Communications and External Relations Officer

Job Summary  

Under the supervision of the Head of Unit, the Communications and External Relations officer acts as a team leader for COMMs and RELEX teams. He/she is responsible for the development and implementation of CEPOL's communications sub-strategy as well as CEPOL's external relations strategy.

He/she is responsible for the planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting of communication activities internally and externally, in line with the Agency's communications sub-strategy, and for CEPOL's external action, including Working Arrangements, cooperation with JHA Agencies and international organisations, relations with EU Member States and third countries, and support to CEPOL management for high-level meetings and institutional engagements. The post also includes steering, the activities of the Brussels Liaison Office. Frequent short-term missions within and outside the EU are required.

Key accountabilities  

1. Develop and implement CEPOL's communications sub-strategy and external relations strategy in an integrated manner, ensuring consistency between the Agency's public messaging and its institutional/diplomatic engagement; contribute to the implementation of the CEPOL Strategy overall, including through joint stakeholder mapping.
2. Maintain relations with press, media, and other key external partners; draft and update Working Arrangements.
3. Act as single point of contact (SPOC) for EU Member States, EU institutions, and relevant authorities in non-EU countries; support CEPOL in strengthening ties with other EU Agencies, particularly within the JHA field (including representing CEPOL in the JHA Agencies' Network).
4. Oversee website and social media management and the development/production of CEPOL communications materials, ensuring alignment with the Agency's brand identity and coordination with external relations messaging and institutional engagements.
5. Oversee the intranet landing page and maintain the electronic archive of dossiers.
6. Draft analytical and periodical reports, correspondence, briefing notes, and communications materials, in support of both public communication and institutional/diplomatic engagement.
7. Contribute to planning, coordination, and execution of CEPOL events and high-level engagements, integrating both communications (visibility, media) and external-relations (institutional, protocol) dimensions.
8. Monitor the activities of the Brussels Liaison Office and provide back-up when needed to ensure business continuity.
9. Manage the teams budget allocation and expenditure; oversee contracts and service providers.
10. Manage specific projects and tools related to CEPOL's external action and communications.
11. Coordinate the staff assigned to Communications and External Relations activities.
12. Other tasks as requested by the Line Manager.

Eligibility criteria  

In addition, in order to be eligible the candidate must:

• Be a national of a Member State of the Union;
• Be entitled to his or her full rights as a citizen;
• Have fulfilled any obligations imposed by the applicable laws on military service;
• Meet the character requirements for the duties involved;
• Be physically fit to perform the duties linked to the post; and
• Have a thorough knowledge (min. level C1) of one of the languages of the Union and a satisfactory knowledge (min. level B2) of another language of the Union. As the official language of the Agency is English one of the before mentioned languages has to be English.

Education  

Level of education which corresponds to completed university studies of at least three years attested by a diploma in the field of Communications, Public Relations, International Relations, Diplomacy, Political studies, Internal Security or a related field;

In the interest of the service, professional training or equivalent (such as CIPR - Chartered Institute of Public Relations or similar, or graduating from a police or law enforcement education institution) and after having completed the training, at least the number of years of relevant professional experience indicated below:

Professional Experience  

In addition to the above, at least 3 years of relevant professional experience gained after obtaining the diploma or after completed the professional training with the experience linked to the training.

Working conditions  

A contract offer will be made as a member of the Temporary Agent staff of the agency in accordance with the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities for a five years period, which may be renewed for additional 5 years. The third contract will be for an indefinite period. The successful candidate will be recruited as Communications and External Relations Officer - AD6.

The basic monthly net pay for this post is EUR 4,046.37 (Step 1) or EUR 4,197.05 (Step 2). The correction coefficient (on the date of publication of this vacancy notice) is 76,6% for Hungary and is already taken in consideration for these amounts.

The step is determined on the basis of professional experience gained after obtaining the diploma of an education required for the position and in line with applicable implementing rules.

In addition, based on personal situation, the following allowances might be granted:

• Expatriation or foreign residence allowance: 16% or 4% of the basic pay.
• Annual travel allowance: staff who are entitled to the expatriation (16%) or foreign residence (4%) allowance are entitled to be paid each calendar year a sum representing the cost of travel from the place of employment to the place of origin for themselves and, if they are entitled to the household allowance, for their spouse and dependents (over the age of 2)
• Household allowance
• Allowance for a dependent child or person treated as such:
  • Pre-school allowance:
  • Education allowance:
  • School fees: paid by CEPOL for dependent children who joined the staff member in changing the residence to fully respect the article 20 of the Staff Regulations. The school shall be considered as non-fee paying and the staff member concerned shall not receive the education allowance mentioned in the bullet point(s) above.

The costs covered by CEPOL shall be:

• The registration and attendance fees at international schools
• The transportation costs
• Excluding all other costs as described on the Commission decision C(2004)131-53-2004 on general implementing provisions for the grant of the education allowance.

In addition, CEPOL will provide benefits and entitlements in line with those of European Union Civil Servants. Such entitlements will be established based on the necessary documents provided by the newly recruited staff member upon taking up duty with CEPOL.

The successful candidate shall undergo a probation period of 9 months.

For reasons related to CEPOL’s operational requirements, the candidate may be required to be available at short notice.

Additional information  

The highest scoring candidates exceeding the threshold defined in advance by the Selection Committee shall be invited for online interview and remote written test. Maximum number of candidates to be invited for interview shall not exceed 12. The interview/written test are planned to take place in the first week of December 2026.

The information provided in applications is subject to EU legislation on protection of personal data and confidentiality of information.

Privacy statements: Privacy statement for processing of personal data related to recruitment

Only candidates who achieve 65% of the total scores available for the interview and written test might be included in a Reserve List. The reserve list will be valid until 31 December 2028 and may be extended by the decision of the Appointing Authority of CEPOL. (Please be aware that placement on a reserve list in no way guarantees future employment at CEPOL.) Prior to being offered a post, candidates may be required to undergo further evaluation by CEPOL.

Essential Criteria  

• Minimum 3 years’ experience in developing and implementing integrated communications and external-relations strategies.
• Minimum 3 years’ professional experience in communications, in the public sector, including developing and managing digital and print communications, website content, social media/press and publication.
• Minimum 3 years’ experience in managing high-level institutional and international stakeholder relations and delivering high-level events and engagements (please describe the duration, your role, which aspects/parts you covered, etc.).
• Minimum 3 years’ experience in managing teams, budgets, contracts, projects and operational activities. (Please describe your exact role, budget managed, size of the team coordinated, volume of the projects, etc.)

Advantageous Criteria  

• Experience in the field of EU internal security and with cooperating with Justice and Home Affaires Agencies.
• Previous professional experience in protocol, including the organization and coordination of official events, high-level meetings, visits, ceremonies, and the application of institutional or diplomatic protocol procedures.
• Experience in drafting formal administrative reports, statements and speeches, statements, briefing notes, etc. (Please provide examples, list types).
• Experience in analyzing complex political content, policies at EU level. (please provide examples).

Link to vacancy