Secretary

MAKE A DIFFERENCE – JOIN THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Do you want to help shape the future of the European Union? Make the planet greener,
promote a fairer society, or support businesses and innovation across the EU? Then come and
work for the European Commission where you can really make a difference!

Commission staff are a diverse group of people, who are motivated to help make Europe – and
the world – a better place. They come from the 27 Member States of the European Union.
Different nationalities, backgrounds, languages and cultures make the Commission a vibrant and
inclusive place to work.

WE OFFER GREAT JOBS AND GREAT WORKING CONDITIONS:

•

Interesting and challenging jobs with plenty of opportunities for training and acquiring
new skills and competencies throughout your whole career

• Opportunities to move between different policy areas throughout your career
• A package of flexible working conditions including the possibility of teleworking – we

care about your work-life balance

• A competitive financial package, including comprehensive healthcare, accident and

pension schemes

• A multilingual, multicultural workplace where personal and career development are

strongly promoted

• Multilingual schools for your children

We recruit from a wide range of backgrounds and actively promote diversity and
inclusion:

We do not only recruit political scientists and lawyers but are also looking for all kinds of
profiles, including scientists, linguists, IT experts, data analysts and economists, as well as drivers
and engineers.

We are committed to equal opportunities and to fostering a rich, diverse and inclusive working
environment. We aim for our workforce to be representative of European society and strongly
welcome applications from all qualified candidates. We actively seek to create a workplace where
each staff member feels valued and respected, can give their best and can develop to their full
potential.

To promote diversity and establish a geographically balanced pool of candidates, we strongly
encourage applicants from Member States which are currently underrepresented in the European
Commission workforce to apply. These Member States are currently Austria, Cyprus, the Czech
Republic, Denmark, the Netherlands, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta,
Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Sweden1. Recruitment will however remain strictly based on the
merits of all applicants and no positions will be reserved for nationals of any specific Member
State.

For more information ec.europa.eu/work-with-us

STAFF RECRUITED ON CONTRACTS

In addition to permanent officials, the European Commission offers non-permanent positions.
There are two categories of non-permanent staff:

•

temporary agents are recruited to fill vacant positions for a set amount of time or
to perform highly specialised tasks.

• contract agents may provide additional capacity in specialised fields where an
insufficient number of officials is available or carry out a number of administrative or
manual tasks. They are generally recruited for fixed-term contracts (maximum 6 years in
any EU Institution), but in some cases they can be offered contracts for an indefinite
duration (in offices, agencies, delegations or representations).

For more information on different staff categories

1 Please note that the list of underrepresented Member States may be subject to future amendment based on potential
data changes over time.

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Secretary
Directorate-General Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) of
the European Commission

Selection reference: SANTE/COM/2026/1438
Domain: Support Staff
Where: Unit SANTE.R.2 – „ Legal Affairs “, Brussels
Staff category and Function Group: Temporary agent 2b – Administrative agent
Grade range: AST/SC1-2
Publication deadline: 13.08.2026 – 12.00 (Midday, Brussels time)

WE ARE

The Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) aims to deliver to Europeans the
peace of mind that comes with access to healthcare, safe food to eat and protection against
epidemics and diseases. Our goal is to build and maintain Europe’s high standards on food and
feed safety, food sustainability, animal and plant health, as well as the most affordable, accessible
and high-quality health systems to deliver on these expectations.

The Legal Affairs Unit, SANTE.R.2 is the internal legal adviser of DG SANTE. We are a committed
and enthusiastic team engaged in a wide variety of activities at the core of DG SANTE’s work. We
provide legal advice to DG SANTE management, policy and technical Units on the interpretation of
EU legislation in the area of health and food safety and contribute to the development of new
legislation as well as to the preparation of Court cases.

We are responsible for the coordination, assessment and follow-up of complaints and
infringements against the Member States for alleged violations of EU law. We are also responsible
for the coordination of the assessment of the draft laws notified by the Member States in the
areas of health and food safety under Directive (EU) 2015/1535 as well as for DG SANTE’s
contributions to the decision-making process and the preparation of the Commission Decisions in
the areas of health and food safety. The Legal Affairs Unit is also responsible for legal advice on
horizontal and institutional legal issues. and coordinates DG SANTE’s input to the Commission
decision-making process in areas such as competition, State Aids and justice. A result-oriented
culture as well as a culture of teamwork and mutual appreciation are well established and fostered.

WE PROPOSE

We offer an interesting position for a secretary to the DG SANTE’s Legal Unit (SANTE.R.2).

The successful candidate will be in charge of a wide range of secretarial and administrative tasks
(including organising meetings, missions, preparing files for meetings and events, monitoring,

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feeding and extracting data from databases relating to notifications, complaints, infringements and
legal advice, ensuring smooth workflows and professional document management services).

He/She will support the Head of Unit and the Legal Officers, ensure the efficient running of the
Unit’s secretariat and relay with colleagues in the line units and with a wide range of other internal
Commission and external interlocutors

WE LOOK FOR

We are looking for a proactive and organised colleague with a very good knowledge of Commission
procedures and solid working knowledge of the standard Commission IT tools (Ares, Sysper, BASIS,
MIPS, Word, Outlook, Excel etc).

A helpful attitude is important, as is the ability to prioritise and to work both independently and
with colleagues across DG SANTE.

Knowledge or genuine interest to learn Commission procedures for handling notifications under
Directive (EU) 2015/1535, complaints and infringements would be an asset.
Fluency in English and knowledge of French, both written and oral, is required.

Although experience is an important asset, we will also consider applications of staff who are
willing to invest in quickly getting to grips with the work, are enthusiastic about the opportunity to
participate to the important Health work of DG SANTE and show a hands-on attitude.

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HOW TO EXPRESS YOUR INTEREST?

You should send your documents in a single pdf in the following order:
1. your CV
2. completed application form.

Please send these documents by the publication deadline to
[email protected]
SANTE/COM/2026/1438 in the subject.

indicating

the

selection

reference

No applications will be accepted after the publication deadline.

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1. Selection

➢ Am I eligible to apply?

ANNEX

You must meet the following eligibility criteria when you validate your application:

Our rules provide that you can only be recruited as a temporary agent at the European Commission if you:

General criteria:

• Are a citizen of a Member State of the EU and enjoy full rights as a citizen
• Have fulfilled any obligations imposed by applicable laws concerning military service
• Are physically fit to perform the duties linked to the post
• Produce the appropriate character references as to suitability for the performance of the duties.

Qualifications:
FOR AST and AST/SC jobs: In order to be recruited for this position, you must have at least

• a level of post-secondary education attested by a diploma, or
• a level of secondary education attested by a diploma giving access to post-secondary

education, and appropriate professional experience of at least three years.

Only qualifications issued or recognised as equivalent by EU Member State authorities (e.g. by the
Ministry of Education) will be accepted. Furthermore, before recruitment, you will be required to
provide the documents that corroborate the eligibility criteria (diplomas, certificates and other
supporting documents).

Languages:
•

have a thorough knowledge (minimum level C1) of one of the 24 official languages of the
EU2

• AND a satisfactory knowledge (minimum level B2) of a second official language of the EU,

to the extent necessary for the performance of the duties.

2 The official languages of the European Union are: BG (Bulgarian), CS (Czech), DA (Danish), DE (German), EL
(Greek), EN (English), ES (Spanish), ET (Estonian), FI (Finnish), FR (French), GA (Irish), HR (Croatian), HU
(Hungarian), IT (Italian), LT (Lithuanian), LV (Latvian), MT (Maltese), NL (Dutch), PL (Polish), PT (Portuguese), RO
(Romanian), SK (Slovak), SL (Slovenian), SV (Swedish).

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➢ What about the selection steps?

The post was published internally within the Commission, inter-institutionally, and brought to the
attention of competition laureates.

In accordance with Article 29 of the Staff Regulations, applications from Commission officials,
officials from other Institutions, and laureates of competitions have priority3. If these candidates do
not best fit the requirements for the position, the Commission can recruit a temporary agent.

For temporary agents under Article 2(a) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, the
post is published directly on the EPSO website, without mandatory prior internal publication.

A selection panel will choose a limited number of candidates for interview, based on the CV and
application form that they submitted. Due to the large volume of applications, we may receive,
only candidates selected for the next step of the selection phase will be notified.

For operational reasons and in order to complete the selection procedure as quickly as possible in
the interest of the candidates and of the institution, the selection procedure will be carried out in
English/French and possibly in another language.

2. Recruitment

The candidate selected for recruitment will be requested to supply documentary evidence in
support of the statements made in their application.

The successful candidate will be required to undergo a mandatory pre-recruitment medical check-
up, carried out by the Commission.

➢ Type of contract and working conditions

The place of employment will be Brussels.

In case the successful candidate is not an official or a competition laureate, they will be recruited
as a temporary agent under Article 2(b) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants,
in function groups AST/SC.

3 Officials from the Commission or other Institutions are invited to use the standard channels (Sysper or inter-
institutional vacancy portal).

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➢ Grade

The recruitment grade, as well as the step in that grade, will be determined in accordance with
Commission Decision C(2025)4716 on policies for the engagement and use of temporary agents
and with Commission Decision C(2013)8970 laying down the criteria applicable to classification in
step on engagement.

The recruitment grade will be calculated based on the qualifications and the number of years of
professional experience, according to Art. 13 of the Commission Decision C(2025)4716. Higher grades
may be granted exceptionally.

The duration of the 1st contract will be up to 4 years. The contract might then be extended only
once for a maximum of 2 years and in the interest of service, in accordance with Commission
Decision C(2025)4716 on policies for the engagement and use of temporary agents.

All new staff have to successfully complete a 9-month probationary period.

The pay of staff members consists of a basic salary supplemented with specific allowances,
including, where applicable, expatriation and family allowances. The provisions guiding the
calculation of these allowances can be consulted in the Conditions of Employment of Other
Servants. As a member of staff of the European institutions, your pay is subject to a tax raised by
those institutions.

The European Commission applies a policy of equal opportunities and non-discrimination in
accordance with Article 1d of the Staff Regulations.

Should you need further information on working conditions, please refer to Working conditions and
benefits of EU Careers.

For information related to Data Protection, please see the Specific Privacy Statement under “7.
Information to data subjects on their rights”, to find your rights and how to exercise them in
addition to the privacy statement, which summarises the processing of your data.

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