Pedro PedreiraThe European Commission (EC) is recruiting for an executive director of the Galileo Supervisory Agency (GSA), the new designation of the European GNSS Supervisory Authority. Deadline for applications is May 21.
The GSA’s current mission is to assist in the further implementation of the European GNSS Programs, composed of Galileo and the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS). Details for applying for the position can be found online at <www.gsa.europa.eu/go/gsa/careers>.
The European Commission (EC) is recruiting for an executive director of the Galileo Supervisory Agency (GSA), the new designation of the European GNSS Supervisory Authority. Deadline for applications is May 21.
The GSA’s current mission is to assist in the further implementation of the European GNSS Programs, composed of Galileo and the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS). Details for applying for the position can be found online at <www.gsa.europa.eu/go/gsa/careers>.
Pedro Pedreira, The agency’s current director will finish a five-year term in the position at the end of June. According to the job posting, the new director will be appointed as a temporary agent at grade AD14 for a five-year term, which may be renewed once, depending on future decisions of the EC and European Parliament about the programs.
Pedreira became GSA director in 2005, when Galileo was still be developed under a public-private partnership (PPP) that would have placed a private concessionaire in charge of building and operating the system.
With a PPP, the agency would have held a much more important role in choosing the concessionaire, completing the concession contract, and monitoring its implementation.
That situation changed in 2007, when the EC and parliament decided to abandon efforts to achieve the PPP and moved to a fully public procurement of the €3.4-billion program. Plans for the staffing, responsibilities, and budget of the GSA all declined markedly. The GSA currently employs a staff of about 35 people and has a 2010 budget of around €10 million (US$13.3 million) per year and an operational budget is around €40 million.
Currently, the GSA has the following responsibilities:
· Ensure the security accreditation of the systems and the operation of the Galileo security centre. To that effect it initiates and monitors the implementation of security procedures and performs system security audits;
· Contribute to the preparation of the commercialization of the systems, including the necessary market analysis, laying the foundations for the respective economic sustainability and aiming at maximizing the economic, social and public benefits;
· Accomplish other tasks entrusted to it by the Commission, such as promoting applications and services, ensuring that the components of the system are certified by the duly authorized certification bodies and managing the R&D programs on satellite navigation.
The missions of the GSA could be subject to a further evolution, depending on future European Union decisions on the Galileo and EGNOS exploitation phase. The agency, provisionally situated in Brussels, might be located in another EU member state in the future.
