Expert - Water Resilience and Pollution
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- Sep 25, 2025 Post Date
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- EEA/AD/2025/12 Requisition #
VACANCY NOTICE FOR POSITIONS OF
Expert - Water Resilience and Pollution
Temporary Agent (AD6)
Reference no. EEA/AD/2025/12
Please send us your application by no later than 27 October 2025 at midnight (Copenhagen time), following the instructions in the ANNEX.
The European Environment Agency (EEA) is organising an open competition with a view to establishing a reserve list of experts to work in the area of climate and water pollution.
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.
The current decade is critical for the EU and its neighbouring countries towards achieving their environmental, climate and sustainability ambitions by 2050. The EEA plays a pivotal role by delivering relevant data, information and assessments to support policy action.
JOB DESCRIPTION:
Under the responsibility of the Head of Unit ‘Freshwater and Marine’, reporting to the Head of Department ‘Environment’ (see organisational chart), the Expert shall support the amendment of the EU Water Framework, Groundwater and Environmental Quality Standards Directives, to update priority substances and environmental quality standards in surface water and groundwater.
We are seeking to recruit experienced and motivated experts with a solid understanding of Europe’s freshwater environment. Your main emphasis will be to provide assessment and policy support on EU water legislation. Specifically, you will contribute to the EEA’s core activities on the collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of environmental data and indicators. For the specific tasks at hand, a solid understanding of water pollution, and the substances considered pollutants under the Water Framework, Environmental Quality Standards, and Groundwater Directives. These experts will work with others in the Freshwater and Marine Unit to develop thematic outputs such as indicators and assessments monitoring progress and supporting the objective of increased transparency and re-use of data reported to the European Union.
A key task will be to assess progress towards the EU’s Water Framework Directive, with a focus on the currently proposed amendment on Environmental Quality Standards and Groundwater Directives expected to be agreed in late 2025. This is also expected to be a cornerstone of the forthcoming Water Resilience Initiative, linking between water quality and climate change.
A core requirement of the successful candidate(s) is analytical and assessment expertise in the areas of hydrology, water resources, water pollution, and/or climate change impacts on the aquatic environment, as well as the solutions needed to improve the overall state of water
Depending on their area of expertise, successful candidate(s) will work within and across areas corresponding to Europe’s Water Policy, including:
Pollution of priority substances, hazardous priority substances and river basin specific pollutants in rivers, lakes, transitional, coastal waters;
Nutrient, pesticide and priority substance pollution in surface and groundwater;
Main sources and pathways of pollution including groundwater hydrology and interactions between surface and groundwater;
Impacts of water pollution on aquatic ecosystems and human health;
Climate change impacts on surface and groundwater including water scarcity and droughts, floods, and climate change impacts on water quality.
The successful candidate(s) will work with a range of different stakeholders, including national, regional and/or industry data providers, partners in the European Topic Centre on Biodiversity and Ecosystems, as well as closely collaborating with colleagues in the EEA, ECHA, and in the European Commission.
The position will entail the following tasks:
Developing the EEA’s support to the Water Framework Directive, Zero Pollution Action Plan and Water Resilience Strategy;
Coordinating the further development of EEA’s support to implementation of EU water legislation, covering surface and groundwater. Specific areas to cover are environmental benefits of EU water policies including surface and groundwater quality, pollution impacts on aquatic ecosystems, availability of water resources, ecosystem state, water scarcity and drought, floods and climate change. Another focus will be on managing pollution risks to the environment and pollution impacts on human health;
Following an integrated approach to pollution in water, in collaboration with e.g. JRC, ECHA, and EFSA;
Developing a monitoring framework for water pollution, including relevant indicators;
Collaborating with data stewards to collect and present reported data and information in a meaningful way, and with minimum delay;
Providing expert thematic overview of EEA’s chemical monitoring in water, including the Water quality (WISE-6) dataflows;
Developing and writing knowledge products such as indicators, briefings and assessments relating to the water policy aspects of the aquatic environment;
Working in a highly-performing team of dedicated water and data experts, including providing thematic support to EEA data managers and data stewards.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:
Candidates applying must satisfy the following eligibility criteria on the closing date for the submission of applications:
a) Successful completion of university studies attested by a degree relevant to the field concerned of at least 3 years; OR where justified in the interests of the service, professional training of an equivalent level;
b) A minimum of 3 years of relevant professional experience after award of the university degree.
In addition, in order to be eligible a candidate must:
Be a national of one of the member countries of the EEA (Member States of the European Union plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Türkiye);
Enjoy full rights as a citizen;
Have fulfilled any obligations imposed by law concerning military service;
Have a thorough knowledge of one of the languages of the EEA member countries and a satisfactory knowledge of another of these languages (corresponding to level B.2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for languages CEFR);
Meet the character requirements for the duties involved;
Be physically fit to perform the duties linked to the post.
Candidates should assess carefully and check before submitting their application whether they fulfil all the conditions for admission laid down in the vacancy notice, particularly in terms of qualifications and relevant professional experience.
SELECTION CRITERIA:
(In your application, please provide examples from current or past work experience where these competencies have been applied)
Essential:
Proven thematic experience in one or more of the areas listed above;
Demonstrated expertise and knowledge of undertaking policy relevant assessments of water quality, especially in the context of the Water Framework Directive;
Excellent analytical skills, including understanding of digital tools that can assist in relevant data driven analysis, to support evidence-based decision making;
Strong project management skills, including project design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation;
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.
Advantageous:
Proven experience working with different stakeholder groups and communicating technically-complex material to suit their respective needs e.g. in providing training, capacity building and/or developing guidance.
Proven experience working with the European Union or other international institutions.
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 communication and interpersonal skills and ability to establish and maintain effective working relations with colleagues and stakeholders;
Diversity awareness and sensitivity;
Well-developed solution-oriented and problem-solving approach;
Ability to take responsibility for specific areas of work and to deliver to high standards;
Attention to detail and ability to summarise complex information;
Service orientation and ability to understand stakeholder needs and requirements;
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 Temporary Agent contract in accordance with Article 2(f) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union. The selected candidate will be employed for an initial time period of four years, renewable.
Successful candidates who are recruited undergo an initial probation period of 9 months.
Should the successful candidate currently hold a Temporary Agent 2(f) contract and qualify for a transfer under the terms of the CEOS, the band width for this position which can be accommodated is in accordance with Annex I of the Staff Regulations.
For information on salary, please see information published under Temporary Agents.
The place of work will be Copenhagen, Denmark.
It is brought to the particular attention of candidates that the provisions of Articles 11 to 26 of the Staff Regulations, concerning the rights and obligations of officials, shall apply by analogy to Temporary Agents. 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: Staff Regulations
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 16). Should the case arise that there are various candidates scoring the same number of points in the 16th 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 establishment of a reserve list for the post advertised or similar posts that may become available and on the appointment of the successful candidate. For that matter, a follow-up recruitment interview conducted by the Appointing Authority with the suitable candidates may be organised, if deemed appropriate. Candidates shall note that inclusion on the reserve list does not guarantee recruitment. Recruitment will be based on availability of posts and budget.
For information regarding requests, complaints and appeals, please refer to the instructions in the ANNEX.
The reserve list for this post will be valid until 31 December 2026 and may be extended at the discretion of the Appointing Authority.
Prior to contract signature, the successful candidate will be asked:
to provide original or certified copies of all relevant documents proving his/her eligibility, including a police certificate confirming the absence of any criminal record;
to undergo a compulsory medical examination to establish that he/she meets the standard of physical fitness necessary to perform the duties involved.