International Expert to Assess the Readiness for the Digitalization and Development of the Transparency Index for the Information and Privacy Agency (IPA) _(SSA) - Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (Prishtine)

About this position

The summary below is published by Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on the official vacancy notice. Our own analysis — salary realism, comparable openings, career trajectory, language profile — follows further down the page.

Background:

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo supports public institutions in strengthening transparency, accountability, and good governance through the effective implementation of the legal framework governing access to public documents and the protection of personal data. This support aims to ensure an appropriate balance between the public’s right to access information and the right to privacy and personal data protection.

To this end, the OSCE has been working closely with the Information and Privacy Agency (IPA) to raise awareness and build the capacities of public institutions regarding the implementation of legislation on access to public documents and personal data protection. Over the past two years, this partnership has produced substantive results: IPA’s Transparency Programme, Guidelines for Privacy Protection for Media, Guidelines on Data Subject Rights, and the IPA Strategy 2025–2027 were all developed with direct expert support provided by the Mission. Awareness-raising activities reached public officials, civil society organisations, media representatives, and municipal institutions across Kosovo. In parallel, the Mission has supported IPA in strengthening its…

Excerpt shown; read the full notice on the official page. The structured breakdown below covers the key facts.

Key responsibilities

According to the vacancy notice, the role centres on the following duties:

  • Review existing legal and regulatory framework governing transparency, access to public documents, and personal data protection in Kosovo
  • Assess whether public institutions have necessary legal basis, internal rules, designated officials, registers, reporting mechanisms, and decision-making procedures to comply with transparency obligations
  • Assess readiness of existing e-governance systems, digital platforms, document-management systems, and workflows to support data collection, publication, verification, and reporting for the Transparency Index
  • Analyse interoperability requirements between IPA and public institutions, including data exchange mechanisms, metadata standards, institutional identifiers, audit trails, and data-protection safeguards
  • Assess how transparency obligations interact with personal data protection requirements, including redaction, anonymisation, records of processing activities, and Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA)
  • Assess relevance and potential use of AI-assisted or automated tools for document classification, redaction, reporting, or monitoring
  • Develop draft indicator framework and methodology for measuring institutional transparency performance
  • Identify required data sources, reporting responsibilities, verification mechanisms, and institutional roles

Are you eligible?

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

  • Education: University degree in law, information technology, cyber security or a similar field
  • Experience: A minimum of five years of relevant work experience in transparency, personal data protection law, governance, compliance and data security, or related
  • Languages: English (C1)
  • Key skills: Extensive knowledge of European and international instruments on personal data protection and transparency, Experience in drafting policy papers, strategies, action plans and similar documents, Strong analytical and communication skills, Outstanding writing and reporting skills, Experience in conducting interviews, focus group discussions, and surveys for primary data collection, Capacity to co-ordinate with a multitude of interlocutors to ensure comprehensive data collection, Full professional fluency in English language including excellent drafting and analytical skills

Contract and working arrangements

Contract duration: 15 working days.

Hiring unit: OSCE Mission in Kosovo.

Position details

Reference
5006
Last Verified
18 October 2026

Position overview

This is the official EU Careers listing for International Expert to Assess the Readiness for the Digitalization and Development of the Transparency Index for the Information and Privacy Agency (IPA) _(SSA) at OSCE based in Prishtine. The vacancy reference is 5006.

Background:

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo supports public institutions in strengthening transparency, accountability, and good governance through the effective implementation of the legal framework governing access to public documents and the protection of personal data. This support aims to ensure an appropriate balance between the public’s right to access information and the right to privacy and personal data protection.

To this end, the OSCE has been working closely with the Information and Privacy Agency (IPA) to raise awareness and build the capacities of public institutions regarding the implementation of legislation on access to public documents and personal data protection. Over the past two years, this partnership has produced substantive results: IPA’s Transparency Programme, Guidelines for Privacy Protection for Media, Guidelines on Data Subject Rights, and the IPA Strategy 2025–2027 were all developed with direct expert support provided by the Mission. Awareness-raising activities reached public officials, civil society organisations, media representatives, and municipal institutions across Kosovo. In parallel, the Mission has supported IPA in strengthening its institutional capacities, developing its regulatory framework, and advancing strategic and operational programmes in these areas.

As a result of these sustained efforts and IPA’s continued engagement, tangible progress has been achieved in enhancing institutional transparency and promoting the effective exercise of the right to access public documents. At the local level, all municipalities have designated officials responsible for access to public documents and personal data protection, while the Association of Kosovo Municipalities has established a dedicated collegium bringing together municipal officials responsible for these functions. The proposed next step is to translate this accumulated strategic work into an operational process: one that can measure, in a systematic and evidence-based manner, how prepared public institutions are to implement transparency obligations in practice.

Building on this progress, IPA is seeking to further strengthen its oversight and monitoring role through the development and future digitalisation of the Transparency Index. The Transparency Index is not envisaged merely as a formal reporting exercise. It is designed to become a practical governance tool that enables IPA to systematically monitor, compare, and report on the implementation of transparency obligations across public institutions, and to actively support institutions in identifying and addressing gaps. In the current e-governance context, including the e-Kosova platform, and other institutional digital systems, the Index should assess whether ongoing digitalisation efforts enable and are usable for enabling the development of the Index. This ultimately trickles down to whether the developments are producing real, measurable transparency for residents and institutions alike, rather than simply creating digital versions of existing administrative processes.

In the context of ongoing digital transformation initiatives and the increasing use of electronic governance systems, the next phase of work aims to assess whether public institutions possess the legal, procedural, institutional, and technical capacities necessary to support a future digital Transparency Index. The OSCE will support IPA in this process by engaging an international expert to assess institutional readiness and provide recommendations for the development of a transparent, sustainable, and interoperable digital monitoring framework. The international expert will evaluate the existing legal, procedural, institutional, technical, and data-protection frameworks relevant to transparency monitoring and reporting. Based on this assessment, the expert will provide practical recommendations, measurable indicators, and an implementation roadmap that will enable IPA to develop a sustainable, and evidence-based digital Transparency Index. The assignment will serve as a bridge between the current policy concept and the preparation of a detailed implementation framework for the future digital Transparency Index.

Objective of Assignment:

Support IPA in assessing the readiness of public institutions to participate in and support the future digital Transparency Index.

Duration of Assignment:

The Consultant will be hired for 15 working days.

Tasks and Responsibilities:

1. Legal and institutional readiness assessment Review the existing legal and regulatory framework governing transparency, access to public documents, and personal data protection in Kosovo. Assess whether public institutions have the necessary legal basis, internal rules, designated officials, registers, reporting mechanisms, and decision-making procedures to comply with transparency obligations. 2. E-Governance and interoperability assessment Assess the readiness of existing e-governance systems, digital platforms, document-management systems, and workflows (including e-Kosova) to support data collection, publication, verification, and reporting for the Transparency Index. Analyse interoperability requirements between IPA and public institutions, including data exchange mechanisms, metadata standards, institutional identifiers, audit trails, and data-protection safeguards. 3. Data protection, GDPR-alignment, and AI/automated systems Assess how transparency obligations interact with personal data protection requirements, including redaction, anonymisation, records of processing activities, Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA), and safeguards for sensitive or high-risk processing. Assess the relevance and potential use of AI-assisted or automated tools for document classification, redaction, reporting, or monitoring, ensuring that final administrative decisions remain under human responsibility (in compliance with legal and administrative accountability requirements). 4. Transparency Index methodology and indicator framework Develop a draft indicator framework and methodology for measuring institutional transparency performance in a consistent, objective, and evidence-based manner. Identify required data sources, reporting responsibilities, verification mechanisms, and institutional roles. 5. Implementation Roadmap Define short-term steps for IPA and selected pilot institutions to test and operationalise the Transparency Index, including legal, institutional, technical, and organisational steps. Additional recommendations for pilot institutions, stakeholder consultations, and the transition from concept to a full implementation ToR. 6. Stakeholder consultation, communication, and finalisation of assignment. Facilitate consultations with IPA, OSCE, and selected public institutions to inform the process and, in the end, validate findings and recommendations. Plus, incorporate any final comments from IPA and OSCE in the deliverables

Deliverables:

- Institutional readiness and needs assessment framework report produced. Identifying legal and procedural gap analysis outline, including existing strengths, and recommendations for improvement. To be submitted within 14 calendar days of contract signature. - E-governance and interoperability assessment outline/report produced. The report should include current capacities, gaps, risks, and proposed minimum technical and reporting standards required for the Transparency Index. To be submitted within 30 calendar days of contract signature. - Data protection and GDPR-alignment assessment report delivered. The report should be a short analytical note on GDPR-alignment assessment (including recommendations for compliance safeguards within the future Transparency Index), and AI/automated systems, including opportunities, limitations, safeguards, and governance requirements. To be submitted within 45 calendar days of contract signature. - Structure of Transparency Index methodology drafted; The structure should include initial indicator categories and scoring logic; list of required data sources, reporting responsibilities, institutional roles, and verification procedures. To be submitted within 60 calendar days of contract signature. - Implementation roadmap produced. Brief roadmap for moving from concept note to full ToR and implementation phase, including pilot options, resource requirements, and recommended next steps for IPA. To be submitted within 85 calendar days of contract signature. - Final expert report produced. The final report of the expert should also include a very brief consultation summary, documenting stakeholder feedback and agreed recommendations. The expert is expected to maintain communication with the OSCE and IPA throughout its engagement. No standalone report on stakeholder consultation is requested, but the stakeholder consultations (either in Kosovo or online), will inform the deliverables. To be submitted no later than 90 calendar days after contract signature.

Necessary Qualifications:

- University degree in law, information technology, cyber security or a similar field; - A minimum of five years of relevant work experience in transparency, personal data protection law, governance, compliance and data security, or related; - Extensive knowledge of European and international instruments on personal data protection and transparency; - Experience in drafting policy papers, strategies, action plans and similar documents; - Strong analytical and communication skills; - Outstanding writing and reporting skills; - Experience in conducting interviews, focus group discussions, and surveys for primary data collection; - Capacity to co-ordinate with a multitude of interlocutors to ensure comprehensive data collection; - Full professional fluency including excellent drafting and analytical skills in English language.

Application timeline

This vacancy was first listed on 15 October 2026, 3 days ago.

No closing date is published in the source feed for this position. EU vacancies typically remain open for four to eight weeks; check the official vacancy notice for the cut-off date and time.

Last verified against the EU Careers feed on 18 October 2026.

Where to learn more

For headcount, mission, and other open vacancies at OSCE see the OSCE institution page; for the cost of living, correction coefficient, and other postings in Prishtine see our Prishtine location 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.

Career trajectory

Career progression for this grade staff is governed by Articles 44 to 46 of the Staff Regulations (consolidated text on EUR-Lex) and Annex IB on the promotion procedure. Step increases are automatic every two years (Art. 44); grade promotion is competitive, based on the appraisal exercise (Art. 45) and the Career Development Review. For roles at OSCE, progression to the next grade typically takes three to five years on merit, with two-yearly step increases in between. Article 46 governs the classification at recruitment, which sets the starting step within the grade (usually step 1 for external recruits without prior EU service, step 2 or 3 where relevant professional experience is recognised).
Mobility within the institutions is encouraged via the inter-institutional and intra-institutional vacancy publication system: temporary agents who pass the probation period and reservists from EPSO laureate lists can typically apply to internal vacancies after one year of service. Lateral moves between Directorates-General reset the seniority clock for promotion only if the new post carries a different grade.

Language profile

Beyond the formal language requirements stated in the vacancy notice, the day-to-day working languages at this employer are English and French in roughly equal measure, with German appearing in some technical files. Internal meetings and most policy drafting in Brussels run in English; French remains the preferred internal language in Luxembourg-based services and parts of DG TRADE.

Application cadence

OSCE has not advertised another comparable role with the same grade and subject signature in the past twenty-four months. This opening has rarely been seen on the EU Careers feed and may be the first such posting in our two-year window. Applicants who pass the eligibility checks should not assume the same profile will reopen on a predictable cadence.

Source: This job listing was sourced from the officialEU Careers portal (EPSO). First published: .

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