Project Officer Counter UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems)

Contract type: Temporary agent

Directorate: Capability, Armament and Planning Directorate (CAP)

Group: N.A.

Grade: AD8

Level of Security Clearance: SECRET UE/EU SECRET

Management of staff: N.A.

Location: Brussels

Indicative starting date: 01/10/2026

Closing date for applications: 18/06/2026

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  • BACKGROUND THE AGENCY'S WAY OF WORKING THE CAPABILITY, ARMAMENT AND PLANNING DIRECTORATE (CAP) DUTIES ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA SELECTION CRITERIA APPOINTMENT AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT FOR TEMPORARY AGENTS AT EDA INDEPENDENCE AND DECLARATION OF INTEREST EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES APPLICATION PROCEDURE DATA PROTECTION

1. BACKGROUND

The European Defence Agency (EDA) was established on 12 July 2004, and is governed by Council Decision (CFSP) 2015/1835 defining the statute, seat and operational rules of the European Defence Agency. The Agency has its headquarters in Brussels.

The main task of EDA is to support the Council and the Member States in their effort to improve the Union's defence capabilities in the field of crisis management and to sustain the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) as it currently stands and as it develops in the future.

The Agency is structured into four directorates. The Corporate Services Directorate (CSD) and three operational directorates: Industry, Synergies and Enablers (ISE); Capability, Armament & Planning (CAP); Research, Technology and Innovation (RTI).

2. THE AGENCY'S WAY OF WORKING

The Agency is an “outward-facing” organisation, constantly interacting with its shareholders, the participating Member States, as well as with a wide range of stakeholders. It works in an integrated way, with multi-disciplinary teams representing all of the Agency’s functional areas, to realise its objectives. Its business processes are flexible and oriented towards achieving results. Staff at all levels need to demonstrate the corresponding qualities of commitment, flexibility, innovation, and team-working; to work effectively with shareholders and stakeholder groups, formal and informal; and to operate without the need for detailed direction.

3. THE CAPABILITY, ARMAMENT AND PLANNING DIRECTORATE (CAP)

The Capability, Armament & Planning Directorate (CAP) supports EU Member States in identifying and preparing possible cooperation projects and programmes ranging from long term military capability development to short term armament procurement. This includes obtaining agreement on shared needs and related priorities, harmonising capability requirements and conducting capability development preparatory activities, and also aggregating demand towards joint procurement.

The Directorate is operating several EU tools related to capability development and planning, in cooperation with other competent EU institutions and bodies. The Capability Development Plan (CDP), managed together with the EU Military Staff (EUMS) leads to identification of Capability Development Priorities agreed at EU level as a reference for all EU initiatives on Defence. The Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD), ran together with the EUMS, enables to characterise the “State of the Union on Defence” and to identify opportunities for cooperation. The Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), conducted together with the European External Action Service (EEAS), including EUMS, coordinates the analysis of the annual PESCO National Implementation Plans to assess the participating Member States’ fulfilment of the PESCO commitments, assesses Member States’ PESCO project proposals and monitors their progress. These tools are operated with Member States throughout a structured EU Capability Development Planning System (EU-CDPS).

Within EU CDPS, the Directorate engages with Member States’ Capability planners and experts to implement the EU Capability Development Priorities based on agreed collaborative Roadmaps. When preparatory activities enable to identify a possible cooperation project, the Directorate support Member States interested in the project by elaborating with them a Business Case.

The CAP Directorate comprises six Units; four are addressing capability development and armament procurement activities of operational domains associated to EU agreed priorities and two are operating EU related processes and tools:

  • Air Domain Unit: Air Combat, Airborne Command and Inform Capabilities, Integrated Air and Missile Defence, Air Transport
  • Land and Logistics Unit: Ground Combat Capabilities, Land-Based Precision Engagement, Future Soldier Systems, Logistics, Military Mobility, CBRN Defence, C-IED
  • Information Superiority Unit: Communication & Information Systems, Surveillance & Reconnaissance, Space, Cyber Defence
  • Maritime Unit: Naval Combat and Maritime Interdiction, Underwater and Seabed Warfare, Maritime Domain Awareness
  • Cooperation Planning Unit: Capability Development Priorities, CARD, Defence Data
  • PESCO Unit: PESCO secretariat, assessment of fulfilment of commitments as well as new PESCO project proposals, support to PESCO projects

4. DUTIES

Under the supervision of the Head of the Air Domain Unit, the Project Officer will contribute to the following activities:

  • foster Defence cooperative activities among EU Member States for the collaborative development and procurement of Member States’ Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) capabilities. This includes in particular:
    • act as the primary EDA point of contact for C-UAS activities from a capability development and armament procurement perspective, providing expertise both internally and externally. This requires maintaining this level of expertise also through continuous operational and armament monitoring, as well as participation in domain-specific events;
    • explore and promote collaborative opportunities for C-UAS capability development and procurement within the EU, including support to Member States in maturing these opportunities into concrete cooperative projects in the context of all EU initiatives and instruments related to Capability Development (CDP, CARD, PESCO, EDF, SAFE, EDIP, PCAs1…). This includes preparing Business Cases, presenting to Member States detailed options for cooperative projects and thus launching the projects entrusted for management to the Agency;
    • support Member States, as appropriate, in the execution of capability development / armament procurement projects, ensuring coordination and minimizing duplication of efforts;
    • plan, coordinate and manage all EDA activities related to the development or procurement of C-UAS capabilities, including outsourced activities funded by the EDA Operational Budget;
    • monitor EDA wide C-UAS related activities, including in the field of R&T, Innovation, protection of critical infrastructures, in order to ensure a cross-Directorate coordination and a proper CAP contribution to activities of the Hub for Innovation (HEDI) ), the EDA Autonomous Systems Ad Hoc Working Group (and its Action Plan APAS), and to Action Plans on Emerging Disruptive Technologies;
  • ensure strong coordination with the Project Officer Air Superiority in charge of IAMD (PO ASUP/IAMD), as C-UAS is conceptually part of the lower layer of IAMD, and make sure that his/her work, orientations and decisions are always aligned with the overarching IAMD domain. In particular, the Project Officer will place strong emphasis on information sharing with the PO ASUP/IAMD, ensuring alignment with existing or ongoing activities and coordinating any envisaged changes or further developments. The same coordination requirements apply to the Project Officer responsible for UAS.
  • contribute from a C-UAS perspective to the conduct, enhancement, and implementation of all initiatives related to Capability Development and Defence acquisition in which the Unit and the Directorate are involved, including the contribution to:
    • the preparation of CARD dialogues, the analysis of CARD findings, and the elaboration of concrete recommendations;
    • the assessment of PESCO Project proposals and to the support of these projects when requested by Member States;
    • the elaboration of the Work Programmes of the European Commission’s Defence related funding programmes and all associated documents;
  • contribute to all activities related to the drafting, coordination, and implementation of high-level documents – such as Letters of Intents, Steering Board documentation to Ministries of Defence, and similar strategic or policy-level deliverables – as well as the development, execution, and follow-up of relevant Action Plans;
  • establish and/or maintain the appropriate dialogue with other relevant entities involved in activities related to C-UAS Capability Development and defence procurement areas;
  • represent the Agency during conferences and seminars;
  • take on additional tasks as required in the interest of the Unit.
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