Financial Officer (1,0 fte)

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

Welcome to the Meuse-Rhine region! When you work in this region, 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 Interreg Meuse-Rhine (NL-BE-DE) programme encompasses the territory or parts of the territory of the Dutch Province of Limburg, the Belgian Province of Limburg, the Aachen Region, the Province of Liège, the German-speaking Community of Belgium and the Federal State of Rhineland-Palatinate. The European Union and its programme partners (Member States, regions) have made a total of € 176 million in public funding available to tackle the great societal challenges facing the programme area. These challenges include the industrial transition, the green transformation, healthier citizens, tourism in a high-quality region, and living and working without borders. Key drivers are innovation, sustainability and the social agenda.

The Dutch 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 the time of approval in mid-2022 until the end of 2029. This makes the Province of Limburg effectively responsible for the implementation and management of this cross-border programme.

The task of coordinating internationalisation and regional activities within the scope of the Euregio Meuse-Rhine (EMR) falls to the King's Commissioner for the Province of Limburg. The cluster reports to the Director of the Province of Limburg Regional Ministry.

This is what the Financial officer does, this is how you make the province more beautiful, innovative and sustainable

• Assist the Joint Secretariat (JS) project managers on financial aspects of project tracking and eligibility of expenditure;
• Advise and support (project) teams operationally, process-wise and with assigned aspects of project management (risk management, planning management, quality management, financial management and information management);
• Produce accurate financial analyses and forecasts for the programme, based on data from the digital management system and other online reporting systems, including those of the European Union and the Province of Limburg. If necessary, you will develop the relevant queries or spreadsheets yourself;
• Oversee implementation of the financial procedures as laid down in the management and control systems and the correct application of public procurement rules. In this context, you may elaborate and/or adapt guidelines, techniques and methodologies, and you will defend the positions and criteria of the programme and the European Union with multiple stakeholders;
• Support the programme manager in preparing payment claims (for example for the European Commission) by providing appropriate financial statements;
• Assist colleagues and temporarily take over their tasks when necessary.

The following requirements apply for this position

• Higher vocational education level (Dutch HBO) of knowledge and skill;
• Experience working with EU programmes/projects and/or cross-border cooperation is an asset;
• Team player; you have the ability to maintain contacts with project partners, colleagues and the staff of the bodies involved in the programme;
• Financial-analytical knowledge and skills and the ability to maintain an overview;
• Affinity for figures, project budgets, tables and financial data;
• Excellent knowledge of Word and Excel;
• Languages:
  • fluency in English;
  • native-speaker proficiency in one of the languages of the Meuse-Rhine region (French, German, Dutch); a good working knowledge of the other languages is a valuable asset in this position;
  • willingness to learn the languages of the Meuse-Rhine region.
• Behavioural competences:
  • pro-active;
  • results-driven;
  • communicative skills;
  • planning and organising skills;
  • accuracy and a sense of quality;
  • constructive / hands-on mentality.

How we appreciate your contribution

• A minimum gross monthly salary, based on a 36-hour working week, of € 3.644,44 and a maximum of € 5.133,31 in salary scale 10;
• An Individual Choice Budget (ICB) of approximately 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, sports club membership, or extra leave;
• Opportunities to work flexibly to some extent and independently of location;
• Personal training budget of € 6,000 for a five-year period with sufficient opportunities to work on your development;
• Pension accrual at ABP (Dutch pension fund for civil servants).

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.

Other information

At the end of the selection procedure, we will ask the selected candidate to apply to their municipality for a Certificate of Conduct (Verklaring Omtrent het Gedrag, VOG) and, after obtaining the approval of Justis, to submit it to us.