First Officer (Senior Requirements Engineer)

1. Purpose of the post
The main purpose of the post is to perform requirements gathering and functional design.
The selected candidate will be involved in defining high-level requirements, describing the business need, and in specifying functional designs (use cases), describing the solution,driving prototyping. The successful candidate will collaborate closely with business stakeholders, end-users and the development team, delivering specifications to be used for developing custom software solutions or for integration of standard/customised software products.
2. Tasks and Responsibilities
The successful applicant will have to carry out the following main duties:
- Gather, analyse, define, document and keep track of high-level business, functional and non-functional requirements;
- Develop detailed use case specifications, define and describe creative software solutions, products and features;
- Transform high level business statements into detailed and accurate design specifications, adequate for software development or customisation of standard software products;
- Actively track requirements throughout the entire software lifecycle to assess progress and assure that the delivered end-product meets all requirements and expectations;
- Actively participate in continuously improving the methods and techniques applied in the unit for requirements gathering;
- Be involved in user acceptance testing, to ensure the delivered end-products successfully pass acceptance tests;
- Be involved in user interface design and usability testing;
- Be involved in the delivery and maintenance of design documentation using UML;
- Be involved in data modelling.

3. Requirements3.1 General requirements (Art. 24 of the Europol Staff Regulations)The post holder must:be a national of one of the Member States of the European Union and enjoy full rights as a citizen; have an excellent oral and written command of at least two official languages of the European Union, including English; have a minimum of eight years of experience in large scale software development or integration projects, and a minimum of two years in a similar position; possess a university degree in computer science or equivalent.3.2 Specific skills and competencies required for the post: The post holder must have:. Professional experience:Essential:A minimum of eight years of work experience and proficiency in software development or integration projects through all phases of the lifecycle; A minimum of two years experience in defining software requirements, particularly on large scale projects in complex environments using an internationally recognised project management methodology and a structured software lifecycle management methodology; A minimum of two years experience with iterative software development methodologies; A minimum of two years of experience in J2EE/JEE5 application development and/or components integration.Desirable:Experience matured in both custom-software developed projects and integration projects; Experience in working in an international environment ; Experience with structured software engineering processes and the Microsoft Solutions Framework methodology (MSF); Experience with additional software engineering methodologies (e.g. Rational Unified Process, test-driven development, agile development); Experience in the use of Visual Studio Team System development environment; Experience in IBM websphere technology;Experience in J2EE/JEE5 technology development environment; Experience with defining conceptual and physical data models.. Professional knowledge:Essential:>Knowledge of the J2EE/JEE5 application architecture and development environment; Knowledge of Microsoft solutions Framework methodology (MSF) or other iterative development methodology; Knowledge of an internationally recognised project management methodology ; Desirable: Knowledge of the Microsoft development technologies; Knowledge of Prince 2; Knowledge of service management methodologies (preferably ITIL); Knowledge of the law enforcement domain. Knowledge of .NET. Technical skills and competencies: Essential:Demonstrated capability of understanding and describing complex IT systems including the main components and their interactions; Ability to reach agreements and compromises among diverging stakeholders and competing requirements; Ability to effectively communicate complex technical matters to non-technical audiences; Ability to envisage and describe software solutions addressing complex sets of requirements; Excellent communication skills, both verbally and in writing.

4. Salary Scale: 6The basic salary is EUR 5,736.61 (tax deductions and social contributions within Europol amount to approximately 15 ¡V 20 %) In addition, when relevant, family allowances can be granted: „5% of the basic salary ¡V household allowance; EUR 284.20 (net) - per dependant child; EUR 926,77 (net) ¡V expatriation allowanceAdditional benefits (annual trip home, education, rent and other allowances, excellent health insurance, etc.) Social contributions and taxes have to be deducted from the above mentioned amount.

5. Additional Information 5.1 Main dates: Deadline for application: 17 October 2008 Recruitment procedure: 19 and 20 November 2008 Starting date of employment: 1 January 2009 5.2 Contact Details: Should you have further questions on the details of the above position, or should you require any guidance on completing the application form please consult the EUROPOL RECRUITMENT GUIDELINES on www.europol.europa.eu or call +31 (0) 70 302 5298 or +31 (0) 70 353 1628. Letter of Application: http://mptool.the-network.com/asp/cs/network/careercenter/default.cfm?offerId=5248&offer_id=5248&destination=apply&compid=43&lng=EN&lang=EN&channelId=61