Policy Assistant - European Commission (FGIII, Brussels)

About this position

The summary below is published by European Commission 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:

• Contributing to the unit's work on socially responsible public procurement
• Contributing to communications on topics related to social economy, including updating the Social economy gateway
• Support with the financial programming and monitoring, and contract and grant management of the unit
• Following up the political, economic and/or social situation, aspects, trends and/or developments in social economy
• Assisting with the financial management tasks of the unit

Are you eligible?

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

• Education: Level of post-secondary education attested by a diploma OR level of secondary education attested by a diploma giving access to post-secondary education
• Experience: Appropriate professional experience of at least three years (if secondary education diploma)
• Languages: English (C1), French (B2)
• Key skills: Good knowledge of the financial and contractual management procedures of the European Commission, Very good coordination skills, Very good communication skills, Very good drafting skills, Knowledge of social economy
• Eligibility: 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; be physically fit to perform the duties linked to the position; produce appropriate character references as to suitability for the performance of the duties; have passed an EPSO CAST in Function Group III or be registered in the EPSO CAST d…

Selection process

The notice describes the following selection steps:

• Selection of 3 candidates with appropriate profile from EPSO database
• Interview with selection panel to assess best candidates

Contract and working arrangements

Contract duration: First contract of one year, may be renewed one or more times up to a maximum duration of 6 years.

Working arrangements: Brussels.

Hiring unit: Unit EMPL.G.3 – 'Social and Inclusive Entrepreneurship', DG EMPL.

Position details

Reference

EC-2026-EMPL-237165

Directorate-General

EMPL - Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

Vacancy Notice

Download PDF

Last Verified

15 September 2026

Position overview

This is the official EU Careers listing for Policy Assistant at European Commission based in Brussels at the FGIII grade level (Temporary Agent). The vacancy reference is EC-2026-EMPL-237165. It is hosted by EMPL - Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, the Directorate-General responsible for this policy area. The role falls under the European Policy domain.

Policy Assistant

in DG EMPL of the European Commission

Job title: Policy Assistant – Social Economy

Domain: European Public Administration

Where : Unit EMPL.G.3 – ‘Social and Inclusive Entrepreneurship’, Brussels

Function Group : FG III

Contract Type : 3b

Express your interest until : 30.09.2026 - 12.00 (noon, Brussels time)

WE ARE

DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion is the DG within the Commission that develops and

carries out the Commission's policies on Employment, Social Affairs and Education and Training.

Examples of the areas in which we are active include support for:

- More and better jobs through the European Employment Strategy (which brings national

policies closer in this field) and the European Social Fund (€9 billion per year managed in

partnership with the Member States).

- Free movement of workers and coordination of social security schemes which means that

every EU national has the right to work and to live in any EU country and that people who

move between countries are not disadvantaged in relation to social security including

healthcare.

- Social inclusion by supporting efforts to combat poverty and social exclusion, reform social

protection systems, and assess new demographic and social developments.

- Helping people develop more and better skills and to put them to use.

The mission of Directorate G is to coordinate the use of the Funds managed by the DG as effective

instruments to deliver a critical mass of investment to support the implementation of the European

Pillar of Social Rights.

The mission of unit G3 is to foster the EU's job creation and social inclusion through the promotion

of the social economy, of social and inclusive entrepreneurship and of financial instruments aiming

to attract and steer non-public sector investments for social objectives. We do this through the

development and implementation of both policy and funding support. Our main areas of activities

include:

 Implementing the action plan on the social economy, adopted by the Commission in 2021

 Improving access to finance for entrepreneurs, in particular from under-represented groups,

and for social enterprises

 Steering the work on the Social investment and skills window of the InvestEU programme (Reference: Call for interest EC-2026-EMPL- 237165)

 Developing and monitoring shared management financial instruments funded by the ESF

and ESF+

 Developing the knowledge base on social aspects of investing by the private sector and

contributes to the FISMA workstream on the development of sustainable finance in the EU.

We are an enthusiastic, supportive, and dynamic group of 22 people, enjoying our work individually

and as a team and facilitating the integration of new colleagues.

WE PROPOSE

We propose an interesting job as policy assistant responsible for social economy policy

development and knowledge building, in particular to support the priorities of the Social Economy

Action Plan and its Mid-Term Review. The successful candidate will be mainly responsible for:

 Contributing to the unit’s work on socially responsible public procurement

 Contributing to communications on topics related to social economy, including updating the

Social economy gateway.

 Support with the financial programming and monitoring, and contract and grant

management of the unit.

The job involves a variety of tasks such as f ollowing up the political, economic and / or social

situation, aspects, trends and / or developments in social economy. It also involves assisting with

the financial management tasks of the unit. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to

work closely with other DGs and cooperate with other units in DG EMPL.

WE LOOK FOR

We are looking for a well-organised and highly motivated colleague with a strong sense of

responsibilities and being a good team player. The job requires good knowledge of the financial and

contractual management procedures of the European Commission and very good coordination,

communication and drafting skills. Knowledge of social economy would be an asset.

The candidate should be fluent in English (written and oral) and be able to communicate in French.

HOW TO EXPRESS YOUR INTEREST?

With a view to guaranteeing equal access to all, the Commission recruits from an open database of spontaneous applications. The present call for interests aims at helping the recruiters to identify potentially interested candidates within this database.

In practice, to express your interest, please follow the subsequent two steps: (Reference: Call for interest EC-2026-EMPL- 237165)

1. If you are not registered yet in the open EPSO database, please do so at the following address: CAST Permanent . Please select under selection procedures for contract agent the

CAST permanent profile that best suits your education and experience.

2. 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 [email protected]

indicating the call for interest reference EC-2026-EMPL-237165 in the subject.

No applications will be accepted after the publication deadline. (Reference: Call for interest EC-2026-EMPL- 237165)

ANNEX

1. 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 contract 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 position;

- Produce the appropriate character references as to suitability for the performance of the duties.

- Have passed an EPSO CAST in the relevant Function Group for this position. At the stage of the application, it is sufficient to be registered in the EPSO CAST data base.

Qualifications:

(a) Have a level of post-secondary education attested by a diploma OR

(b) a level of secondary education attested by a diploma giving access to post-secondary education, and appropriate professional experience of at least three years.

Only qualifications issued or recognised as equivalent by EU Member State authorities (e.g. by the Ministry of Education) will be accepted.

Languages:

- have a thorough knowledge (minimum level C1) of one of the 24 official languages of the EU 1

- AND have a satisfactory knowledge (minimum level B2) 2 of a second official language of the EU, to the extent necessary for the performance of the duties.

 What about the selection steps?

1 The official languages of the European Union are: BG (Bulgarian), CS (Czech), DA (Danish), DE (German), EL (Greek), EN (English), ES (Spanish), ET (Estonian), FI (Finnish), FR (French), GA (Irish), HR (Croatian), HU (Hungarian), IT (Italian), LT (Lithuanian), LV (Latvian), MT (Maltese), NL (Dutch), PL (Polish), PT (Portuguese), RO (Romanian), SK (Slovak), SL (Slovenian), SV (Swedish). 2For details on language levels, please see the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (https://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/en/resources/european-language-levels-cefr).

(Reference: Call for interest EC-2026-EMPL- 237165)

The selecting unit chooses from the EPSO database 3 candidates with the appropriate profile and

invites them to an interview. For the interview a selection panel is set-up to assess the best candidates. Due to the large volume of applications that we may receive only candidates selected for the interview 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 a second official language.

3Therefore, candidates who did not pass already a CAST on the level Function Group III, should register their profile at this address https://eu-careers.europa.eu/en/Cast-Permanent

2. Recruitment

The candidate selected for recruitment will be requested to provide documentary evidence in support of the statements made in the database and, where relevant, the call for interest.

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 in Brussels.

The successful candidate will be engaged as a contract agent under Article 3(b) of the

Conditions of Employment of Other Servants , in function group FG III. General information on

Contract Agents can be found at this link .

The grade or proposed grade range, as well as the step in that grade, will be defined on the basis of the candidates’ previous professional experience, in accordance with Commission Decision

C(2017)6760 laying down the criteria applicable to classification in step on engagement.

The duration of the first contract will be one year. Subject to the interest of the service, the contract may be renewed one or more times up to a maximum duration of 6 years.

The duration of the renewal(s) will be defined according to the General Implementing Rules in force at that moment (currently, Commission Decision C(2017)6760 on policies for the engagement and

use of contract agents).

Contract agents recruited in Function Group III 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.

Salary at this grade

Basic monthly salary at FGIII runs from €3,476 (step 1) to €3,932 (top step), giving an annual range of roughly €41,712 to €47,184 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 €556 per month at step 1 of FGIII) 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 10 September 2026, 5 days ago.

The application deadline is 30 September 2026, 14 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 FGIII see our FGIII grade page; for headcount, mission, and other open vacancies at European Commission see the European Commission institution page; for the cost of living, correction coefficient, and other postings in Brussels see our Brussels location page; for related vacancies in the European Policy field browse our European Policy 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.