Officer - Horizontal Digital Services (AI) - European Maritime Safety Agency (AD6, Lisbon)

About this position

The summary below is published by European Maritime Safety Agency 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:

• Project Management and technical leadership of ICT projects in Artificial Intelligence
• Leading and managing appointed ICT projects as Project Manager according to best practices and EMSA approved methodologies
• Leading and participating in design, development, deployment and maintenance of corporate and maritime digital services utilising artificial intelligence and machine learning services
• Providing specifications for development and implementation of applications, services and interfaces related to EMSA horizontal, maritime and artificial intelligence applications
• Reporting and contributing to technical evolution of EMSA ICT horizontal and artificial intelligence services
• Providing non-functional requirements related to Request for Changes to EMSA horizontal, maritime and artificial intelligence applications
• Verifying if design choices made by external contractors are in line with specifications provided
• Supporting testing and validation process of EMSA, horizontal, maritime and artificial intelligence applications

Are you eligible?

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

• Education: A level of education which corresponds to completed university studies, attested by a diploma, when the normal period of university education is four years or more; OR a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma when the normal period of university education is at least three years
• Experience: At least three years proven professional experience acquired after the award of university diploma (if 4+ year degree); OR at least four years of proven professional experience acquired after the award of university diploma (if 3+ year degree). Additionally, a minimum of 5 years of proven professional experience relevant to the functions and duties of the post; proven professional experience in m…
• Languages: English (very go…), at least one other official language of… (satisfa…)
• Key skills: Project management, ICT project management, Technical specifications drafting, ICT horizontal digital services, Cloud Native architectures, Artificial intelligence technologies, Machine Learning Fundamentals, Supervised learning, Unsupervised learning, Reinforcement learning
• Eligibility: Candidates must hold the nationality of an EU Member State. Candidates from the United Kingdom who do not hold the nationality of another European Union Member State are not eligible. Only qualifications awarded in EU Member States or subject to equivalence certificates issued by authorities in EU Member States will be considered. Degrees awarded by the United Kingdom up to 31/12/2020 are conside…

Selection process

The notice describes the following selection steps:

• EMSA Staff Recruitment Procedure

Contract and working arrangements

Contract duration: Temporary agent post.

Hiring unit: Unit 3.3: Horizontal Digital Services.

Position details

Reference

EMSA/AD/2026/04

Vacancy Notice

Download PDF

Last Verified

27 August 2026

Position overview

This is the official EU Careers listing for Officer - Horizontal Digital Services (AI) at EMSA based in Lisbon at the AD6 grade level (Temporary Agent). The vacancy reference is EMSA/AD/2026/04. The role falls under the Artificial Intelligence domain.

Post:EMSA/AD/2026/04 - Officer - Horizontal Digital Services (AI) Directorate/Unit:Unit 3.3: Horizontal Digital Services Type of post:Temporary agent post Grade:AD6 Location:Lisbon Closing date for applications:2 September 2026

The selection of candidates will follow the EMSA Staff Recruitment Procedure. Candidates must apply for this post via the EMSA website http://www.emsa.europa.eu - vacancies. Please note that to make an EMSA on-line application you will need to create your EMSA profile using a valid e-mail address and a password.

1. Background

The European Maritime Safety Agency was established for the purpose of ensuring a high, uniform and effective level of maritime safety that aims at a maximum reduction of accidents, a high, uniform and effective level of maritime security, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from ships and the environmental sustainability of the maritime sector as well as the prevention of and response to pollution caused by ships and the response to marine pollution caused by oil and gas installations. The Agency supports digitalisation and the reduction of the administrative burden in the maritime sector by facilitating the electronic transmission of data and supports simplification and the provision of integrated maritime surveillance and maritime situational awareness systems and services to the European Commission and the Member States.

The Agency was established by Regulation (EU) 2025/2434 of the European Parliament and of the European Council of 26 November 2025 on the European Maritime Safety Agency and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002.

2. Tasks of the agency

The Agency provides technical, operational and scientific assistance to the European Commission and Member States in the fields of maritime safety, maritime security, prevention of, and response to, pollution caused by ships as well as response to marine pollution caused by oil and gas installations.

The Agency also contributes to the overall efficiency of maritime traffic and maritime transport and supports European cooperation on coastguard functions.

EMSA's activities can be broadly described as:

- providing technical and scientific assistance to the Member States and the European Commission in the proper development and implementation of EU legislation on maritime safety, security, prevention of pollution by ships and maritime transport administrative simplification; - monitoring the implementation of EU legislation through visits and inspections; - improving cooperation with and between Member States; - building capacity of national competent authorities; - providing operational assistance, including developing, managing and maintaining maritime services related to ships, ship monitoring and enforcement; - carrying out operational preparedness, detection and response tasks with respect to pollution caused by ships and marine pollution by oil and gas installations; - at the request of the European Commission, providing technical operational assistance to non-EU countries around relevant sea basins.

3. Unit 3.3: Horizontal Digital Services

The Unit is responsible for Horizontal Digital Services, which enable and support business and corporate applications and services.

The Unit operates datacentres at primary and business continuity sites; hosts maritime and corporate applications; provides the end-point and workspace management; supports internal users with the service desk; and operates the network components.

The Unit supports business objectives by ensuring end-to-end service availability, performance, and reliability through implementing best practice hosting, monitoring, business continuity, and disaster recovery processes.

The Unit is responsible for the horizontal systems, managing their entire lifecycle, from planning to operations, such as identity management, access management, system integration components, and databases. The Unit is also responsible for the entire infrastructure and corporate services life cycle.

Furthermore, the Unit provides the technical and business validation and verification of applications, application build management, and application deployment.

The Unit takes the lead in implementing a cloud landing zone and coherent Enterprise System Architecture for both on-premises and in the cloud to ensure that the other two units of the Department develop applications based on similar technological standards, creating synergies where possible.

The Unit also focuses on cybersecurity management and implementation of ICT cybersecurity measures and is the central point for software asset management and license management.

4. Functions and duties

The Officer/Senior Officer - Horizontal Digital Services (AI) under the responsibility of the Unit 3.3 'Horizontal Digital Services'; will be responsible for the following tasks:

- Project Management and technical leadership; - Leading and managing appointed ICT projects in the field of Artificial Intelligence as a Project Manager, according to best practices and EMSA approved methodologies; - Leading and participating in the design, development, deployment and maintenance of corporate and maritime digital services utilising artificial intelligence and machine learning services; - Providing specifications for the development and implementation of applications, services and interfaces related to the EMSA horizontal, maritime and artificial intelligence applications, translating the business requirements into the technical specifications; - Reporting and contributing to the technical evolution of EMSA ICT horizontal and artificial intelligence services in line with functional and non-functional requirements, including liaison with internal business stakeholders for necessary clarification of requirements; - Providing non-functional requirements related to the Request for Changes to the EMSA horizontal, maritime and artificial intelligence applications in line with business requirements/needs; - Verifying if the design choices made by external contractors are in line with the specifications provided to them; - Supporting the testing and validation process of the EMSA, horizontal, maritime and artificial intelligence applications by collaborating in the development of the Test Plan and proposing test scenarios for smoke, regression and performance tests and by verifying the correct implementation of specifications; - Supporting the operation and maintenance of EMSA horizontal, maritime and artificial intelligence applications including the analysis of issues, problems and incident management; - Advising business leaders on AI opportunities and risks to drive revenue or cut costs; - Liaising with external contractors, ensuring that deliverables are in line with the defined technical and quality requirements; - Leading and contributing to procurement and contract management activities; - Developing studies, analyses, designs, technical specifications, concept papers, data models, guidelines, procedures, manuals, reports and other written products related to horizontal, corporate, maritime and artificial intelligence services.

5. Eligibility and Selection Criteria

A. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

A.1 Education and experience

- A level of education which corresponds to completed university studies, attested by a diploma, when the normal period of university education is four years or more AND at least three years proven professional experience acquired after the award of university diploma, or; A level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma when the normal period of university education is at least three years AND at least four years of proven professional experience acquired after the award of university diploma.

It should be noted that due to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on the 31/01/2020, candidates from the United Kingdom who do not hold the nationality of another European Union Member State, are not eligible.

Only qualifications that have been awarded in EU Member States or that are subject to the equivalence certificates issued by the authorities in the EU Member States will be taken into consideration. Please note, that degrees awarded by the United Kingdom up to 31/12/2020 are considered as valid.

A.2 Language skills

- The main working language in the field of maritime safety is English. Candidates must therefore have a very good command of oral English as well as in writing with a satisfactory knowledge of at least one other official language of the European Union to the extent necessary for the performance of the above-mentioned duties.

B. SELECTION CRITERIA

B.1. Essential

- A minimum of 5 years of proven professional experience relevant to the functions and duties of the post; - Proven professional experience in managing ICT projects, contracts and drafting technical specifications for software applications; - Proven professional experience in ICT horizontal digital services, and in Cloud Native architectures; - Proven professional experience in Artificial intelligence technologies, such as selection of appropriate models, preparation of training data, training of models and providing technical specifications to the contractor. Machine Learning Fundamentals: Good understanding of supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement learning.

B.2. Advantageous

- Professional experience in AI project design/development/implementation; - Professional experience in project management methodology (e.g.

Salary at this grade

Basic monthly salary at AD6 runs from €6,961 (step 1) to €7,876 (top step), giving an annual range of roughly €83,532 to €94,512 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 €1,114 per month at step 1 of AD6) together with household, dependent-child, and education allowances where applicable. Take-home pay is then adjusted by the country correction coefficient for Lisbon. For a worked example see our correction coefficients guide and the EU salaries overview.

Application timeline

This vacancy was first listed on 14 August 2026, 14 days ago.

The application deadline is 2 September 2026, 4 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 27 August 2026.

Where to learn more

For full responsibilities, requirements, and career progression at AD6 see our AD6 grade page; for headcount, mission, and other open vacancies at EMSA see the EMSA institution page; for the cost of living, correction coefficient, and other postings in Lisbon see our Lisbon location page; for related vacancies in the Artificial Intelligence field browse our Artificial Intelligence 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.