Secretary - European Commission (AST-SC1, 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:

• Handling unit mail
• Assisting in handling briefings
• Support in interaction with external stakeholders, including other EU bodies
• Preparing business trips
• Organising meetings (on-line or physical)
• Assisting in coordinating and handling citizen's complaints, access to documents requests, petitions and other similar requests
• Ensuring administrative support to colleagues in handling consultations on legal acts (interservice-consultations)
• Providing general secretarial, organisational and administrative support

Are you eligible?

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

• Education: Post-secondary education attested by a diploma, or 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: One of the 24 official EU languages (C1), A second official EU language (B2)
• Key skills: Proven secretarial, organisational and coordination skills, Ability to work autonomously, Sense of initiative, Ability to interact constructively with colleagues and stakeholders, Very good communication and drafting skills in English, Knowledge of Commission procedures and standard Commission tools (asset)
• Eligibility: Citizen of an EU Member State and enjoy full rights as a citizen; have fulfilled any obligations imposed by applicable laws concerning military service; physically fit to perform the duties; produce appropriate character references

Selection process

The notice describes the following selection steps:

• Applications from Commission officials, officials from other Institutions, and competition laureates have priority
• If these candidates do not best fit the requirements, the Commission can recruit a temporary agent

Contract and working arrangements

Contract duration: Temporary agent position.

Working arrangements: Flexible working conditions including the possibility of teleworking.

Hiring unit: Unit JUST.C3 - Data Protection, Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers (DG JUST).

Position details

Reference

JUST/COM/2026/1780

Directorate-General

JUST - Justice and Consumers

Vacancy Notice

Download PDF

Last Verified

1 September 2026

Position overview

This is the official EU Careers listing for Secretary at European Commission based in Brussels at the AST-SC1 grade level (Temporary Agent). The vacancy reference is JUST/COM/2026/1780. It is hosted by JUST - Justice and Consumers, the Directorate-General responsible for this policy area. The role falls under the Support Staff domain.

MAKE A DIFFERENCE - JOIN THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Do you want to help shape the future of the European Union? Make the planet greener, promote a fairer society, or support businesses and innovation across the EU? Then come and work for the European Commission where you can really make a difference!

Commission staff are a diverse group of people, who are motivated to help make Europe – and the world – a better place. They come from the 27 Member States of the European Union. Different nationalities, backgrounds, languages and cultures make the Commission a vibrant and inclusive place to work.

WE OFFER GREAT JOBS AND GREAT WORKING CONDITIONS:

- Interesting and challenging jobs with plenty of opportunities for training and acquiring new skills and competencies throughout your whole career

- Opportunities to move between different policy areas throughout your career

- A package of flexible working conditions including the possibility of teleworking – we care about your work-life balance

- A competitive financial package, including comprehensive healthcare, accident and pension schemes

- A multilingual, multicultural workplace where personal and career development are strongly promoted

- Multilingual schools for your children

We recruit from a wide range of backgrounds and actively promote diversity and inclusion:

We do not only recruit political scientists and lawyers but are also looking for all kinds of profiles, including scientists, linguists, IT experts, data analysts and economists, as well as drivers and engineers.

We are committed to equal opportunities and to fostering a rich, diverse and inclusive working environment. We aim for our workforce to be representative of European society and strongly welcome applications from all qualified candidates. We actively seek to create a workplace where each staff member feels valued and respected, can give their best and can develop to their full potential. 2JUST/COM/2026/1780

To promote diversity and establish a geographically balanced pool of candidates, we strongly encourage applicants from Member States which are currently underrepresented in the European Commission workforce to apply. These Member States are currently Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Netherlands, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden 1. Recruitment will however remain strictly based on the merits of all applicants and no positions will be reserved for nationals of any specific Member State.

For more information ec.europa.eu/work-with-us

STAFF RECRUITED ON CONTRACTS

In addition to permanent officials, the European Commission offers non-permanent positions. There are two categories of non-permanent staff:

temporary agents are recruited to fill vacant positions for a set amount of time or

to perform highly specialised tasks.

contract agents may provide additional capacity in specialised fields where an

insufficient number of officials is available or carry out a number of administrative or manual tasks. They are generally recruited for fixed-term contracts (maximum 6 years in any EU Institution), but in some cases they can be offered contracts for an indefinite duration (in offices, agencies, delegations or representations).

For more information on different staff categories

1Please note that the list of underrepresented Member States may be subject to future amendment based on potential data changes over time.

3JUST/COM/2026/1780

Secretary

Directorate - General for Justice and Consumers (DG JUST ) of

the European Commission

Selection reference: JUST /COM/202 6/1780

Domain: Support staff

Where : Unit JUST.C3 - „Data Protection “, Brussels

Staff category and Function Group : Temporary agent 2b

Grade range: AST/SC1 -2

Publication deadline : 15 .09 .202 6 - 12.00 (Brussels time)

WE ARE

Unit JUST.C3 is responsible for the protection of personal data as a fundamental right in the EU.

The EU data protection rules – the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data

Protection Law Enforcement Directive - are key EU achievements. Ensuring that the new legislation

delivers for people living in the EU is therefore a priority objective for the Commission and our unit

in particular. To this end, we monitor the compliance of national legislation, integrate data

protection into all relevant EU policy initiatives, and actively engage with all actors, in particular

data protection authorities, businesses and civil society. With a wide range of EU policies

increasingly involving the processing of personal data, we work closely with a wide range of

Commission services in areas such as artificial intelligence and the related data strategy, health,

financial services, mobility and law enforcement, in order to ensure that the fundamental right to

the protection of personal data is duly respected .

WE PROPOSE

We offer a position for a motivated and eager to learn unit secretary in a dynamic work

environment. The new colleague will be an integral part of the team and will work in close

cooperation with the head of unit, all members of the unit and other colleagues in the Directorate -

General for Justice and Consumers . S/he will have frequent contacts with other Commission

services and stakeholders.

The position will consist of a wide variety of tasks contributing to the smooth running of the unit by

providing general secretarial, organisational and administrative support and ensuring compliance

with Commission’s administrative rules. The new colleague will in particular be responsible for

handling unit mail, assisting in handling briefings, support in interaction with external stakeholders,

including other EU bodies, preparing business trips , organising meetings (on -line or physical), and

assisting in coordinating and handling citizen’s complaints, access to documents request, petitions

and other similar requests. S/he will ensure the administrative support to colleagues in handling

consultations on legal acts to be adopted by the Commis sion (interservice -consultations) .

the unit .4JUST/COM/2026/1780

WE LOOK FOR

We are looking for a friendly, dynamic and motivated team member. The successful candidate

should have proven secretarial, organisational and coordination skills and be able to work

autonomously. S/he should have a sense of initiative.

The ideal profile for the job is a candidate with :

- Ability to interact constructively with colleagues and stakeholders.

- Very good communication and drafting skills in English. Further language skills, in particular

French or German, would be an asset.

- A good knowledge of Commission procedures and standard Commission tools is an asset. But

more importantly, s/he should be willing to develop him/herself further, by learning on the job and

by following targeted training courses as necessary. 5JUST/COM/2026/1780

HOW TO EXPRESS YOUR INTEREST?

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 JUST -C3 @ec.europa.eu indicating the

selection reference JUST /COM/202 6/1780 in the subject.

No applications will be accepted after the publication deadline. 6JUST/COM/2026/1780

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 temporary 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 post

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

Qualifications:

In order to be recruited for this position, you must have at least

- a level of post -secondary education attested by a diploma, or

- 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. Furthermore, before recruitment, you will be required to

provide the documents that corroborate the eligibility criteria (diplomas, certificates and other

supporting documents).

Languages:

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

EU 2

- AND a satisfactory knowledge (minimum level B2) of a second official language of the EU,

to the extent necessary for the performance of the duties.

➢ What about the selection steps?

2The 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).

7JUST/COM/2026/1780

The post was published internally within the Commission, inter -institutionally, and brought to the

attention of competition laureates.

In accordance with Article 29 of the Staff Regulations, applications from Commission officials,

officials from other Institutions , and laureates of competitions have priority 3. If these candidates do

not best fit the requirements for the position, the Commission can recruit a temporary agent.

For temporary agents under Article 2(a) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants , the

post is published directly on the EPSO website, without mandatory prior internal publication .

Salary at this grade

Basic monthly salary at AST-SC1 runs from €3,292 (step 1) to €3,725 (top step), giving an annual range of roughly €39,504 to €44,700 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 €527 per month at step 1 of AST-SC1) 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 1 September 2026, today.

The application deadline is 15 September 2026, 13 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 1 September 2026.

Where to learn more

For full responsibilities, requirements, and career progression at AST-SC1 see our AST-SC1 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 Support Staff field browse our Support Staff 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.