Senior Programme Manager (1,0 fte)

In this position, you will be part of the Interreg Meuse-Rhine cluster

Welcome to the Meuse-Rhine region (EMR), where crossing borders is part of daily life. When you work here, you can start the day in Maastricht (the Netherlands), move on to business meetings in Liège (Belgium) and end the day in the beautiful old city centre of Aachen (Germany). The region’s more than four million inhabitants appreciate its borderless combination of vibrant cities, world-class research, rich cultural heritage and unspoilt nature every day.
Since 1991, cross-border cooperation projects between the Belgian, German and Dutch partner regions have received support from Interreg. The sixth generation of the programme (Interreg Meuse-Rhine (NL-BE-DE)) covers the territory of parts of the Province of Limburg (NL), the Province of Limburg (B), the Region of Aachen, the Province of Liège and the German-speaking Community of Belgium, as well as parts of the German federal state Rhineland-Palatinate. In total, the European Union and the programme partners (Member States and regions) have provided over €176 million in funding to contribute to the major societal challenges defined for the programme area. Innovation, sustainability and the social agenda are key drivers.
The Province of Limburg has been designated as Managing Authority (MA) for the Interreg Meuse-Rhine (NL-BE-DE) programme 2021-2027, which effectively runs from its approval by the European Commission (14 November 2022) to the end of 2029. This effectively makes the Province of Limburg responsible for implementing and managing this cross-border programme. Coordinating internationalisation and the EMR is part of the governor's portfolio. The cluster comes under the responsibility of the Director of Operations of the Province of Limburg. Overall coordination of the EMR Cluster is carried out by the Cluster Manager/Coordinator. Together with the Deputy Cluster Manager (0.5 FTE), the Coordinator makes up the formal management team.

This is what a Senior Programme Manager does

As a Senior Programme Manager, you have well-developed communication and organisational skills, are a real team worker and perform well in an intercultural environment. Accuracy, a focus on results and flexibility will help you deal with a wide range of tasks, without compromising the high quality of your work. At the same time, these tasks should be carried out in an independent and timely manner, with a focus on efficiency and, of course, results.

The position is twofold
1. You will advise on the details of the role of Management Authority (MA) in the assigned Programme by:
- advising and supporting the board and management of the Province of Limburg with regard to the MA policy to be developed;
- preparing the Annual Implementation Report (AIR);
- implementing decisions or amendments related to the Cooperation Programme already approved by the Supervisory Committee;
- performing and/or supervising the work related to programme evaluation;
- preparing, following up on and attending meetings of the bodies involved in administrative and decision-making procedures related to the projects;
- drafting procedural documents relating to the work of Joint Secretariat (JS) staff.
2. You will be responsible for the Cooperation Programme in accordance with the principle of sound financial management by:
- implementing management and monitoring to ensure that results aimed for with the programme are achieved;
- supporting the Supervisory Committee for the programme and providing it with all the information it needs to perform its duties (in particular, data on progress towards the objectives of the Cooperation Programme, financial data and data on indicators and milestones);
- submitting annual reports and a final report to the European Commission after approval by the Supervisory Committee;
- ensuring that a selected specific operation falls within the scope of the Fund concerned and can be allocated to a category of intervention determined in the priority or priorities of the Cooperation Programme;
- taking effective and proportionate fraud prevention measures based on the risks identified;
- establishing procedures to ensure that all documents relating to expenditure and audits required to ensure an adequate audit trail are maintained in accordance with set conditions and in compliance with applicable legislation and regulations;
- drawing up a management statement and annual summary;
- fulfilling the accounting function by preparing and submitting payment claims as well as preparing and submitting accounts to the European Commission.

This is how you make the province more beautiful, innovative and sustainable

You will successfully fill the position of Senior Programme Manager MR thanks to your proven advisory skills, ability to liaise with project partners and negotiation skills. In doing so, you will use your strong analytical skills and the ability to structure and present complex issues well. Naturally, you possess intrinsic motivation and a positive attitude towards change and challenges. In this context, you can draw on your knowledge and experience of Interreg programmes and the relevant European regulations.

Skills and qualifications required:

• an academic or similar qualification and level of working and thinking;
• broad knowledge of the focus area, which requires an understanding of political and administrative issues in a broader context than just one's own focus area;
• demonstrable experience of managing EU-funded programmes or projects;
• experience in financial management, use of simplified cost options (SCOs) and/or state aid management;
• thorough oral and written knowledge of one of the languages of the euregion (French, German or Dutch) as well as fluency in English (C1);
• an understanding of administrative and political relationships and developments.

Remuneration

• a minimum gross monthly salary based on a 36-hour working week of
  € 4.682,57 and a maximum of € 6.618,07 in scale 12;
• an Individual Choice Budget (ICB) of approx. 22%, including holiday allowance (8%) and a structural year-end bonus (8.3%). This budget comes on top of your fixed salary and can be paid when you need it. You can also use it, for example, to purchase a bicycle, a sports subscription or extra leave;
• opportunities to work partially flexibly and independently of location;
• a personal training budget of €5,000 for the duration of five years with sufficient options to work on your development;
• pension accrual with ABP.

Working as a provincial professional

Working for the Province of Limburg means working to promote the well-being and prosperity of Limburg and its people. Achieving results with impact is our common mission here, in the economic field, the social field and the public domain. You will do this in a setting where a wealth of cultural heritage and tourist attractions almost make you feel as if you are on holiday. North Limburg has the natural beauty of the Land of Peel and Maas and the fens and shifting dunes of the Maasduinen. Central Limburg has the largest interconnected water sports area in the Netherlands – the Maasplassen. And South Limburg is home to the green Heuvelland.

The Province of Limburg is growing into an open, learning governmental organisation, where professionals have space to pursue innovations in collaboration with relevant partners. This requires employees to take responsibility for their own development. The Province provides strong support for personal development and expects its employees to take initiatives and make efforts in that regard.

More about the Province of Limburg

As provincial professionals, we only want one thing: to ensure that Limburg is even more beautiful, sustainable and innovative than it already is when we pass it on to future generations. That task poses major challenges. From our cultural heritage to our innovative character. From our beautiful countryside to our logistics hotspots. And from our special euregional location to economic innovative power. We tackle all these complex and multifaceted challenges with all the strength we can muster. Each of us based on our own expertise. Together with more than 900 professionals, we are working on the future that Limburg deserves.

Further information in the case of external recruitment

At the end of the selection procedure, we will ask the selected candidate to apply for a Certificate of Good Conduct without objections [Verklaring Omtrent het Gedrag zonder bezwaren, (‘VOG’)] from the municipality and submit it to us after approval from screening authority Justis.

The integrity risk profile applies to this position.

The selection procedure may involve an assessment.