Director-General

The Council of
The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
invites applications for the post of

Director-General

Reference no.: AP10-21

Location:

ECMWF Headquarters at Shinfield Park, near Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom

Environment:

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) is an international organisation supported by 18 Member States and 14 Co-operating States. Its prime objectives are the operational production of analyses, medium-range forecasts of weather and ocean waves and seasonal forecasts, as well as scientific and technical research directed to the improvement of these forecasts. ECMWF operates a large computing facility including supercomputers, data archiving systems and networks. For details see:

www.ecmwf.int

ECMWF employs about 250 people, most of them high-level scientists or engineers, working in one of the three departments: Research, Operations and Administration. ECMWF is the world leader in numerical weather prediction. A main characteristic of ECMWF is its dual role as both a research and an operational institution. ECMWF has an annual budget of about £40,000,000

The Director-General is the Chief Executive Officer of ECMWF and reports to the Council, which is comprised of delegates from the Member States.

Qualifications:

Applicants must have established a reputation in the fields of the atmospheric sciences and operational weather prediction and must have a track record in scientific and technical leadership. In addition, applicants must have had several years’ senior managerial experience.

Applicants must be a national of a Member State or Co-operating State. They must be fluent in one of the working languages of the Centre (English, French and German) and have a good knowledge of at least one of the other languages.

Remuneration:

The post of Director-General is graded “Hors Grade”. There is a comprehensive remuneration package, which includes provisions for pension and medical coverage, that is comparable to that of Directors-General of other European international organisations.

Starting date: 1 July 2011.

Length of contract: Five years with the possibility of renewal for a second contract of a maximum of five years.

Applications:

Applicants wishing to apply for this position must download the application form from here.

Applications should be accompanied by a short (i.e. no more than two pages) cover letter/personal statement outlining why you wish to be considered for the post and where you believe your skills and experience meet the requirements of the Director-General of ECMWF position.

Closing date:

All applications must be sent electronically to ECMWF-President@ecmwf.int  by the closing date which is 10 September 2010.

Selection process:

The selection process will be as follows:

• Candidates will be shortlisted on the basis of the information contained in the applications and CVs to reduce the list of candidates to a manageable number for interview.
• Interviews will be held by a selection committee composed of members of the ECMWF Council. They will take place in Reading on 9 November 2010.
• The appointment will be decided by the ECMWF Council on 7 and 8 December 2010

[Version française] [Deutsche Fassung]

* The ECMWF Member States are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

The ECMWF Co-operating States are Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Morocco, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.