Speech Writer and Communication Specialist

Speech writer and communication specialist 
Likely to arise

President's office
EPO Munich (DE)

The European Patent Office (EPO) - the second-largest public institution in Europe, with 7 000 staff members and a self-financed budget of EUR 2bn - is looking for a speech writer and communication specialist. 

Under the leadership of the director of the President's office, the successful candidate will provide the President with effective, well-informed and clear statements on the strategic objectives, plans, agendas and activities of the EPO. These high-quality texts setting out the "raison d'être" of the Office normally take the form of speeches, policy statements, media articles and messages to varied stakeholders. 

More precisely, the successful candidate will be expected to perform the following

Main duties 

•  Collects and analyses policy documents and expert advice, in close co operation with other departments involved, to draft speeches, speaking notes and presentations for the President, to be delivered at a wide variety of high-level international events
•  Provides advice about speech delivery encompassing political, cultural and audience-specific sensitivities 
•  Works closely with other EPO departments (e.g. Communication, European and International Co operation) to ensure that messages by the President are delivered in a harmonised and consistent way
•  Liaises with the EPO's Protocol unit to ensure that all protocol-related matters are handled appropriately 
•  Follows up on all communication-related projects and provides the President with regular briefings
•  Provides support to the offices of the Vice-Presidents to ensure the strategic alignment with EPO policies and priorities of speeches, speaking notes and presentations at vice-presidential level 
•  Monitors IP-related communication (e.g. IP blogs) and prepares IP-related blog contributions
•  Contributes to overall efforts towards continually improving the quality and impact of policy-related and technical messaging, in close co operation with other departments
•  Performs other tasks as required.

Candidate profile
The ideal candidate will have:

•  proven experience in a similar role 
•  excellent linguistic skills, with expert knowledge of English and very good knowledge of French and German
•  excellent written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills
•  the ability to prepare effective communication for a wide variety of audiences, conveying information and opinions in a structured and credible way and taking account of political and cultural sensitivities
•  the capability to deliver on time, adapt swiftly to changing priorities under tight deadlines, monitor own progress against targets, and immediately take any corrective action needed
•  the ability to deal with highly confidential information
•  the ability to maintain trusted contacts with varied counterparts up to highest levels
•  new-media and computer literacy, and good knowledge of standard PC software (MS Office including PowerPoint)
•  IP knowledge and familiarity with global IP-related developments and communities.

Minimum qualifications
Diploma of completed studies at university level or – in exceptional cases – equivalent professional experience. 

Duration of the contract
The contract will be for the duration of 3 years. Extension up to 5 years possible.

Salary and benefits
The EPO offers a competitive net salary, i.e. basic salary, after deduction of internal tax, ranging between EUR 5 078 and 11 602 per month, depending on experience. Staff members of the EPO are further provided with various benefits and allowances as part of their conditions of service, such as family allowances, support for education, private medical insurance, pension scheme, relocation benefits. 

Procedure and timeframe
The successful candidate will be selected on the basis of qualifications and relevant experience, supplemented as appropriate by interviews, tests and/or a personality questionnaire.

Candidates invited for interview may also be asked to submit work references and portfolios beforehand. The Office will return any portfolios provided.

Interviews are likely to be held in calendar week 5 2015 in Munich.

Please apply online, using the link, reference number EUR/5738.

Click here to apply!

Closing date: 7 January 2015.

www.epo.org/jobs

Agency calls are not appreciated.

Keywords: Textwriter, Communication advisor, Political communication, Offical communication, International, high level communication