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 positions 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 Sweden. 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

(Call for interest EC-2026-REGIO-246912)

PROGRAMME MANAGER

in DG REGIO of the European Commission

Job title: Programme Manager
Domain: Project management
Where: REGIO.03 “Cyprus Settlement Support”, Brussels (Long Term Mission in Nicosia)
Function Group: FG IV
Contract Type: 3b
Express your interest until: 26.06.2026 – 12.00 (noon-Brussels time)

WE ARE

The Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) falls under the portfolio of
Executive Vice-President Fitto. The mission of DG REGIO is to support economic, social and
territorial cohesion in Member States and regions.

Within DG REGIO, unit 03 is dedicated to Cyprus Settlement support. The unit is the single point of
contact for the Commission”s work in support of the re-unification of Cyprus and activities
supporting the UN facilitated Cyprus settlement talks. The unit implements the Aid Programme for
the Turkish Cypriot community (Aid Regulation (Regulation No 389/2006)), set up to support the re-
unification of Cyprus. The Aid Programme encourages the economic development of the Turkish
Cypriot community with particular emphasis on the economic integration of the island, on
improving contacts between the two communities and with the EU, and on preparation for the
implementation of the EU legislation (EU acquis). In addition, the unit monitors the implementation
of Council Regulation (EC) No 866/2004 on a regime under Article 2 of Protocol No 10 to the Act of
Accession (the “Green Line Regulation”).

The unit is split between Brussels and Nicosia (Cyprus) and is composed of three teams: two
operational teams (sections A and B) based in Nicosia and a horizontal team split between Brussels
and Nicosia. The operational team A headed by a Head of Sector is responsible for policy
development, programming and implementation of the Aid Programme for the Turkish Cypriot
community in the areas of infrastructure development, environment, energy, education and support
to civil society. The vacancy is for a Nicosia-based Programme Manager position in the operational
team A, dealing primarily with support to civil society.

WE PROPOSE

We propose a Programme Manager post based on long-term mission in Nicosia for a maximum of
4 years with a focus on the implementation of the Aid Programme for the Turkish Cypriot
community primarily in the area of support to civil society.

(Call for interest EC-2026-REGIO-246912)

This includes preparing, launching, managing and monitoring of calls for proposals, call for tenders,
and indirect management operations, project implementation and follow-up. It involves frequent
contacts with beneficiaries and representatives of both communities as well as contributing to
policy dialogue, preparation of a strategic approach to EU support to civil society, programming of
EU financial assistance as well as taking forward relevant policy, communication and visibility
actions.

WE LOOK FOR

We are looking for a Contract agent GFIV with a strong background and proven experience in the
field of support to civil society. The successful candidate should possess robust financial and
project management skills obtained preferably from EU external action, good communication skills
and good drafting skills in English. Knowledge of EC financial regulations and procedures and of the
EU civil society strategy and support is highly appreciated. Knowledge of the local context in the
Turkish Cypriot community in Cyprus would be an asset.

The ideal candidate is a committed and enthusiastic colleague with a high sense of detail,
responsibility and initiative, service-minded, able to set priorities and ready to work in a challenging
environment.

The successful candidate should have the following skills:

• High level of customer-orientation;
• Problem-solving mindset;
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relations with co-workers in an

international and multi-disciplinary work environment;

• High degree of commitment and flexibility;
• Excellent communication skills in English, both orally and in writing.

HOW TO EXPRESS YOUR INTEREST?

With a view to guaranteeing equal access to all, the Commission recruits from an open database of
spontaneous applications. The present call for interests aims at helping the recruiters to identify
potentially interested candidates within this database.

In practice, to express your interest, please follow the subsequent two steps:

1.

If you are not registered yet in the open EPSO database, please do so at the following
address: CAST Permanent. Please select under selection procedures for contract agent the
CAST permanent profile that best suits your education and experience.
2. You should send your documents in a single pdf in the following order:

2. completed application form.

1. your CV
Please send these documents by the publication deadline to REGIO-03-CYPRUS-
[email protected] indicating the call for interest reference EC-2026-
REGIO-246912 in the subject.

(Call for interest EC-2026-REGIO-246912)

No applications will be accepted after the publication deadline.

(Call for interest EC-2026-REGIO-246912)

ANNEX

1. Selection

 Am I eligible to apply?

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

Our rules provide that you can only be recruited as a contract 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 position;
• Produce the appropriate character references as to suitability for the performance of the

duties.

• Have passed an EPSO CAST in the relevant Function Group for this position. At the stage of

the application, it is sufficient to be registered in the EPSO CAST data base.

Qualifications:

Have a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies of at

a.
least three years attested by a diploma.

Only qualifications issued or recognised as equivalent by EU Member State authorities (e.g. by
the Ministry of Education) will be accepted.

Languages:

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

EU1

• AND have a satisfactory knowledge (minimum level B2)2 of a second official language of

the EU, to the extent necessary for the performance of the duties.

 What about the selection steps?

The selecting unit chooses from the EPSO database3 candidates with the appropriate profile and
invites them to an interview. For the interview a selection panel is set-up to assess the best

1 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).
2 For details on language levels, please see the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
(https://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/en/resources/european-language-levels-cefr).

(Call for interest EC-2026-REGIO-246912)

candidates. Due to the large volume of applications that we may receive only candidates selected
for the interview 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 and possibly in a second official language.

3 Therefore, candidates who did not pass already a CAST on the level Function Group IV, should register their
profile at this address https://eu-careers.europa.eu/en/Cast-Permanent

(Call for interest EC-2026-REGIO-246912)

2. Recruitment

The candidate selected for recruitment will be requested to provide documentary evidence in
support of the statements made in the database and, where relevant, the call for interest.

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 in Brussels (Long Term Mission in Nicosia).

The successful candidate will be engaged as a contract agent under Article 3(b) of the
Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, in function group FG IV. General information on
Contract Agents can be found at this link.

The grade or proposed grade range, as well as the step in that grade, will be defined on the basis
of the candidates’ previous professional experience, in accordance with Commission Decision
C(2017)6760 laying down the criteria applicable to classification in step on engagement.

The duration of the first contract will be 1 year. Subject to the interest of the service, the
contract may be renewed one or more times up to a maximum duration of 4 years.

The duration of the renewal(s) will be defined according to the General Implementing Rules in force
at that moment (currently, Commission Decision C(2017)6760 on policies for the engagement and
use of contract agents).

Contract agents recruited in Function Group IV 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.

(Call for interest EC-2026-REGIO-246912)

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.

(Call for interest EC-2026-REGIO-246912)