Expert – Legal, Procurement and Data Protection
🔍\ Copenhagen, Hovedstaden, Denmark
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📁📅20 hours agoPost Date📅EEA/AD/2026/7Requisition #
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This vacancy is restricted to officials of the institutions of the European Union or Union bodies.
VACANCY NOTICE FOR POSITION OF
Expert – Legal, Procurement and Data Protection – Official (AD5-AD12)
Reference no. EEA/AD/2026/7
Please send us your application by no later than 7 July 2026 at 23:59 (Copenhagen time), following the instructions in the ANNEX.
The European Environment Agency (EEA) is organising a restricted competition with a view to a transfer of an official to work as Expert - Legal, Procurement and Data Protection and further with a view to establishing a reserve list.
This vacancy notice is published pursuant to Article 29(1)(b) of the Staff Regulations (transfers of officials of the institutions and agencies of the European Union, as defined in Article 1a of the aforementioned Staff Regulations).
THE AGENCY
The EEA is an Agency of the European Union (EU) and one of the decentralised Union bodies. The EEA aims to support sustainable development and to help achieve significant and measurable improvement in Europe’s environment, through the provision of timely, targeted, relevant and reliable information to policy-making agents and the public.
JOB DESCRIPTION:
Under the responsibility of the Head of Unit ‘Legal Assurance and Facilities Management’, reporting to the Head of Department ‘Resources’ (see organisational chart), the Expert shall be responsible for legal, procurement and data protection-related tasks.
The Expert Legal, Procurement and Data Protection will support the Agency by ensuring timely, effective and efficient delivery of advice as well as services on legal, procurement and data protection-related matters with a customer-oriented approach. The jobholder will be a member of the Legal Assurance and Facilities Management Unit within the Resource Department, which is responsible for delivering advice and services on legal and data protection matters, as well as the planning, coordination and implementation of the Agency’s procurement and facilities management plans.
The position will entail the following tasks:
Legal advice and services responsibilities
• Providing legal advice on Agency’s administrative and operational areas including staff matters in consultation with HR, ethics and transparency issues such as conflicts of interest, anti fraud measures and access to documents and environmental information, public procurement and grants, contract management and contractual relationships, intellectual property rights, governance procedures, agreements with third parties such as the European Commission and international organisations;
• Providing legal advice on matters related to the use of artificial intelligence and dispute related issues, including pre litigation, arbitration and litigation, as well as any other legal issues assigned by the Head of Unit;
• Drafting legal opinions, internal procedures, guidelines, rules, policies, templates and other legal or procedural documents, and advising on the applicable legal framework, together with carrying out any other legal tasks assigned by the Head of Unit;
• Representing the Agency in consultations and meetings of the inter Agency Network of Legal Advisors (EU IALN), as well as in Working Groups under the EU-IALN, including those on procurement and contracts and on transparency.
Procurement responsibilities
• Advising management and operational staff on the strategic planning needs and on implementation of complex procurement procedures;
• Conducting legal reviews and verifying documentation related to complex procurement procedures, including technical specifications and documents used in the evaluation and award processes;
• Ensuring that procurement rules and procedures in the Agency are in line with best practices in similar Agencies and the European Commission;
• Delivering procurement related training activities, communicating applicable rules, procedures and guidance to staff, liaising with operational staff, finance officers and auditors;
• Representing the Agency at the Inter-Agencies Procurement Officers Network (NAPO).
Data protection responsibilities
• Raising awareness across the Agency on issues related to the processing of personal data, including targeted communications, delivery of training sessions and workshops and by maintaining relevant information on the Intranet and the Agency website;
• Supporting data controllers in ensuring compliance with the EU Data Protection Regulation (EUDPR) for existing personal data processing activities and advising on the application of data protection principles, including privacy by design and by default for new processing operations;
• Supporting data controllers in ensuring data subjects are fully informed of their rights including the review of privacy statements;
• Providing ad-hoc assistance to the Agency’s Data Protection Officer as assigned;
• Representing the Agency in the Data Protection Officers Network (DPO Network) and participating in its working groups.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:
Candidates applying must satisfy the following eligibility criteria on the closing date for the submission of applications:
Only established officials "Administrator (AD5-AD7) or "Principal Administrator" (AD8-AD12) of the institutions of the European Union or Union bodies graded in the function group and grade span of the post on offer by the closing date may apply for the position.
Candidates should assess carefully and check before submitting their application whether they fulfil all the conditions for admission laid down in the vacancy notice.
SELECTION CRITERIA:
Essential:
(In your application, please provide examples from current or past work experience where these competencies have been applied)
• Proven and relevant professional experience in performing the tasks described above under the “Job description”;
• Proven experience in drafting legal documents, including legal guidelines, internal procedures, implementing rules, legal opinions and advice, legal and contractual templates, and management decisions, in one or more of the areas covered above under “Job description”;
• Experience in using IT systems applied to the job profile, such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and procurement management tools;
• Good understanding of administrative procedures within the European, public or international institutions and agencies, and good knowledge of the EU institutional and regulatory framework relevant to the job profile;
• Excellent command of written and spoken English language, at least at level C1 in all categories according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Language.
In addition to the requirements above, candidates invited to the written test and interview stage, will also be assessed against the following behavioural competencies:
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills;
• Ability to work collaboratively and share expertise to achieve common goals;
• Strong autonomy, with the ability to take responsibility for specific areas of work and to deliver to high standards
• Diversity awareness and sensitivity;
• Attention to detail and ability to summarise complex information;
• Enthusiasm, flexibility and ability to work under pressure;
• High sense of discretion and confidentiality, with a strong commitment to ethical standards and compliance;
• Service-oriented mind-set and ability to understand stakeholder needs and requirements to ensure the delivery of quality results;
• Ability to seek out learning opportunities proactively, to handle situations and problems with innovation and creativity.
EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS:
The successful candidate will be offered a transfer to the European Environment Agency in accordance with Article 29(1)(b) of the Staff Regulations (transfers of officials of the institutions and agencies of the European Union, as defined in Article 1a of the aforementioned Staff Regulations), maintaining grade and step.
The place of work will be Copenhagen, Denmark.
Articles 11 to 26 of the Staff Regulations, concerning the rights and obligations of officials, are brought to the particular attention of candidates. These rules specify that:
“An official shall carry out his duties and conduct himself solely with the interests of the Union in mind. He shall neither seek nor take instructions from any government, authority, organization or person outside his institution. He shall carry out the duties assigned to him objectively, impartially and in keeping with his duty of loyalty to the Union.
An official shall not without the permission of the appointing authority accept from any government or from any other source outside the institution to which he belongs any honour, decoration, favour, gift or payment of any kind whatever, except for services rendered either before his appointment or during special leave for military or other national service and in respect of such service.
Before recruiting an official, the appointing authority shall examine whether the candidate has any personal interest such as to impair his independence or any other conflict of interest. To that end, the candidate, using a specific form, shall inform the appointing authority of any actual or potential conflict of interest. In such cases, the appointing authority shall take this into account in a duly reasoned opinion. If necessary, the appointing authority shall take the measures referred to in Article 11a(2).”
For further information on the Staff Regulations and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union see:
SELECTION PROCEDURE:
A Selection Committee is set up for the selection procedure. It consists of members designated by the Appointing Authority and the Staff Committee. The Selection Committee is bound by the principle of confidentiality as enshrined in Article 6 of Annex III to the Staff Regulations. This works in two ways: first, it imposes obligations to ensure equal treatment for candidates; and second, it seeks to protect the Selection Committee to ensure that its decisions are totally impartial.
The Selection Committee adheres strictly to the conditions of admission laid down in the vacancy notice when deciding whether or not candidates are eligible. Candidates admitted to a previous selection procedure will not automatically be eligible. Candidates are strictly forbidden to make any contact with the members of the Selection Committee, either directly or indirectly. Any infringement of this rule will lead to disqualification from the selection procedure.
In a spirit of transparency, and in order to align our working methods with current practice in certain Member States, the administration has decided to proceed with the publication of names of Selection Committee members.
Should the Selection Committee discover at any stage in the procedure that the candidate does not meet one or more of the general or special conditions for admission to the selection procedure, the candidate will be disqualified.
The Selection Committee decides on those candidates who are admitted to the selection procedure in accordance with the requirements as specified under eligibility criteria. The applications of the candidates admitted to the selection procedure are reviewed to establish whether or not they show evidence of all requirements as specified under selection criteria.
The Selection Committee will invite to the interview and to the written test phase the best qualified candidates (maximum of 8). Should the case arise that there are various candidates scoring the same number of points in the 8th ranking, the number of candidates to be invited may be increased accordingly to accommodate this.
The interview will be held in English and the candidate’s knowledge of other languages will also be assessed during the interview. Candidates invited for an interview will be asked to undergo a written test in English, in the area of expertise required for the post. The test and the interview will take place online.
At the end of the interviews the Selection Committee will submit the list of suitable candidates to the Appointing Authority who will decide on the appointment of the successful candidate and the establishment of a reserve list for the post advertised or similar posts that may become available. This usually follows from follow-up recruitment interviews conducted by the Appointing Authority with the suitable candidates. Candidates shall note that inclusion on the reserve list does not guarantee recruitment. Recruitment will be based on availability of posts and budget.
The reserve list for this post will be valid until 31 December 2027 and may be extended at the discretion of the Appointing Authority.