Junior or senior contracted statistician (m/f/x)

Fixed-term, full-time contract – SW1 or SW2
Directorate Criminology

The candidate who performs best in this selection process will be eligible for employment immediately after selection. The other high-performing candidates will be held in reserve for 2 years. During this period, the reserve candidates may be called upon for other assignments.

‘The NICC/INCC is an equal opportunities employer’

 1. JOB DESCRIPTION 

Your role:
The creation of this vacancy is linked to the fulfilment of various research projects within the Directorate Criminology at the Belgian National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology (NICC/INCC). 

One of the statistician’s roles is to work with the team and provide statistical analyses to support work in the areas of research being conducted within Criminology Operational Management.

Main tasks: 

  • You will be working in a team with scientific colleagues from a range of backgrounds (the NICC/INCC welcomes all kinds of profiles: criminologists, sociologists, legal experts, statisticians, psychologists, computer scientists, biologists, chemists, physicists, etc.).
  • You will put your statistical expertise to good use in innovative scientific research focused on important problems in society (crime, punishment, recidivism, effectiveness of penalties, etc.).
  • You will conduct statistical analyses in the context of research activities.
  • You will help the other members of the team to understand the statistical results and statistical methods used to obtain these results (knowledge transfer, support with analyses, popularisation).
  • You keep yourself up to date with the latest statistical methods in use.
  • You participate in the writing of reports and scientific articles with a national and international scope.

 2. WORKPLACE AND SETTING 

Nationaal Instituut voor Criminalistiek en Criminologie / Institut National de Criminalistique et de Criminologie (NICC/INCC),
Finance Tower, 7th floor, box 71, Centre Administratif Botanique, Boulevard du Jardin Botanique 50 - 1000 Brussels. 

The NICC/INCC is a federal scientific institution. It reports directly to the Minister of Justice but is independent of the magistracy. Likewise, the NICC/INCC is separate from the police system.
The goal of the NICC/INCC is to use its scientific research to support Justice:

  • The Directorate Criminalistics studies the presence of traces on items of evidence and, by analysing these traces, attempts to identify the perpetrator of a crime and their modus operandi.
  • The Directorate Criminology focuses on scientific studies and conducts research to support criminal justice policy.

The Directorate Criminology of the NICC/INCC employs researchers to conduct criminological studies whose intent is to clarify certain criminal phenomena and to contribute to a better understanding of penalties, particularly by studying how the public services of Justice work. This work is specifically intended to support criminal justice policy and to put forward proposals for improvement in how the authorities work, whether in terms of repression or prevention. The Directorate Criminology also has a duty of public service, which is to provide information to government officials, politicians and the whole of society on the state of criminological knowledge.

The research conducted within the Directorate Criminology at the NICC/INCC pertains to various thematic areas that frequently overlap:

  • Justice databases
  • Causes of crime and deviance and the response to them
  • Police and court investigations
  • Youth, family and justice
  • Justice and management
  • Reparatory justice
  • Justice centres
  • Penalties and measures
  • Prosecution policy
  • Victims

The job vacancy is within the Directorate Criminology.

More information: www.incc.fgov.be

 3. PROFILE 

Essential technical skills

  • You have an excellent knowledge of statistics (advanced, observational, experimental and quasi-experimental methods and techniques), preferably with a profound knowledge of the mathematics behind statistical tests.

Desirable technical skills

  • You are a good teacher, and you are capable of transmitting your knowledge to your colleagues.
  • You have published in scientific outlets, preferably in the field of statistics or quantitative methodology are an advantage.

Essential language skills - You have

  • either an excellent command of French,
  • or an excellent command of Dutch,
  • as well as a good passive knowledge of English.

Behavioural skills

Working at the NICC/INCC means working on the basis of the core values :  Integrity, Neutrality, Competence and Coherence. Reliable results, efficient service and precise administrative management are the logical outcome.

  • You are a good communicator, both verbally and in writing.
  • You guide your colleagues in a transparent, integral and objective manner, providing them with personalised service and maintaining constructive relationships.
  • You analyse and evaluate information in a competent manner.
  • You gather the essential elements required to reach a pertinent conclusion.
  • You examine situations from a new angle.
  • You are an enthusiastic colleague.
  • You work in a committed manner to achieve the goals set, submitting high-quality work by the agreed deadlines.
  • You implement the decisions made with an attitude of constructive criticism.
  • You are confident in yourself and have the self-control required to deal with stress and cope with feedback.
  • You are flexible and open to developments based on the NICC/INCC’s needs, your assignments and your personal development.
  • You have an inquiring scientific mind and a desire to keep up to date with the latest knowledge in the field of statistics.
  • You are motivated by the acquisition of new knowledge and the production of innovative learning.

 4. REMUNERATION AND OTHER BENEFITS 

  • Fixed-term contract for a period of two years, 
    • renewable, with a possibility of long-term open-ended contract.
  • Competitive salary linked to status as a scientist
    • in pay grade SW1 (junior) if the employee has a master’s degree : salary: from € 3,754.70 gross per month
    • in pay grade SW2 (senior) if the employee has a doctorate : salary: from € 4,625.20 gross per month 
  • The aforementioned salary is already adjusted to the current index, not including statutory payments.
  • Remuneration will increase along with the candidate’s scientific and/or financial seniority.
  • Scientific experience relevant to the role, other than that described in article 7§2, 1° and 2° of the Royal Decree on the status of scientific staff at federal scientific institutions, may be considered scientific seniority for this role.

Other benefits

  • Inclusion in supplementary employer’s pension fund for federal government contract workers
  • Possibility of benefiting from a language bonus 
  • Opportunities for training (to be taken during working hours) 
  • Possibility to take out hospitalisation insurance
  • Free public transport from home to the workplace 
  • Possibility of allowance for travel by bicycle 
  • Flexible working day within a 38-hour week, with opportunities for extensive teleworking
  • 26 days of annual leave + max. 12 days of compensation for overtime work 
  • Opportunity to join in with sports and cultural activities during the lunch break
  • Benefits and reductions offered by the Fed + card 

 5. ADMISSION AND APPLICATION CONDITIONS 

The candidate must have at least one of the following qualifications: 

  • university education or higher education to master’s level (second cycle: master’s, licentiate, industrial engineering or engineering degree) in one of the following subject areas:
    • Statistics
    • Mathematics
    • Data analysis
    • Computer Science
    • Engineering
    • Physics
    • Forensic Science
    • Criminology
    • Sociology
    • Anthropology
    • Social Sciences
    • Economics
    • Psychology
    • Linguistics
  • The degree in question must have been granted by a Belgian university, one of the assimilated institutions, one of the institutions with the power of legally conferring equivalency for academic degrees or the university examination programmes, or one of the examination committees created by the government for the conferral of university degrees.
  • You may also submit an application if your degree was obtained under a former name that corresponds to one of the required degrees.
  • You may participate subject to approval if:
    • you obtained your degree in a country other than Belgium. If you do not yet have an equivalency certificate for your degree, request it immediately (since the procedure is relatively slow) from the Equivalency Department of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (French Community) or the Equivalency Department of the Flemish Region (Government of Flanders).
    • You must submit your equivalency certificate on the day of the interview.
    • you obtained your degree in a language other than French or Dutch. Depending on your circumstances, you will have to obtain a language certificate from Selor proving that you have a good command of French or Dutch (Article 9, §2, sufficient knowledge, www.selor.be).

A copy of the degree certificate must be submitted at the same time as the application.

 6. SELECTION PROCESS 

Examination of the candidate based on their application file
The candidates are examined based on the information they provided in their application. Points are awarded and a ranking is drawn up on the basis of these points.
A maximum of five candidates per vacancy who are considered qualified, at the top of the ranking, will be invited to attend an interview.

Interview (approx. 45 min.) 
The interview makes it possible to assess whether your behavioral and technical skills correspond to the demands of the role. Questions will also be asked about your motivation, interest and impressions of the workplace.

The interview will theoretically be held on 01/04/2022 as a face-to-face interview (at the NICC/INCC in the Finance Tower, Brussels).
Invitations containing the exact time will be sent from 25/03/2022 onwards.

In order to commence employment, the selected candidate must fulfill the following conditions on the date of starting the job:

  • be a Belgian citizen or a citizen of a Member State of the European Economic Area or the Swiss Confederation
  • enjoy civil and political rights 
  • for male candidates: have complied with the laws on military service
  • provide a recent clean criminal record

 7. APPLICATION PROCEDURE 

In order for your application to be considered, it must be sent no later than 22/03/2022.

Candidates will not be admitted to the selection procedure unless they have the required degree and required relevant professional experience.

The application file must be sent by e-mail to pando@just.fgov.be and comply with the following conditions:

  1. It must state the following information: surname and first name, full address, date of birth, national identity card number, name of the job for which you are applying.
  2. It must be accompanied by a covering letter.
  3. It must be accompanied by a complete and accurate CV indicating important publications and any scientific studies.
  4. It must be accompanied by a copy of your degree certificate(s).
  5. It must be accompanied by a clean criminal record that is original and recent (less than one month old) supplied by your local authority.
  6. If applicable, it must be accompanied by the certificates attesting to your previous scientific activities, according to the model that you will find on the NICC/INCC website.

Failure to respect these conditions will result in your application being disregarded.
Persons with a disability are requested to mention this when submitting their application and to attach a certificate of their disability in order to be able to provide possible adaptations to the selection procedure.

 8. CONTACT 

  • For more information about the content of the job, please contact 
    Christophe Mincke, the Criminology Operational Manager: Christophe.Mincke@just.fgov.be, +32 (0)2 243 46 87.
     
  • For more information about employment conditions (status and reward), please contact
    the personnel and organisation department at pando@just.fgov.be.