function group (AD): comprises twelve grades from AD 5 to AD 16 corresponding to scientific, technical, administrative, advisory duties General information for Temporary Agents is also included on the European Commission's website.
General information for Temporary Agents is also included on the European Commission's website.
Contract Agents - The conditions of employment for Contract Agents are described in the Staff Regulations and in the Conditions of Employment of other Servants of the European Community in Title II (Articles 79–127)
A contract offer will be made as a Contract staff member, pursuant to Article 3a of the Conditions of Employment of other Servants of the European Communities.
Contract Agent contracts are either:
3-year contracts, renewable for a second fixed-term period, and upon the second renewal converted into a contract of indefinite duration.
3-year non-renewable contracts. Non-renewable contracts starting in 2016 will have duration of 3 years. Should a non-renewable contract commence in 2017 or later, its maximum duration will be until December 2019 (less than 3 years).
This information appears in the vacancy notice of a specific position.
Contract agents recruited for more than one year at F4E have a probationary period of nine months.
Contract Agent posts are classified in four function groups corresponding to the duties and responsibilities involved:
Function group IV: comprises six grades corresponding to administrative, IT, linguistic and equivalent technical tasks
Function group III: comprises five grades corresponding to executive tasks, drafting, accountancy and other equivalent technical tasks
Function group II: comprises four grades corresponding to clerical and secretarial tasks, office management and other equivalent tasks
Function group I: comprises three grades corresponding to manual and administrative support service tasks
General information for Contract Agents is also included on the European Commission's site.
Training and Development
In order to develop members of staff professional skills, F4E provides a variety of training activities of both general and technical nature (e.g. languages, management, finance and budget, IT and technical expert training etc.).
Both Temporary and Contract Agents in F4E are subject to an annual performance appraisal. At the start of the reporting period, objectives are agreed between line managers and jobholders. The purpose of the appraisal system is to assess the work that has been carried out against the annual individual objectives that were set for the jobholder. The appraisal aims to help jobholders develop their potential and consider their career prospects. Linked to the performance appraisal is a merit-based promotion policy applied on an annual basis.
Conditions to Join F4E
F4E staff must fulfil the following conditions:
Be a citizen of one of the member states of the EU or of a third state fully associated with the Euratom fusion program (Switzerland);
Have a thorough knowledge of one official EU language and a satisfactory knowledge of another;
Possess the required educational qualifications, depending on the category and grade of the vacancy notice;
Have fulfilled any military service requirements in their own country.
Salary
Candidates are recruited in the grade of the vacancy notice for the position advertised at step 1. Depending on the years of professional experience, a maximum of an additional step might be granted. The salary grid presents the basic salary. Taxes and contributions are deducted from it.
Temporary Agents Basic Remuneration
Contract Agents Basic Remuneration
Allowances
Members of staff of F4E may be entitled to different allowances:
Expatriation: an allowance is payable for working outside the country from which you are recruited, and from which you are not a national (around 16% of the basic salary).
Domestic allowances: Various allowances are payable depending on the family situation of the employee (household allowance, dependant children allowance, educational allowances, etc.).
Travel: Apart from travel and removal costs on taking up duties, between or from places of employment, travel costs can also be allowed for employees to their place of origin each year.
Pension
The maximum retirement pension is 70% of the basic final salary.
Annual leave
Annual leave starts at 24 days per year. Extra leave is granted according to several criteria (grade, distance between place of work and place of origin, etc.)
Location
Barcelona is the administrative, economic and cultural capital of Catalonia. Innovation, industry and entrepreneurialism have always been high on the agenda, having been considered as key drivers of growth and jobs.
During the Barcelona EU Council (2002), the commitment to covert the EU into the most knowledge-driven economy was reiterated together with the need to increase the overall spending on R&D reaching 3% of the GDP by 2010.
F4E is located in Barcelona’s @22 area, the city’s innovation technology cluster.
Barcelona is the European city with the highest quality of life for its workers.
It enjoys an average temperature of 17. 6º C throughout the year and complements its cosmopolitan lifestyle and vibrant cultural life with the nature of the Mediterranean coast line and the Pyrenees mountain range.