Programme Manager - EU policies - European Commission (FGIV, 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:

• Contribute to negotiation of Social Climate Plans and management of the Social Climate Fund for Poland, Czechia and Slovakia
• Provide policy steering to Member States in Social Climate Fund preparation phase
• Provide expertise in energy and transport poverty and EU Emissions Trading System 2 impacts on vulnerable households
• Conduct policy analysis on Social Climate Fund and Social Climate Plans themes
• Coordinate with other services at policy and technical level and produce reports
• Provide guidance to Member States on Social Climate Plan implementation, procedures, evaluation and reporting
• Contribute to briefing requests and replies to Parliamentary questions
• Assist in representation of DG EMPL in internal and external meetings

Are you eligible?

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

• Education: At least a 3 year university degree
• Experience: Confirmed strong analytical skills and solid understanding of EU funding instruments, preferably through work experience at project, programme or EU level. Good relevant policy knowledge required. Experience and knowledge about EU level policy developments in climate action, energy and transport poverty are strong assets.
• Languages: Polish (C1), English (B2)
• Key skills: Strong analytical skills, Good organisation skills, Good sense of initiative and responsibility, Strong social and diplomatic skills, Good team player, Ability to quickly identify key issues and deliver quality outputs, Results-oriented and proactive
• Eligibility: Must be 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; be physically fit to perform the duties; produce appropriate character references; have passed an EPSO CAST in Function Group IV or be registered in the EPSO CAST database

Selection process

The notice describes the following selection steps:

• Registration in EPSO CAST database
• Selection unit chooses candidates with appropriate profile from EPSO database
• Candidates invited to interview
• Selection panel assesses candidates at interview
• Pre-recruitment medical check-up for selected candidate

Contract and working arrangements

Contract duration: Contract Type 3b.

Working arrangements: Place of employment will be in Brussels.

Hiring unit: Unit EMPL/D/D3 - Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion.

Position details

Reference

EC/2026/EMPL/469672

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 Programme Manager - EU policies at European Commission based in Brussels at the FGIV grade level (Temporary Agent). The vacancy reference is EC/2026/EMPL/469672. It is hosted by EMPL - Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, the Directorate-General responsible for this policy area. The role falls under the Employment domain.

in DG EMPL of the European Commission

Job title : Programme Manager - EU Policies – Social Climate Fund

Domain : EMPLOYMENT (EU/national/regional level)

Where : Unit EMPL/D/D3 - Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia , Brussels

Function Gr oup : FG IV

Contract Type : 3b

Express your interest until : 22.09.2026 - 12.00 (noon, Brussels time )

WE ARE

The Directorate -General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL) develops and

implements policies, legislation and funding instruments to promote a competitive social market

economy and a modern European social model. Through the implementation of the European Pillar

of Social Rights and the effective use of EU funding, it aims to create more and better jobs,

promote skills, improve labour market performance and reduce poverty and social exclusion.

The mission of the Geographical Unit EMPL D3 is to contribute to attaining the aims and objectives

contained in the European Pillar of Social Rights, to support fair green and digital transitions as well

as to contribute to enhanced economic and social resilience in three Member States of the

European Union, Poland, Czechia and Slovakia. In particular, it promotes efficient and inclusive

labour markets and social protection systems as well as supports skills development, the fight

against (child) poverty, accessible social services and healthcare. The Unit ensures especially the

efficient and effective programming and implementation of the European Social Fund Plus (2021 -

2027) and the European Social Fund, the Youth Employment Initiative, the European Fund for the

Most Deprived (2014 -2020) and the Social Climate Fund 2026 -2032. It coordinates these funds

with other European funding streams, including the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the

European Regional Development Fund.

In 2026, the Social Climate Fund started implementation in Member States. In view of this, Member

States should submit Social Climate Plans. To make this a success in Poland, Czechia and Slovakia,

a post becomes available in EMPL D3.

WE PROPOSE

The successful candidate will contribute to the negotiation of Social Climate Plans and the

management of the Social Climate Fund for Poland (mainly), Czechia and Slovakia (as a back -up).

S/he will be in charge and provide policy steering to the concerned Member States in their Social

Climate Fund preparation phase and for horizontal area(s) of expertise in the fields of energy and

transport poverty as well as general and specific impact of the implementation of the EU Emissions

Trading System 2 on vulnerable households, transport users and micro -enterprises. S/he will Reference: EC/2026/EMPL/469672

contribute to the units’ analysis for the preparation and negotiation of the Plan (s) and monitoring

of policy and political developments in these areas in the Member State(s) as well as the progress

in the implementation of the Social Climate Plan(s). The jobholder will have regular contacts with

the national authorities and other stakeholders, prepare negotiation and monitoring meetings and

travel on regular missions to the Member State(s).

Mainly for Poland and as a back -up for Czechia and Slovakia, the successful candidate will work on

a large variety of tasks aiming at:

- Providing policy analysis on the themes above, in particular in relation to the Social

Climate Fund and the Social Climate Plans, including an assessment of proposed costing

estimates.

- Coordinating with other services at policy and technical level and producing reports to the

attention of other institutions, as well as developing and contributing to the various

studies undertaken by the Commission in the areas above.

- Providing guidance to the concerned Member State(s) in relation to their Social Climate

Plan(s) on the implementation, procedures, evaluation, and reporting.

- Providing contributions to briefing requests and replies to Parliamentary questions related

to the Social Climate Fund and the coordination with other funds supported programmes.

- Assisting in the representation of DG EMPL in internal and external meetings with

stakeholders, as well as EU inter -institutional relations.

- Checking the delivery by Member States of “milestones” and “targets” and taking the

necessary administrative steps towards payments.

WE LOOK FOR

We are looking for a highly motivated candidate with a t least a 3 year university degree, results -

oriented and proactive. She/he should have confirmed strong analytical skills and a solid

understanding of EU funding instruments, preferably through work experience at project,

programme or EU level. Good relevant policy knowledge is also required for this position. Experience

and knowledge about EU level policy developments in the areas of climate action, energy and

transport poverty are strong assets.

The future colleague is expected to have good organisation skills, a good sense of initiative and

responsibility as well as strong social and diplomatic skills. He/she must be a good team player, be

able to quickly identify key issues and deliver quality outputs. She/he will need to be (almost) fluent

in Polish. Very Good drafting and speaking skills in English are necessary.

HOW TO EXPRESS YOUR INTEREST?

With a view to guarantee ing 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. Reference: EC/2026/EMPL/469672

In practice, t o express your interest , please follow the subsequent two steps:

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 EMPL -D3 [email protected]

indicating the call for interest reference EC/2026/EMPL/469672 in the subject .

No applications will be accepted after the publication deadline.

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 pos ition ;

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

duties .

- Have passed a n EPSO CAST in the relevant Function Group for this pos ition. At the stage of

the application, it is sufficient to be registered in the EPSO CAST data base.

Qualifications:

(a) Have a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies of at least

three years attested by a diploma .

Only qualifications issued or recognised as equivalent by EU Member State authorities (e.g. by the

Ministry of Education) will be accepted. Reference: EC/2026/EMPL/469672

Languages:

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

EU 2

- AND have a satisfactory knowledge (minimum level B2) 3 of a second official language of

the EU , to the extent necessary for the performance of the duties.

➢ What about the selection steps?

The selecting unit chooses from the EPSO database 4 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.

2

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).

3

For 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).

4

Therefore, candidates who did not pass already a CAST on the level Function Group [IV], should register their

profile at this address: https://eu-careers.europa.eu/en/Cast-Permanent Reference: EC/2026/EMPL/469672

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 IV . General information on

Contract Agents can be found at this link .

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 Brussels. For a worked example see our correction coefficients guide and the EU salaries overview.

Application timeline

This vacancy was first listed on 9 September 2026, 6 days ago.

The application deadline is 22 September 2026, 5 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 FGIV see our FGIV 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 Employment field browse our Employment 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.