Senior Project Officer - European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (FGIV, Budapest)

About this position

The summary below is published by European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training on the official vacancy notice. Our own analysis — salary realism, comparable openings, career trajectory, language profile — follows further down the page.

Key responsibilities

According to the vacancy notice, the role centres on the following duties:

• Support, develop, implement and coordinate capacity building activities for law enforcement authorities
• Develop and deliver law-enforcement capacity building activities (training, workshops, networking activities, etc.)
• Develop training products (curriculum, manual, guidelines, etc.)
• Support, coordinate, plan, develop, design, implement, evaluate, report capacity building activities on organised crime and countering terrorism
• Provide advice for further development of the capacity building portfolio
• Liaise with partners and coordinate with stakeholders to develop capacity building activities
• Coordinate and ensure supervision of assigned staff
• Manage capacity building activities

Are you eligible?

Check these requirements from the notice before investing time in an application:

• Education: Completed university studies of at least three years attested by a diploma, or professional training in the field of law enforcement with required professional experience based on training duration
• Experience: At least 5 years of relevant and proven professional experience gained after obtaining the diploma or after completed professional training; experience in national or international Law Enforcement functions; experience in serious organised crime or counter terrorism at national or European/International level; proven experience in development and implementation of capacity building/training/advis…
• Languages: One language of the Union (C1), Another language of the Union (B2), English (B2)
• Key skills: Developing and delivering law-enforcement capacity building activities, Cross-border criminal investigations in fight against organised crime and/or terrorism, Project management, Knowledge of project environment, Liaison and stakeholder coordination, Staff supervision, Outreach and communication
• Eligibility: Be a national of a Member State of the Union; be entitled to full rights as a citizen; have fulfilled any obligations imposed by applicable laws on military service; meet character requirements for the duties involved; be physically fit to perform the duties linked to the post

Selection process

The notice describes the following selection steps:

• Written test between 24-28 August 2026
• Interviews between 31 August and 04 September 2026
• Highest scoring candidates exceeding threshold invited for interview and written test
• Maximum 30 candidates invited for interview
• Interview and written test arranged online
• Candidates achieving 65% of total scores included in Reserve List

Contract and working arrangements

Contract duration: Project-funded with limited duration (currently until 2028); contract may be extended but no expectation of extension beyond project duration.

Hiring unit: International Cooperation Unit, CEPOL.

Position details

Reference

CEPOL-2026-CA-03

Vacancy Notice

Download PDF

Last Verified

24 July 2026

Position overview

This is the official EU Careers listing for Senior Project Officer at CEPOL based in Budapest at the FGIV grade level (Contract Agent). The vacancy reference is CEPOL-2026-CA-03. The role falls under the Eu’S Internal And External Security domain.

Job Summary

Under the supervision of the Project Manager (Senior Project Officer), the Senior Project Coordinator, and the overall responsibility of the Head of the International Cooperation Unit, the Senior Project Officer (SPO) shall support, develop, implement and coordinate capacity building activities for relevant law enforcement authorities as defined in art 4 (4) (d) of Regulation (EU) 2015/2219 (the CEPOL Regulation) in the framework of CEPOL’s international cooperation portfolio with countries and jurisdictions outside of the European Union. Towards that end, they shall be engaged and responsible for all stages of the implementation of capacity building activities (including initiating, planning and designing, implementing, monitoring, reporting and evaluation) with selected countries in the geographical areas concerned. This may include the supervision of assigned resources.

Key accountabilities

1. Professional experience and competences relevant for

a) Developing and delivering law-enforcement capacity building activities (training, workshops, networking activities, etc.) and training products (curriculum, manual, guidelines, etc.)

and/or

b) cross-border criminal investigations in the fight against organised crime and/or terrorism.

2. Support, coordinate, plan, develop, design, implement, evaluate, report capacity building activities on organised crime and countering terrorism for relevant law enforcement agencies.

3. Provide advice for the further development of the capacity building portfolio.

4. Liaise with partners and coordinate with stakeholders to develop capacity building activities in the assigned thematic area and region.

5. Coordinate and ensure the supervision of the work of assigned staff.

6. Be responsible for the management of capacity building activities.

7. Ensure outreach, communication, and project visibility, as well as coordination with other donor-funded initiatives.

8. Monitor relevant EU policies in the area of justice and home affairs and its external aspects, with a view to translate them into viable training initiatives.

Travel missions twice per month as average.

Working on weekends and public holidays is a possibility, depending on operational needs.

Eligibility criteria

In addition, in order to be eligible the candidate must:

* Be a national of a Member State of the Union; * Be entitled to his or her full rights as a citizen; * Have fulfilled any obligations imposed by the applicable laws on military service; * Meet the character requirements for the duties involved; * Be physically fit to perform the duties linked to the post; and * Have a thorough knowledge (min. level C1) of one of the languages of the Union and a satisfactory knowledge (min. level B2) of another language of the Union. One of the languages has to be English, as this is the official language of CEPOL.

Education

Completed university studies of at least three years attested by a diploma

or

Professional training in the field of law enforcement and after having completed the training, at least the number of years of relevant professional experience indicated below:

| Duration of professional training | Professional experience | | --- | --- | | More than 6 months and up to 1 year | 4 years | | More than 1 year and up to 2 years | 3 years | | More than 2 years and up to 3 years | 2 years | | More than 3 years | 1 year |

Professional Experience

In addition to the above at least 5 years of relevant and proven professional experience gained after obtaining the diploma or after completed the professional training with the experience linked to the training.

Working conditions

CEPOL implements capacity building actions for law enforcement officials in third countries with a limited duration (currently until 2028). For this reason CEPOL is establishing a reserve list to ensure availability of human resources. A contract offer will be made as a member of the Contract Agent staff of the agency in accordance with the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities for the implementation period of the project. The contract may be extended. However, as the advertised position is project-funded, with limited duration, there shall be no expectation on the side of the candidate that an employment contract may be extended beyond the duration of the project. The successful candidate will be recruited as SeniorProject Officer– FG IV.

**The basic monthly net pay for this post is EUR 2,875.86 (grade 13), EUR 3,021.12 (grade 14) or EUR 3,777.07 (grade 16). The correction coefficient (on the date of publication of this vacancy notice is 76,6**%for Hungary and is already taken in consideration for these amounts.****

The grade is determined on the basis of professional experience gained after obtaining the diploma of an education required for the position and in line with applicable implementing rules.

In addition, based on personal situation, the following allowances might be granted:

* Expatriation or foreign residence allowance: 16% or 4% of the basic pay. * Annual travel allowance: staff who are entitled to the expatriation (16%) or foreign residence (4%) allowance are entitled to be paid each calendar year a sum representing the cost of travel from the place of employment to the place of origin for themselves and, if they are entitled to the household allowance, for their spouse and dependents (less than age of 2) * Household allowance * Allowance for a dependent child or person treated as such: * Pre-school allowance: * Education allowance: * School fees: paid by CEPOL for dependent children who joined the staff member in changing the residence to fully respect the article 20 of the Staff Regulations. The school shall be considered as non-fee paying and the staff member concerned shall not receive the education allowance mentioned in the bullet point(s) above.

The costs covered by CEPOL shall be:

* The registration and attendance fees at international schools * The transportation costs * Excluding all other costs as described on the Commission decision C(2004)131-53-2004 on general implementing provisions for the grant of the education allowance.

In addition, CEPOL will provide benefits and entitlements in line with those of European Union Civil Servants. Such entitlements will be established based on the necessary documents provided by the newly recruited staff member upon taking up duty with CEPOL.

The successful candidate shall undergo a probation period of 9 months.

For reasons related to CEPOL’s operational requirements, the candidate may be required to be available at short notice.

Additional information

The highest scoring candidates exceeding the threshold defined in advance by the Selection Committee shall be invited for interview and written test. Maximum number of candidates to be invited for interview shall not exceed 30. Interview and written test will be arranged online.

Planned schedule: Written test between 24-28 August 2026, Interviews between 31 August and 04 September 2026.

The information provided in applications is subject to EU legislation on protection of personal data and confidentiality of information.

Privacy statements: [Privacy statement for processing of personal data related to recruitment](https://www.cepol.europa.eu/sites/default/files/Privacy_Statement_Recruitment_10_2020.pdf)

[Privacy statement for the Invigilated Remote Testing](https://www.cepol.europa.eu/sites/default/files/FO_DAPR_050-1_Privacy_Statement_TestReach.pdf)

Only candidates who achieve 65% of the total scores available for the interview and written test can be included in a Reserve List. The reserve list will be valid until 31 December 2027 and may be extended by the decision of the Appointing Authority of CEPOL. (Please be aware that placement on a reserve list in no way guarantees future employment at CEPOL.)

Essential Criteria

Proven work experience in national or international Law Enforcement functions (police, customs, prosecution, border guard and similar, relevant EU/international organisations).

Experience in serious organised crime or counter terrorism at national level or at European/International level.

Proven experience in development and implementation of capacity building/training/advisory activities for relevant law enforcement communities.

Knowledge of project environment.

Experience in contributing to national/international Law Enforcement workshops and events. Please describe also the duration of your experience (years).

Salary at this grade

Basic monthly salary at FGIV runs from €4,449 (step 1) to €5,034 (top step), giving an annual range of roughly €53,388 to €60,408 before tax and allowances. Steps increase automatically every two years; the figures here are taken from the salary grid in the EU Staff Regulations.

Eligible staff posted away from their country of nationality also receive an expatriation allowance worth 16% of basic salary (around €712 per month at step 1 of FGIV) together with household, dependent-child, and education allowances where applicable. Take-home pay is then adjusted by the country correction coefficient for Budapest. For a worked example see our correction coefficients guide and the EU salaries overview.

Application timeline

This vacancy was first listed on 26 June 2026, 30 days ago.

The deadline of 26 July 2026 has now passed and this position is no longer accepting applications. Browse other current openings via the links below.

Last verified against the EU Careers feed on 24 July 2026 (2 days ago).

Where to learn more

For full responsibilities, requirements, and career progression at FGIV see our FGIV grade page; for headcount, mission, and other open vacancies at CEPOL see the CEPOL institution page; for the cost of living, correction coefficient, and other postings in Budapest see our Budapest location page; for related vacancies in the Eu’S Internal And External Security field browse our Eu’S Internal And External Security domain page.

New to EU careers? Our beginner's guide walks through entry routes, EPSO competitions, and what to prepare. For application logistics see application tips and EPSO competitions.