Secretary - to the Head of Unit - 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:

• Manage absences
• Assign ARES tasks and documents
• Organise meetings
• Act as the unit contact point and share information within the Unit
• Act as Data Entry Agent in SUMMA by performing the first steps of financial operations, checks and encoding
• Provide secretarial support to the Head of Unit, Deputy Head of Unit and team members

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); experience in providing administrative support; experience as Data Entry Agent in SUMMA is an advantage
• Languages: English (C1), French (B2)
• Key skills: Dynamic and motivated, Ability to work autonomously and in a small team, Proficiency with IT tools including SUMMA, ARES, SYSPER, DECIDE, WEBDOR, ePOETRY, MIPS+, VPASS, Understanding of financial rules and procedures is an advantage
• 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; physically fit to perform the duties linked to the post; produce appropriate character references as to suitability for the performance of the duties

Selection process

The notice describes the following selection steps:

• Selection panel chooses limited number of candidates for interview based on CV and application form
• Interview
• Pre-recruitment medical check-up

Contract and working arrangements

Contract duration: Temporary agent position.

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

Hiring unit: Unit REGIO.A.3 - Budget and Financial Management, Directorate-General Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO).

Position details

Reference

REGIO/COM/2026/1175

Directorate-General

REGIO - Regional and Urban Policy

Vacancy Notice

Download PDF

Last Verified

15 September 2026

Position overview

This is the official EU Careers listing for Secretary - to the Head of Unit at European Commission based in Brussels at the AST-SC1 grade level (Temporary Agent). The vacancy reference is REGIO/COM/2026/1175. It is hosted by REGIO - Regional and Urban Policy, the Directorate-General responsible for this policy area. The role falls under the Budget And Finances 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. 2

REGIO/COM/2026/1175

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

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

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Secretary to the Head of Unit

Directorate-General Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) of the European Commission

Selection reference: REGIO/COM/2026/1175

Domain*: Budget and Finances

Where : Unit REGIO.A.3 - Budget and Financial Management, Brussels

Staff category and Function Group : Temporary agent 2b Administrative agent

Grade range: AST/SC1-2

Publication deadline : 16/08/2026 - 12.00 (Brussels time)

WE ARE

The Budgetary and Financial Management of DG REGIO. Our primary mission is the transparent

management of the budget at the disposal of the DG.

Our Unit is organised in five sectors, in charge of the (1) budget, (2) shared management

programmes, (3) technical assistance – legal and financial procedures, (4) technical assistance _

strategy and (5) financial and contractual management of the Cyprus settlement and financial

instruments.

This vacancy is attached to the Head of Unit, within a small administrative support team whose

main responsibilities include (1) Acting as Data Entry Agent in SUMMA, (2) Providing information to

the staff and management on the unit's operations and results, and (3) Improving internal

communication and the sharing of knowledge and information

WE PROPOSE

The position consists of being the contact point of the Unit composed of around 55 people, divided

in five sectors, but seven teams. 4

Being part of the administrative support team, your responsibilities will include providing the Head

of Unit, the Deputy Head of Unit and the members of each team with secretarial support, including:

- Manage absences,

- Assign ARES tasks and documents,

- Organise meetings,

- Act as the unit contact point and share information within the Unit

- Acting as Data Entry Agent in SUMMA by performing the first steps of financial operations, checks

and encoding

WE LOOK FOR

We are looking for a dynamic and motivated colleague with experience in providing administrative

support. Having a good understanding of financial rules and procedures or having acted as Data

Entry Agent in SUMMA is an advantage. The ideal candidate would contribute to and help maintain

a positive and collaborative working environment that ensures timely and high-quality deliverables.

He/she should be able to work both autonomously and in a small team. In executing the financial

tasks, he/she will have to use various IT tools, such as SUMMA and ARES. In executing the

administrative tasks, he/she will have to use other IT tools, such as SYSPER, ARES, DECIDE,

WEBDOR, ePOETRY, MIPS+, VPASS. Practical experience of these systems is an advantage.

Proficient knowledge of English is essential. A good level of French would be an asset. 5

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. 3. duly filled in application form.

Please send these documents by the publication deadline to [email protected] indicating the selection reference REGIO/COM/2026/1175 in the subject.

No applications will be accepted after the publication deadline. 6

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.

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).

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 What about the selection steps?

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.

A selection panel will choose a limited number of candidates for interview, based on the CV and application form that they submitted. Due to the large volume of applications, we may receive,

only candidates selected for the next step of the selection phase 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 another language.

2. Recruitment

The candidate selected for recruitment will be requested to supply documentary evidence in support of the statements made in their application.

The successful candidate will be required to undergo a mandatory pre-recruitment medical check-up, carried out by the Commission.

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 3 September 2026, 12 days ago.

The deadline is today, 16 September 2026. Applications submitted after the cut-off time set in the vacancy notice will not be considered.

Last verified against the EU Careers feed on 15 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 Budget And Finances field browse our Budget And Finances 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.