European Training Foundation Jobs

ETF

Helps EU partner countries reform their education and training systems to support development.

1 open positions Visit Website

European Training Foundation is currently advertising 1 open position on our EU Jobs Alert tracker. Every vacancy below is sourced from the official European Training Foundation careers portal, normalised into a consistent schema, and refreshed daily so you never miss a deadline.

Use the filters on this page to narrow European Training Foundation roles by grade, contract type, location, and policy domain. The listing is updated daily from official EU recruitment sources and every job links straight through to the institution's application page. No recruiter middlemen, no expired postings.

The European Training Foundation (ETF) is the EU agency that helps countries around the Union's borders reform their education, training, and labour market systems. It works with partner countries in the EU neighbourhood, the Western Balkans, Central Asia, and the southern and eastern Mediterranean, advising governments on vocational education, skills policy, and the link between learning and employment. The ETF does not fund large grant programmes itself; its contribution is expertise, analysis, and support for reform. The agency is based in Turin, Italy. Its staff are largely human capital and education specialists, country and policy experts, and the support functions that keep an international agency running. This page explains the ETF's mandate, where it is located, the kinds of roles it recruits for, the eligibility rules for EU agency posts, how pay works on the EU scale, and how to prepare an application if development, education, or skills policy is your area.

Mandate and what the ETF does

The ETF supports the European Union's external relations by helping partner countries improve their education and training systems, with a particular focus on vocational education and the skills people need for work. It operates in regions around the Union, including the Western Balkans and Turkey, the eastern and southern neighbourhood, and Central Asia. The work is advisory and analytical rather than operational: the agency studies how skills systems perform, benchmarks progress, advises ministries on reform, and helps design policies that connect training to the labour market. It also supports the European Commission and the EU delegations by providing evidence and expertise that feed into wider development and enlargement programmes. Typical outputs include country analyses, skills assessments, policy recommendations, and support for national bodies that run qualifications and training. Because the ETF's value lies in knowledge, its staff tend to be specialists in human capital development, vocational education, labour economics, and related fields, alongside the country experts who understand the specific systems they advise. This orientation shapes the recruitment profile: people who combine subject expertise with the ability to work across cultures and institutions, and who can translate research into practical advice that a partner government can act on. It is a policy and development agency rather than a grant-managing one.

Where the ETF is based

The ETF is headquartered in Turin, in the Piedmont region of northern Italy. Turin is a former industrial city with a strong university tradition, and it hosts other international training and labour bodies, which gives the ETF a fitting home for work on skills and employment. For staff relocating from abroad, the city offers a good quality of life, access to the Alps and the wider Italian north, and living costs that are generally lower than in Italy's largest cities. The agency's working language is English, so office life does not require Italian, though some Italian is useful for daily life and settling in. Staff who move country to take up a post may be entitled to an expatriation allowance and installation support under the EU rules. Because the ETF works with partner countries, some roles involve regular travel to the regions it covers. If you want to compare openings by city, the Turin location page gathers roles based there, and the wider job board tracks current vacancies across the EU bodies. For those drawn to education and culture work more broadly, the European Education and Culture Executive Agency in Brussels manages EU education funding and recruits related profiles.

Role categories and what the ETF hires for

The ETF is a specialist agency, so its recruitment centres on human capital and education expertise. A recent opening for project-based experts in human capital development is a good illustration: the agency brings in specialists to work on defined pieces of policy and analysis, whether that is assessing a country's vocational system, supporting a qualifications reform, or building evidence on skills and the labour market. Around these thematic experts sit country and regional specialists who know the systems of the partner countries, along with policy analysts, data and monitoring staff, and communications people who turn technical work into usable products. The agency also relies on the standard support functions that any EU body needs, including finance, procurement, human resources, and IT. Because the ETF is not large, individual staff often carry responsibility for a country or a theme and represent the agency in exchanges with national authorities. The profiles it looks for usually combine an advanced degree in education, economics, social sciences, or a related field with practical experience in vocational training, skills policy, or international development. Language skills beyond English, especially languages spoken in the partner regions, can be an asset. To see the exact titles and levels the ETF advertises at any moment, check the current vacancies.

Staff categories and eligibility

The ETF employs people under the EU Staff Regulations, so its posts use the familiar categories. Temporary agents fill many of the professional and management roles on fixed-term contracts that can be renewed, while contract agents (CAST) cover support and specialist functions across function groups FGI to FGIV. The agency can also host seconded national experts, who bring experience from a national ministry or training body while staying on their home employer's payroll for the length of the secondment, and it sometimes engages experts on a project basis for specific assignments. Eligibility follows the standard EU rules. Applicants normally must be nationals of an EU member state, be in full possession of their civic rights, and have completed any national service obligations, though some project-expert arrangements can have their own terms. You need a knowledge of at least two official EU languages, and a strong command of English is expected in practice because it is the agency's working language. The education and experience required depend on the grade and the role, but for the thematic and country-expert posts an advanced degree and directly relevant experience in skills, education, or development are the common threads. Selection usually combines an assessment of the application against the published criteria with written tests and a competency-based interview.

Pay, grades, and benefits

ETF salaries follow the EU pay scale, so they are set by function group, grade, and step rather than individually negotiated. Professional temporary agents in the administrator grades start at AD5, which pays a monthly gross basic salary of roughly 4,917 to 5,565 euro, with more experienced grades higher up the scale, for example AD7 at around 6,137 to 6,767 euro. Contract agents in the FGIV group, which covers advisory and analytical work, earn roughly 3,637 to 8,225 euro gross per month across the full span of steps, while FGIII posts run lower at about 2,954 to 5,932 euro. These are basic figures before allowances. On top of the base, staff may receive a household allowance, dependent child and education allowances, and an expatriation allowance for those who relocated to take the job. EU salaries carry an internal Union tax rather than Italian income tax, and staff join the EU pension scheme and the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme. Other benefits include generous annual leave, paid relocation, and family-related leave. Combined with Turin's moderate cost of living, the package generally offers solid real income. You can look up the bands for a grade such as FGIV to see how basic pay changes as staff move through the steps.

How to apply

The ETF publishes its vacancies on its own recruitment pages rather than through general EPSO competitions, so you apply to specific notices as they open. Start at the ETF vacancies page, where each notice sets out the grade or function group, the profile, the deadline, and the documents to submit. A typical application asks for a CV, often in Europass format, and a motivation letter that shows how your experience matches the selection criteria. Because the work is specialised, it helps to point to concrete experience, for example skills assessments you have run, reforms you have advised on, or partner-country projects you have worked on, rather than broad statements of interest. Shortlisted candidates are usually invited to a written test and a competency-based interview, and many procedures create a reserve list from which the agency recruits over the following period. Being on a reserve list is not a job offer, but it keeps you in the pool as posts open up. Because the ETF is a small agency that posts a limited number of roles, check the page regularly and set alerts on the job board. For project-expert openings, read the specific terms carefully, since these assignments can differ from standard staff contracts in duration and conditions.

Traineeships and building relevant experience

Because the ETF recruits specialists, early-career candidates often need to build relevant experience before they are competitive for the main posts. Traineeships, where the agency offers them, give a first taste of how an EU body supports education and training reform, and they help recent graduates in economics, education, or social sciences understand how policy advice is produced and delivered to partner countries. Beyond the ETF itself, experience that reads well on a later application includes work in vocational education, skills assessment, labour market analysis, or international development, whether that comes from a ministry, a research institute, an NGO, or a consultancy. Language skills relevant to the ETF's partner regions can strengthen a profile, as can time spent working or studying in those regions. Junior contract agent posts in the lower function groups can also be a route in, offering administrative or support work that builds familiarity with EU procedures. The practical advice for someone aiming at the ETF is to accumulate concrete, demonstrable experience on skills and education systems, and to keep the job board and the agency's vacancy page under review, since a small agency posts irregularly. When a thematic or country-expert role appears, a track record of directly relevant projects is what moves an application to the shortlist.

Frequently asked questions

What does the European Training Foundation do?
The ETF helps EU partner countries reform their education, training, and labour market systems, with a focus on vocational education and skills. Its work is advisory and analytical rather than grant funding.
Where is the ETF based?
The ETF is headquartered in Turin, in northern Italy. The working language is English, and the city offers a good quality of life with living costs generally lower than Italy's largest cities.
What background do ETF staff usually have?
Most specialist staff have an advanced degree in education, economics, social sciences, or a related field, plus experience in vocational training, skills policy, or international development. Country and language expertise can be an asset.
What contract types does the ETF offer?
The ETF hires temporary agents for professional posts and contract agents for support and specialist roles. It can also host seconded national experts and engage experts on a project basis for specific assignments.
How much does the ETF pay?
Pay follows the EU scale. An entry AD5 temporary agent earns roughly 4,917 to 5,565 euro gross per month, and an FGIV contract agent earns roughly 3,637 to 8,225 euro across all steps, plus allowances where they apply.
How do I apply for a job at the ETF?
Apply through the ETF vacancies page for each published notice, usually with a CV and a motivation letter matched to the criteria. Shortlisted candidates take a written test and a competency-based interview, often forming a reserve list.

Browse by Location

Turin (1)

1 position found

Remove ads and unlock all features Go Premium