Job Description Communications Officer IPA ADRIATIC CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION PROGRAMME
Job description
Position: Communications Officer for IPA Adriatic Cross-border Cooperation Programme
Location: Department for Cross-Border and Transnational Programmes, European Integration Office of the
Government of Serbia, Belgrade, with travel within the Programme Area.
Duration of assignment: 21 months
A
Background
The European Union’s Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) supports cross-border and
transnational cooperation of EU candidate and potential candidate countries. The Republic of Serbia (RS)
participates in eight EU funded Cross Border Cooperation (CBC) / Transnational Programmes.1 Depending
on the programme, contracting and payment duties related to RS project partners are performed either by a)
institutions in EU Member States (programmes with Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, the Adriatic and South
East Europe) or by b) the EU Delegation to the RS (programmes with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and
Montenegro). The two different management modes are respectively termed “shared” management and
“transitional” management.
The IPA Adriatic Cross-border Cooperation Programme 2 gives priority to the objectives of the EU preaccession and cohesion policies and thus potentially meets the IPA’s objectives by allowing participating
countries to take actions together to develop their territories, under community rules and regulations by also
developing their institutional capacity. In this context, cross-border cooperation seeks to favour and stabilise
relations in the Adriatic basin, by promoting sustainable and balanced development.
The IPA Adriatic Cross-border Cooperation Programme is the result of joint programming work carried out
by eight participating countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Montenegro,
Serbia and Slovenia) and is part of the cooperation process in the Adriatic area. The Programme draws its
strength from experience gained during the previous Programme period and its concrete results. Its overall
objective is to promote sustainable development within the Adriatic region through a concerted strategy of
action between partners of the eligible territories. Programme funds are mainly allocated to projects which
are selected via public Calls for Proposals.
The Programme is managed under the shared management and has established authorities and joint
management structures in accordance with the principle of separation of functions. These include a single
Managing Authority, Certifying Authority and Audit Authority as well as the Joint Monitoring Committee, the
Joint Technical Secretariat and designated National Authorities in each participating country. The IPA
Adriatic CBC Programme Technical Assistance (TA) Component ensures effective management,
implementation, monitoring, control and evaluation of the Programme and establishes a TA structure which
is able to guarantee efficient support to all the participating countries and potential applicants and
1
For more details see http://www.evropa.gov.rs/Evropa/PublicSite/index.aspx
2 For more details see http://www.adriaticipacbc.org/
This project is co-funded by the European Union,
Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance
1
Job Description Communications Officer IPA ADRIATIC CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION PROGRAMME
beneficiaries. Part of the technical assistance is dedicated to ensuring appropriate communication and
dissemination of information to facilitate its implementation in all involved geographic areas and between all
relevant stakeholders.
B
Objective
As a response to the increased interest in the IPA Adriatic CBC Programme in Serbia reflected in the high
number of applicants, decentralised communication activities will make it possible to adequately meet
information needs and to ensure successful implementation of the Programme in Serbia. These activities
will raise the knowledge about Programme measures amongst the community, potential beneficiaries and
stakeholders across the eligible territory. This will result in diffusion of coherent and integrated programmelevel communication through targeted actions and will improve transparency of the programme.
Coordination, information sharing and dissemination activities will advance programme planning and
implementation and ensure sustainable outcomes of Programme activities.
The objective of this post is to ensure efficient exchange and distribution of information and impact of
communication initiatives. The Communications Officer will be responsible for overall communication and
information activities and will assist the National Authority in maintaining timely communication and regular
flow of information with joint programme bodies in order to ensure successful programme implementation
(for example launching of the Calls for Proposals and implementation and monitoring in the eligible area i.e.
the whole country).
E
Responsibilities and tasks
In fulfilling his/her responsibilities and tasks, the Communications Officer shall perform the activities listed
below:
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contributing to the implementation of the Programme Communication Plan in order to promote the
Programme and ensure visibility of its progress in Serbia;
providing advice and support to beneficiaries with communication, visibility and information,
including activities related to visibility requirements and publicity of the IPA Adriatic CBC
Programme and the European Union;
providing information as a help-desk and organising events for the benefit of beneficiaries with the
aim to support project implementation;
on request, attending publicity, visibility, information and other programme events, including project
openings and closings;
collecting and synthesising information and maintaining its regular flow between the National
Authority and other programme bodies to support programme implementation, reporting and
monitoring;
liaising with project beneficiaries, organisations, institutions and networks relevant to Programme
objectives and providing updated information about Programme results, the latest guidelines,
regulations, etc;
developing and maintaining a database of publicity contacts (media, specialised magazines, key
actors);
in cooperation with the Programme Coordinator and the JTS, contributing to the development of
publicity, visibility and information materials, including programme/project summaries, success
stories and other outputs;
This project is co-funded by the European Union,
Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance
2
Job Description Communications Officer IPA ADRIATIC CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION PROGRAMME
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F
providing relevant input to the JTS in order to successfully update and implement the Adriatic
Programme Communication Plan, including: measuring progress against targets; implementing
communication actions including updating of the website and newsletters and other;
organising hosting of and/or participation in publicity, visibility and information meetings and
events, including drafting of speeches and preparation for interviews;
monitoring the press for items relevant to the IPA Adriatic CBC Programme;
assisting the JTS to identify, record and disseminate examples of good practice and to capitalise
on past and running operations;
any other tasks relevant to the field of information requested by the Head of the Cross-Border and
Transnational Cooperation Programmes Department.
Reporting lines
The staff member shall report to the Programme Coordinator for the IPA Adriatic Cross Border Programme
and the Head of the Cross-Border and Transnational Cooperation Programmes Department.
G
Professional requirements
The Communications Officer must meet the following minimum criteria:
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University degree
2 years of professional experience related to the area of communication, information or publicity
Oral and written fluency in English and Serbian
Excellent writing, analytical and communication skills
Ability to plan, organize and execute urgent tasks
Computer literacy
Work experience on EU funded programmes and familiarity with the Communication and Visibility
Manual for EU External Actions would be an asset
Knowledge of the rules and procedures of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance would be
an asset
Knowledge of European policy-making and regional policy, with a special regard to the European
Territorial Co-operation objective would be an asset
Knowledge of the social and economic features of the Adriatic programme area would be an asset
This project is co-funded by the European Union,
Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance
3