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Vacancy notice for the post of Vice-President Directorate-General 1 – Patent Granting Process

This text is intended for publication in the
Official Journal (OJ) of the EPO. It is made available in advance on
the EPO website merely as a courtesy to the public. Only the text
subsequently published in the officially certified PDF file of the OJ is
authentic. It cannot be guaranteed that this advance version accurately
replicates that text.

Job group: 1
Grade: G16/3
Duration of appointment: five years
Career path: Managerial
Location: The Hague/Munich
Application deadline: 05.09.2018

Applicants should be nationals of one of the
European Patent Organisation’s member states (currently Albania,
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark,
Estonia, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France,
Germany, Hellenic Republic, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,
Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands,
Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom).

With almost 7 000 employees, the European
Patent Office (EPO) is the second-largest public service institution in
Europe. It supports innovation, competitiveness and economic growth
across Europe through a commitment to high-quality and efficient
services delivered under the European Patent Convention, its founding
treaty. It has a yearly budget of EUR 2.3 billion, entirely financed by
the fees paid by its users.

The EPO’s headquarters are in Munich and it
has a branch in The Hague and offices in Berlin, Vienna and Brussels.
Through its centralised patent granting procedure, inventors are able to
obtain high-quality patent protection in up to 44 countries, covering a
market of 700 million people. In 2017, it processed over 165 000 patent
applications and granted over 105 000 patents. The EPO is also the
world’s leading authority in patent information. It has built and
operates the most comprehensive patent databases and generates tools
that are used by most patent offices around the world. It boasts an
extensive network of partners in patent offices and user assocations in
particular.

The EPO is a highly diverse and
multicultural environment with 35 different nationalities represented
among its staff. The patent granting process can be conducted in the
three official languages (English, French, German).

Appointed by the Administrative Council, the
vice-presidents assist the President of the EPO in the implementation
of established strategies and policies. The Vice-President Patent
Granting Process (VP 1) is responsible for managing DG 1, the
directorate-general that covers the entire patent granting process from
end to end, including receiving sections, search, examination,
publication, opposition and all related formalities. Comprising a
workforce of 4 400 examiners (multilingual engineers and scientists) and
800 formality officers, DG 1 is organised into three technical areas,
each headed by a Chief Operating Officer (COO):

  • Mobility and Mechatronics
  • Healthcare, Biotechnology and Chemistry
  • Information and Communication Technology

DG 1 is also composed of three support-service areas, each led by a principal director:

  • User Support and Quality Management (ISO certification process, quality management system and customer relations)
  • Business Services (management and close monitoring of DG 1
    performance based on analysis of capacity, production, operational
    quality and timeliness plans, patent practices and procedures,
    documentation and classification)
  • Automation Support (application management of examiner and
    formalities-officer tools, application management of online tools
    operated by external users)

Main duties

  • Responsibility for the smooth functioning of the
    end-to-end patent granting process and accountability for the
    directorate-general’s results
  • Ensuring and developing the highest standards of quality for the
    patent granting process, defining quality policy and strategy, handling
    complaints and developing metrics analysis
  • Ensuring that service delivery meets the needs of users in terms of production, timeliness and quality
  • Managing the directorate-general’s workforce and supervising the three COOs in co-ordination with the President of the EPO
  • Acting as a member of the executive boards of the EPO and
    representing the Office in meetings of the Administrative Council and
    its sub-committees
  • Representing the Office in meetings with external stakeholders (users, patent offices, international organisations)

Profile

  • At least 10 years’ experience in a European or international environment, in a role with a high level of responsibility
  • Effective people-management and strong leadership skills in a
    dynamic and multicultural environment (cross-functional leadership)
  • Ability to build a strong working relationship with management and staff
  • Results-oriented attitude with the capacity to perform and work
    under high pressure while ensuring quality is maintained at the highest
    standards
  • Effective communicator with strong ability to lead change while maintaining employee engagement and motivation

Minimum qualifications

  • Diploma of completed university studies at master’s level or – in exceptional cases – equivalent professional experience
  • Excellent knowledge of one official language and ability to understand the other two

Salary and benefits

The EPO offers competitive salaries and an excellent social package. The net basic yearly salary[ 1 ]
for this vacancy is EUR 187 000. The EPO also operates contributory
medical-insurance and pension schemes. In addition, depending on their
personal circumstances, EPO staff may be entitled to relocation benefits
and various allowances.

Process and timeline

The successful candidate will be appointed
by the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation, in
co-ordination with the President of the EPO, for a period of five years,
and may be reappointed. Selection will be made on the basis of
qualifications and interview(s).

Completed applications, including a CV,
application form (available for email applications as download) and a
letter indicating the sponsorship of a Head of Delegation of a
Contracting State (www.epo.org/about-us/governance/administrative-council/representatives.html)
and/or of the President of the Office and quoting Ref. EPO VP 1, should
be addressed to the Chairman of the Administrative Council via the EPO
online tool available on the job page (https://jobs.epo.org/content/Executive-vacancies/?locale=en_GB) or via email to [email protected].

The closing date for applications is 05.09.2018.

It is intended to hold the interviews in calendar week 38.

To foster gender diversity, EPO encourages applications from female candidates. 

The EPO is an equal opportunities employer
and supports workforce diversity as a signatory to the Diversity Charter
(Charta der Vielfalt) since 2010.

All applications for vacant positions will
be welcomed and considered on the professional merits of the applicant
against the role profile for the position regardless of nationality,
ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, disability,
parental responsibilities, age, religion or belief.


[ 1 ] after deduction of EPO internal tax and before deduction of staff contributions to the social-security and pension schemes.