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Call for EBN - Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Changes at the head of EBN
After 25 years at EBN and 17 years as its CEO, Philippe Vanrie has decided to leave EBN and to take over new challenging responsibilities and become the next Director of the EUREKA programme.
It will not be an easy task to replace Philippe, however, and despite the fact Philippe has somewhat personalized EBN (inside and outside the network) and has conducted EBN very well during so many years, his departure could be turned into an opportunity, not only for him, but also for EBN.
An open call for candidates has therefore been elaborated, and it is now time to launch it officially!
Call for Candidates
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Published 10th January 2017 - Deadline 28th February 2017
EBN, the European Network of Business and Innovation Centres, is seeking a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for its office in Brussels.
Created more than 30 years ago by the EC and a group of public & private stakeholders, EBN is a non-governmental organization gathering several hundreds of innovation-based incubators (BICs, Business & Innovation Centres), accelerators, clusters, entrepreneurship centres, innovation agencies, and other similar business & innovation support players. EBN and its vibrant “public-private” community is considered as the European leader in its fields, and is expanding geographically and thematically.
As decribed on the EBN web-site (www.ebn.eu), EBN’s activities have expended over the last few years and are currently anchored around the following areas: (a) provision of the EU-BIC certification, associated benchmarking services, and of specialized expertise in the fields of start-ups & scale-ups supports, economic development and innovation, (b) on-line & off-line networking services, including training, communication & promotion, thematic working groups & conferences, (c) European collaborative projects & EU policy intelligence, (d) support to internationalization, (e) various other initiatives in the fields of open innovation, sector-specific innovation, and entrepreneurship.
EBN is seeking a high-profile person to manage the EBN operations & activities, and its legal body, an International Association gathering 250 members across Europe and beyond. Located in Brussels, the EBN organization is run by a multicultural team of around 15 professionals, and is supervised by an international Board of Directors (representing the General Assembly of EBN’s members).
General Mission of the CEO - Job Description - Required Qualifications - Job Conditions - How to Apply
The CEO of EBN is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Association, the implementation of the annual action plan, the compliance to the annual budget, the coordination and supervision of the activities and the leadership of the operational team. Reporting to the Board of Directors and its President, the CEO will implement the strategy and contribute to its developments.
He/she should also ensure the continuous improvement of EBN activities and market position, the satisfaction of its members, the network’s visibility and institutional reputation, and the densification of the membership in Europe as well as the enlargement of the EBN community to new countries, around and beyond Europe.
OUTLINE OF THE JOB DESCRIPTION
The job description of the CEO covers various fields of responsibilities:
- General management of the Association and coordination of its activities, including reporting to the Board of Directors
- Supporting the Association’s members, and ensuring their customer satisfaction
- Ensuring high-quality services & events, and high-level communication
- Ensuring EBN’s reputation within institutional and private circles
- Developing EBN membership in Europe and beyond
- Strengthening strategic partnerships with relevant third-parties
- Maintaining compliant & reliable administrative & financial management of the Association
- Exerting leadership and empowering the operational team
EBN is looking for an ambitious and self-motivated candidate, capable to passionately influence entrepreneurship & innovation ecosystems across Europe, and to strengthen the position of EU-BICs labelled organizations and of EBN members in the market.
This is an exciting role which mixes sound operational management capabilities, policy development skills, international projects management experience, business development competences, and a particular interest/expertise for business & innovation support/intermediation within a context of multi-stakeholders relationships.
- Education
- A university degree is required
- An educational background in Economics, Business, Management and Innovation is recommended
- Work experience
- At least 10 years of professional experience in business, industry, and/or territorial economic development, including experience at an international level
- At least 5 years of senior management experience
- Language skills
- High level of fluency in English (written and oral)
- Good level in French (written and oral) is an asset
- Specific competences
- Excellent understanding of the startups, entrepreneurs, and innovation ecosystems
- Practical experience in Incubators, Accelerators, Clusters, Innovation Centres, economic development agencies, science and technology parks, and similar organizations is an advantage
- Experience in working in or with a membership organisation or association
- General competences
- Proven management skills
- Excellent organizational skills
- Experience in team management
- Outstanding creative thinking competencies
- Excellent interpersonal, communication and presentation abilities
- Proactive, innovative and problem solving person
- Knowledge of European policies and public affairs is an asset
The job is offered for a full-time position. The contract will be compliant with Belgian employment legislation and tax regime.
The place of work is Brussels, Belgium and its is highly recommended the candidate lives or plans to live in the Brussels geographical area. The job also requires a substantial amount of travels, mainly in Europe but also overseas.
Taking into account the scope of responsibilities and the ambition of EBN, the level of remuneration and other advantages will be in line with a comparable position.
A policy of equal opportunities and non-dicrimination will be applied.
Qualified candidates should submit a cover letter and a detailed Curriculum Vitae to the President of the EBN Board of Directors, to be sent to the following email address ceo-applications@ebn.eu
The deadline for receiving applications is the 28th February 2017
Applications received after the deadline will be disregarded
A task-force assigned by the EBN Board of Directors will be in charge of the pre-selection of a short-list of 6 to 8 candidates, who will be interviewed in Brussels mid-March 2017. Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
The selected candidate is expected to start his/her work by June 2017.
Download Call for Candidates in PDF.
To learn more about EBN
visit our website
at www.ebn.eu
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