VACANCY NOTICE

Seconded National Expert (SNE) - Inter-Institutional Relations (ELA/SNE/2026/08)

The European Labour Authority

The European Labour Authority ('the Authority' or 'ELA') is a Union body in the area of cross-border labour mobility. Its aim is to facilitate access for individuals and employers to information on their rights and obligations; support cooperation between EU countries in the cross-border enforcement of relevant Union law, including by facilitating joint inspections; support Member States in tackling undeclared work and mediate and facilitate a solution in cases of cross-border disputes between national authorities.

The job

The Authority is organising a call for expression of interest for a Seconded National Expert (SNE) position at the Coordination and Liaison sector, aiming at establishing a reserve list of suitable SNEs for possible secondment.

The candidates applying for this call must be employed by a specific public administration/institution (see eligibility criteria below, section 2).

1. Profile

Working closely with the Brussels Liaison Officer, reporting to the Head of Sector and under the overall guidance of the Head of the Operations Department, the SNE will support the implementation of the tasks assigned to ELA's Brussels Liaison Office. The SNE will provide specialised expertise, contribute to policy monitoring and analysis, and support ELA's engagement with EU institutions, Member States, social partners, international organisations and other relevant stakeholders.

Tasks

The SNE's tasks will include, inter alia:

• • Monitoring and analysing EU policy, legislative and institutional developments relevant to ELA's mandate, including developments concerning labour mobility, the free movement of workers and services, social security coordination, and related digital and green-transition initiatives;
• • Preparing timely summaries, briefings, speaking points, background notes and other analytical material for ELA management and relevant internal services;
• • Supporting ELA's engagement with EU institutions, bodies and agencies, Member States, social partners, international organisations and other relevant stakeholders, in accordance with ELA's priorities and established institutional positions;
• • Contributing to the preparation, organisation and follow-up of meetings, events and stakeholder engagements held in Brussels;
• • supporting preparations for meetings and engagements involving the Executive Director and ELA management;
• • Contributing to cooperation with cross-industry and sectoral social partners;
• • Facilitating the timely exchange of relevant information between the Brussels Liaison Office, ELA's headquarters and the Authority's operational units and sectors;
• • Contributing to ELA's programming, reporting and communication activities, including the preparation of work-programme contributions, reports, briefings and presentations;
• • Supporting the visibility of ELA's mandate, activities and priorities in the Brussels institutional environment;
• • Monitoring relevant aspects of the EU budgetary and discharge cycles and providing factual updates and analytical support to the responsible ELA services;
• • Performing other tasks requested by the line management in the interest of the service.

Qualifications and experience required

2. Eligibility criteria

Candidates must fulfil the requirements below:

• be employed by a national, regional or local public administration or an Intergovernmental Organisation (IGO), or an independent university or research organisation that does not seek to make profit for redistribution or is in fact part of the public sector³;
• have worked for their employer on permanent or contract basis for at least 12 months before their secondment; and to remain in the service of that employer throughout the period of secondment;
• have at least three (3) years' work experience at an appropriate level;
• have thorough knowledge (C1) of one of the EU languages and a satisfactory knowledge (level B2) of another EU language of the Union⁴;
• be a national of an EU Member State.

3. Selection criteria

Essential:

• Experience relevant to the items listed under "Tasks";
• At least three years' professional experience with EU Institutions, bodies or agencies, permanent representations, national administration dealing with EU affairs or international organisations, preferably in the areas of EU institutional affairs, public policy, labour mobility, employment or social policy, social security coordination, or another field connected with ELA's mandate;
• Excellent written and oral command of English (C1 level);

Advantageous:

• Proven experience in monitoring and analysing EU policy, legislative or institutional developments.

Moreover, the following competencies will be assessed during the selection process:

• Excellent understanding of EU policy making structures and functioning of the EU institutions;
• Prioritising and Self-management;
• Driving for results;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective communication.

³ SNEs are staff employed by the public administration in a a) Member State of the EU; b) country with which the Council has decided to open accession negotiations and which has concluded a specific agreement on staff secondments for participation in the Authority's work; c) public IGO. Please read the decision n.18/2025 of the Management Board laying down rules on the secondment to ELA.

⁴ As in line with the Common European Framework of reference for Languages (CEFR). The SNE must produce evidence to qualify for secondment.

The selection process

4. How to apply

You must apply through the EU CV Online system$^{56}$ via this link: https://ec.europa.eu/dgs/personnel_administration/open_applications/CV_Cand/index.cfm?fuseaction=premierAcces&langue=EN

Before applying, you should carefully check whether you meet all the eligibility criteria.

Applications must include a motivation letter and a CV, both submitted in English. Applications not submitted in English will be excluded from the selection procedure.

To be able to apply via EU CV Online, you must first create an account or sign in to an existing account. If not done already, you must first fill in the electronic CV. Once the CV is completed, you may choose and apply to the call for expressions of interest of your choice. You are advised to fill out ALL relevant fields of the application.

Only complete applications registered via EU CV Online before the deadline will be considered. Please note that the selection committee can only consider the information provided by the candidate via EU CV Online. No information via email will be taken into consideration.

It is your responsibility to complete your online registration in time. We strongly advise you not to wait until the last few days before applying, since heavy internet traffic or a problem with the internet connection could lead to your online registration being interrupted before you complete it, thereby obliging you to repeat the whole process.

On completion of the online registration, you will receive on screen a registration number, which you must note. This will be your reference number in all matters concerning your application. If you do not receive a number, it means that your application has not been registered.

After a correct submission of an application, you will receive an automated acknowledgement of receipt of your application to the email account indicated in your application. It is your responsibility to verify that you provided the correct e-mail address.

All technical questions concerning EU CV Online must be sent through the contact page of EU CV Online.

Once the deadline has passed, you will no longer be able to apply.

Deadline for applications: 23rd October 2026, at 12:00 (midday, Bratislava time)

If you require more information, please send an e-mail to: recruitment@ela.europa.eu.

5. Steps of the selection procedure

5.1. Admission to the selection procedure

After the deadline for online registration, the selection committee will check the submitted applications against the eligibility criteria described in Section 2.

The selection committee will analyse if the application was submitted in English. Applications not submitted in English will be excluded from the selection procedure.

Applications satisfying all these conditions will then be initially assessed against the selection criteria under Section 3.

5.2. Initial assessment of the eligible applications

The selection committee will assess each eligible application with reference to the selection criteria described in Section 3.

Upon completion of the assessment, the selection committee will establish a shortlist of candidates to be invited to the assessment phase.

The remaining candidates will be notified by email that their application will no longer be taken into consideration to this selection procedure.

5.3. The assessment phase

Following the initial assessment of the applications, shortlisted candidates will be invited to the assessment phase, which will be held online. The assessment phase will be conducted in English.

This phase may involve an anonymous written test and an interview with the selection committee. This phase will enable the selection committee to carry out an assessment of the pre-selected candidates according to the selection criteria described in Section 3.

5.4. Verification of documents and scrutiny

If, at any stage in the procedure, it is established that the information in an application has been knowingly falsified or incorrect, the candidate will be disqualified from the selection process.

Candidates will also be disqualified if they:

• do not meet all the eligibility criteria;
• do not provide all the required supporting documents.

5.5. Reserve list

The selection committee will place the most suitable eligible candidates on a draft reserve list. This draft will be submitted to the Executive Director of ELA for approval. The adopted reserve

list will be valid until 31 December 2028. The validity of the reserve list may be extended by decision of the Executive Director of ELA.

Prior to being offered a secondment at ELA, candidates on the reserve list may be required to undergo further evaluation by ELA (e.g. including a further interview with the Executive Director).

Following the establishment of the reserve list, the Executive Director may send a letter of secondment to any of the candidates. The secondment must be confirmed by an agreement between ELA and the candidate's employer.

Candidates should note that the inclusion on the reserve list does not imply any entitlement to secondment in ELA.

Other important information

6. General information

6.1. Equal opportunities

The Authority is an equal opportunity agency and strongly encourages applications from all candidates who fulfil the eligibility criteria and interested in the position. ELA ensures that its recruitment procedures do not discriminate on the grounds of gender, colour, race, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, nationality, age, sexual orientation or gender identity.

In case of a disability, please feel free to inform People and Organisation team at recruitment@ela.europa.eu and indicate which arrangements or adjustments relating to your disability are necessary, so ELA can ensure your equal participation in the interviews.

6.2. Selection committee

A selection committee is appointed for each selection procedure. The selection committee is composed of at least three members, including a member designated by the Staff Committee.

Please note that the selection committee's internal proceedings are strictly confidential and that any contact with its members is strictly forbidden. Under no circumstances should candidates approach the selection committee, either directly or indirectly, concerning the selection procedure. Any infringement of this rule will lead to the disqualification from the selection procedure.

6.3. Approximate timetable

The selection process may take some months to be completed. The selection committee intends to finalise the recruitment process for this vacancy by November 2026, with a view for the selected candidate to take office by January 2027.

Please note that once the pre-assessment phase is completed, shortlisted candidates will be invited to the assessment phase. The remaining candidates will be notified, by email, that their application will no longer be taken into consideration.

6.4. Conditions of secondment

Please refer to the Decision of the Management Board laying down rules on the secondment to the European Labour Authority of national experts, including national liaison officers and national experts in professional training, available on ELA's website⁷.

SNEs are staff employed by the public administration in a:

• a) Member State of the EU;
• b) country with which the Council has decided to open accession negotiations and which has concluded a specific agreement on staff secondments for participation in the Authority's work;
• c) public IGO,

who are seconded to the Authority so that it can use their expertise in a particular field related to the tasks of the Authority.

The initial period of secondment for SNEs may not be less than two years or more than four years. The secondment may be renewed once or more, up to a total period not exceeding eight years.

The SNEs' employer shall thus undertake to continue to pay their salary, to maintain their administrative status (permanent official or contract staff member) throughout the period of secondment and to inform the Authority of any change in the SNEs' situation in this regard. The SNEs' employer shall also continue to be responsible for all their social rights, particularly their social security insurability and pension rights

Throughout the period of secondment at ELA, SNEs shall be entitled to daily allowance (100%; no correction coefficient applied) and monthly allowance, based on the distance between the place of origin/of recruitment and the place of secondment (Brussels) equal to the amount established by the European Commission each year.

In addition to the allowances, SNEs may be entitled to reimbursement of the education fees, depending on their particular situation, to selected educational institutions.

6.5. Job environment

ELA is located in Bratislava, Slovakia (the Agency's official seat) with an Office in Brussels, Belgium. This vacancy notice aims to establish a reserve list for a secondment position based in Brussels. The reserve list may also be used to recruit candidates for future secondment opportunities in Bratislava that require a similar professional profile.

The Seconded National Expert will work in a multicultural, respectful and appreciative environment, which offers the possibility to shape the work of the authority, where collaboration and open and constructive dialogue is encouraged, while building effective work relations.

Working time is based on a 40-hour working week. ELA offers flexible working arrangements such as teleworking, and flexible working hours.

⁷ Decision of the Management Board laying down rules on the secondment to the European Labour Authority of national experts

6.6. Protection of personal data

Personal data shall be processed exclusively for the purpose of this selection procedure. The purpose of processing the data submitted by candidates is to evaluate applications in view of possible secondment at ELA.

As the body responsible for organising the competition, the Authority ensures that applicants' personal data are processed as required by Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data (Official Journal of the European Union, L 295/39 of 21 November 2018). This applies in particular to the confidentiality and security of such data. In this regards, please see the ELA Privacy Statement on selection procedures.