Financial Initiating Agent - European Committee of the Regions (AST1, Brussels)

About this position

The summary below is published by European Committee of the Regions 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:

• Prepare reimbursement of travel expenses for members and other participants in Committee meetings, as well as payment of related allowances
• Process financial transactions on various budget lines, such as budgetary and legal commitments, invoices (travel agency, interpretation, catering), reimbursement of members' training and representation expenses
• Initiate and validate operations in financial management tools ABAC and/or SUMMA
• Ensure legality and regularity of operations, compliance with sound financial management principle and respect for Financial Regulation provisions
• Perform horizontal tasks to foster efficient financial management and budget monitoring through reporting, workflow coordination, and process digitization
• Provide assistance and service to Committee members

Are you eligible?

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

• Experience: Relevant experience in financial management and/or good knowledge of the Financial Regulations applicable within the European institutions
• Languages: EU official language (C1), another EU official language (B2), English or French (C1), French or English (B2)
• Key skills: Critical thinking, analysis and pragmatic problem-solving, Assessment of credibility and reliability of sources, data and information, Work organization, responsibility, priority identification and decision-making, Adaptability to evolving working environment, Initiative and autonomous working, Continuous learning and professional development, Collaborative and constructive teamwork, Clear and concise communication, both oral and written, Ability to quickly assimilate internal decisions and rules with attention to detail, Client-oriented and solution-driven approach

Contract and working arrangements

Contract duration: Official position.

Working arrangements: Brussels.

Hiring unit: Unit A.1 - Services to members / Financial services to members, Directorate for Members, Plenaries, Strategy.

Position details

Reference

COR/AST1-AST9/22 BIS/26

Last Verified

15 September 2026

Position overview

This is the official EU Careers listing for Financial Initiating Agent at European Committee of the Regions based in Brussels at the AST1 grade level (Other). The vacancy reference is COR/AST1-AST9/22 BIS/26.

Officials - Assistant

Deadline

24 September 2026

Detail of the vacancy notice

- Directorate:Directorate for Members, Plenaries, Strategy - Management:no - Unit/Service:Unit A.1 - Services to members / Financial services to members - Grade:AST1-AST9 - Type of post:Official - Assistant - Publication under Article 29(1)(a), (b) and (c) of the Staff Regulations - Location:Brussels - Deadline:24/09/2026 at noon (Brussels time)

Your job and responsibilities

Do you like figures and financial management? Do you have a customer-oriented approach and would you like to manage our members' financial files as well as those of other participants in the meetings of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR)?

Reporting to the authorising officers and to the Head of Unit, and in the quality of financial/operational initiating agent, you will be required to:

- prepare the reimbursement of travel expenses for members and other participants in Committee meetings, as well as the payment of the related allowances; - process other types of financial transactions on various budget lines, such as budgetary and legal commitments, invoices (travel agency, interpretation, catering), reimbursement of members' training and representation expenses, etc.; - initiate and validate operations in the financial management tool ABAC and/or SUMMA; - ensure legality and regularity of operations, compliance with the principle of sound financial management and respect for the provisions of the Financial Regulation and other applicable rules; - perform a series of horizontal tasks to foster efficient financial management and budget monitoring in the unit, for instance through regular reporting, coordination of workflows requiring input from various services, promoting digitization of processes, etc.; - provide assistance and service to Committee members.

Integrated in Unit A.1 – Services to members, you will be a part of a dynamic team of five financial initiating agents and three authorising officers, in which mutual assistance and collegiality are important values. You will need to be able to integrate quickly into the team and be creative, accurate and rigorous in the financial management of files.

Being a member of the Financial services sector also requires a high level of discretion, integrity and confidentiality, and strong listening and diplomatic skills, in dealing with both the members of the CoR and all of its staff.

Members' financial files are managed in a paperless manner, using software that fully meets the needs and constraints of a digitalised working environment.

Who are we? What are the challenges for us ahead?

Our Unit A.1 – Services to members has a staff of 18 colleagues and is part of the Directorate for Members, Plenaries, Strategy. It is divided into several domains of activity:

- a general information helpdesk for members (One Stop Shop); - financial services for members’ and other meeting participants' related expenditure; - a service responsible for holistic management of the CoR's records management policy and (ongoing and historic) documentary resources; - a central information hub which delivers library and connected knowledge management services by collecting, preserving and disseminating information related to the objectives and activities of the CoR.

Our main achievements in recent years and months are the delivery of efficient and qualitative day-to-day service to members and other participants at CoR meetings and events, both from a logistical, administrative and financial point of view, proactive hosting of the CoR members appointed for the new 2025-2030 term of office of the institution, successful organization of the first deposit of the historic archives of the CoR to the Historical Archives of the European Union in Florence, following the institution's 30th anniversary and a rationalisation of the offer of tailor-made online information for CoR members, staff and other stakeholders so as to further enhance the information flows in an increasingly digitizing world.

Our challenges ahead are to continuously provide CoR members and other meeting participants with the necessary information and support; the implementation of modern, simplified and consolidated rules for the reimbursement of participants to CoR meetings and the modernisation of the CoR’s record management policy, by joining the European Commission's e-Domec document management policy and in deploying the related IT applications (including ARES).

Are you the talent we are looking for?

General abilities and capacities required

- Think with a critical spirit, analyse and solve problems pragmatically. - Assess critically credibility and reliability of sources, data and information and use relevant digital tools to carry out the duties. - Organise own work, demonstrate responsibility, identify priorities, take appropriate decisions and deliver results. - Adapt to an evolving working environment, demonstrate commitment and adopt constructive attitude at all times. Remain effective and flexible even during period of heavy activity. - Take initiative to achieve individual and shared objectives, demonstrate ownership and work autonomously. - Learn and professionally develop to continuously enhance job performance and knowledge of the organisation and working environment. - Work together with others in a constructive way by contributing to diverse and inclusive working environment. Demonstrate respect and courtesy at all times. - Convey information and relevant opinions clearly and concisely both orally and in writing, facilitate interaction and engage effectively with others. Treat confidential or sensitive information accordingly.

Job-specific requirements

- You have relevant experience in financial management and/or a good knowledge of the Financial Regulations applicable within the European institutions. - You are able to quickly assimilate internal decisions and rules and check that they are correctly applied, with attention to detail. - You are client-oriented, solution driven and have strong communication skills, with a view to smooth communication with Committee members. - You ensure smooth internal communication and efficient information flows within the team. - You have an interest in modernising and digitalizing administrative processes. - You combine technical proficiency with organisational insight to foster innovation and collaborative working methods. - You have a thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the European Union and a satisfactory knowledge of another of the EU official languages. For functional reasons, a high level of either English or French is required and at least a good level of the other working language (French or English) is desirable. - You have a very good command of IT applications and tools (such as Outlook, Excel, Word, SharePoint, etc.) and you are familiar with ABAC and/or SUMMA, the applications used for financial management inside the EU institutions.

Assets

- You preferably have experience with air ticketing and/or in dealing with high level clients. - You preferably have an educational background in economics, accounting or law. - You have thorough digital skills, including experience with artificial intelligence technology driven tools and/or with collaborative tools.

Salary at this grade

Basic monthly salary at AST1 runs from €3,754 (step 1) to €4,248 (top step), giving an annual range of roughly €45,048 to €50,976 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 €601 per month at step 1 of AST1) together with household, dependent-child, and education allowances where applicable. Take-home pay is then adjusted by the country correction coefficient for Brussels. For a worked example see our correction coefficients guide and the EU salaries overview.

Application timeline

This vacancy was first listed on 3 September 2026, 12 days ago.

The application deadline is 24 September 2026, 7 days from today. Late applications are not accepted, so submit through the official EU Careers portal well in advance.

Last verified against the EU Careers feed on 15 September 2026.

Where to learn more

For full responsibilities, requirements, and career progression at AST1 see our AST1 grade page; for headcount, mission, and other open vacancies at European Committee of the Regions see the European Committee of the Regions institution page; for the cost of living, correction coefficient, and other postings in Brussels see our Brussels location 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.