JOB DESCRIPTION

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 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

STAFF RECRUITED ON CONTRACTS

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

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

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

POLICY OFFICER – SECTORAL SOCIAL DIALOGUE

Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL) of the European Commission

Selection reference: EMPL/COM/2025/3065

Domain*: Employment

Where: EMPL.C.3 Social Dialogue, Brussels
Staff category and Function Group: Temporary agent 2b/2d/2a – Administrator

Grade range: AD9-12

Publication deadline: 13.01.2026 – 12.00 (Brussels time)

WE ARE

The Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL) pursues policy, legislative and financial initiatives designed to build a highly competitive social market economy in the European Union.

The European Pillar of Social Rights is the EU social strategy to ensure that the transitions to climate neutrality, digitalisation and demographic change are socially fair and just.

By implementing the Pillar, DG EMPL aims to create more and better jobs, promote skills and vocational education and training, improve the functioning of the labour markets, fight inequalities, confront poverty and social exclusion, modernise social protection systems including pensions, health and long-term care, facilitate the free movement of workers, promote workers’ rights, health and safety at work, and protect against discrimination in the work place, as well as uphold the rights of persons with disabilities

Directorate C “Quality Jobs, Working conditions and Social Dialogue” works towards promoting social dialogue and improving working conditions through effective labour law and safe and healthy working environments.

Unit EMPL.C.3 “Social Dialogue” is responsible for promoting both cross-industry and sectoral social dialogue at the European level in line with articles 152, 154 and 155 TFEU, and the 2025 Pact for European Social Dialogue.

To achieve its objectives, the unit pursues the following main activities:

• foster the implementation of the 2023 Council Recommendation and Commission Communication on strengthening social dialogue;

• enhance the involvement of EU social partners in EU policymaking and stimulates their contribution to EU economic and social policy;

• promote dialogue among European cross-industry and sectoral social partners, including exchanges, negotiation and joint actions;

• facilitate the consultation of social partners on Commission initiatives with social implications and assists Commission services in their interaction with them;

• manage 2 budget lines supporting the activities of EU and national social partners as well as two European trade union institutes;

• monitor and assess social dialogue developments in the EU, and at national level, in the framework of the European Semester;

• foster the follow-up to the Quality Jobs Roadmap presented in December 2025.

WE PROPOSE

You will be in charge of analysing and promoting the development of social dialogue at regional and local levels. You will be responsible for mainstreaming this priority across the work of the existing 44 Sectoral Social Dialogue Committees, in contact with various services in DG EMPL and other DGs. Concretely, in your role you will support social partners including by strengthening synergies between their activities and the Commission priorities taking due account of regional implications.

Another core part of your tasks will be to build interinstitutional relations in order to foster social dialogue initiatives across EU most relevant Institutions in particular the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee.

You will also follow some horizontal policy files of particular relevance for EU social partners looking at how to enhance the local dimension and regional cohesion across Member States. In particular, you will foster the implementation of the Quality Jobs Roadmap at regional level, developing initiatives and monitoring actions allowing to bring impact on the ground. You will also oversee projects (grants) funded from EU budget to support social dialogue activities.

WE LOOK FOR

You should have a background in law, economics, or social sciences, and/or EU/EEA studies, proven analytical skills and have experience in social dialogue issues. You should have at least 10 years of experience in working in the EU institutions or bodies as well as specific professional experience, notably in working with stakeholders and in promoting EU policies at regional level. You should be an effective team player but also have the ability to work independently and take initiatives, particularly when managing sectoral social dialogue committees. You should have good organizational skills. You should also have the ability to make sound judgement in sensitive cases. Proficiency in (both written and spoken) English are necessary. You should have good communication skills and be comfortable when presenting to external audiences.

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   indicating the selection reference EMPL/COM/2025/3065 in the subject.

No applications will be accepted after the publication deadline.

ANNEX

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 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 AD jobs: In order to be recruited for this position, you must have at least a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies of at least 3 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. 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 EU

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.

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 priority. 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 , 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 and possibly in another language.

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 , in function groups AD, AST or AST/SC.

Grade

The recruitment grade, as well as the step in that grade, will be determined in accordance with on policies for the engagement and use of temporary agents and with 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 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.

For information related to Data Protection, please see the 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.

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 .