We are

The European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) is an Agency of the European Union (EU). Since 2 July 2024, the EUDA replaces and succeeds the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (the ‘EMCDDA’), which was established in 1993 by Council Regulation (EEC) No 302/93 (1) and recast in 2006 by Regulation (EC) No 1920/2006 (2). The EUDA was established by Regulation (EU) 2023/1322 (3) repealing Regulation (EC) No 1920/2006 (hereinafter the EUDA Regulation).

The Agency is widely recognised as a hub of scientific excellence in Europe and internationally, providing factual, objective, reliable and comparable data at European level on drugs, drug addiction and their consequences, and successfully monitoring emerging threats and trends. As of 2024, the Agency is equipped with a new mandate allowing it to build on the achievements of the EMCDDA in order to play a more important role in identifying and addressing current and future challenges related to illicit drugs in the EU. With its new mandate, the Agency is entrusted with taking a proactive approach and plays a key role in identifying and addressing current and future challenges related to illicit drugs in the EU. In so doing, the Agency contributes to the EU’s preparedness to react to new health and security threats. The Agency also plays a stronger international role, contributing to the development and implementation of the external dimension of the Union’s drugs policy.

The Agency’s main tasks are:

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To provide the Union and the Member States with factual, objective, reliable and comparable information, early warning and risk assessment at Union level concerning drugs, drug use, drug use disorders and addictions, prevention, treatment, care, risk and harm reduction, rehabilitation, social reintegration, recovery, drug markets and supply, including illicit production and trafficking, and other relevant drug-related issues and their consequences; and

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To recommend appropriate and concrete evidence-based actions on how to address, in an efficient and timely manner, the challenges relating to drugs, drug use, drug use disorders and addictions, prevention, treatment, care, risk and harm reduction, rehabilitation, social reintegration, recovery, drug markets and supply, including illicit production and trafficking, and other relevant drug-related issues and their consequences.

The Agency’s tasks are specified in Article 5 and following of the EUDA Regulation.

The Agency is open to third countries which have concluded an agreement with the European Union for their participation in its work (currently Norway and Türkiye). The Agency cooperates with relevant organisations and bodies, in particular Union, governmental and non-governmental bodies and with technical bodies as well as international organisations and bodies competent in matters covered by its mandate.

The Agency is based in Lisbon, Portugal.

In 2024, it received a Union subsidy of EUR 32 131 775 (the total budget of the Centre is EUR 34 584 952, which includes the contribution of Norway and Türkiye and other additional EU Funding Projects) and employs approximately 133 persons.

Additional information on the Agency is available on the website: https://www.euda.europa.eu/index_en.

We propose

The function of the Executive Director of the Agency.

The Executive Director will lead and manage the Agency and take overall responsibility for its operations ensuring the achievement of its objectives. They will shape, promote and implement a modern and transparent vision for the Agency, fully in line with the founding Regulation and the EU values and the European Union’s drugs policy.

The Executive Director will reflect strategic policy developments of the EU in the Agency’s activities, in close collaboration with the Commission. They will prepare, propose and implement the Agency’s work programme and multi-annual programmes as well as the decisions of the Management Board of the Agency. They will assess and report on the implementation of the Agency’s activities.

The Executive Director is overseeing the Agency’s corporate governance and culture, motivating and leading staff to excel and deliver within its legal framework.

The Executive Director will manage the Agency and shall be its legal representative and public face. They will engage with stakeholders and the public as necessary in relation to all matters within the mandate of the Agency.

The Executive Director will actively enhance cooperation with the other Union agencies, notably the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol), the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL), the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) as well as other EU stakeholders and external partners. They will notably steer and implement the Agency’s international cooperation framework, enhancing cooperation with international organisations and other bodies and from third countries in order to contribute to the development and implementation of the external dimension of the Union’s drugs policy.

The Executive Director will be responsible for establishing and managing the administrative, operational and financial measures necessary for the proper functioning of the Agency. They will be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Agency.

The Executive Director shall be independent in the performance of their duties and shall be accountable to the Management Board.

Without prejudice to the powers of the Management Board, the Executive Director shall assume full responsibility for the implementation of the tasks entrusted to the Agency and shall be subject to the procedure for annual discharge and closure of accounts by the European Parliament for the implementation of the budget.

The Executive Director will be responsible for specific tasks laid down in the EUDA Regulation for which a more detailed description can be found in its Articles 29 and 30.

We look for (selection criteria)

The candidates should have:

Management skills — Sound judgment and proven capacity to manage large numbers of staff both at strategic and internal management level and to set and deliver on objectives; — Solid and proven administrative and management skills, in particular experience of budgetary, and financial management, acquired in a national, European or international context; — Ability to lead, motivate and develop a multidisciplinary team in a European, multicultural and multilingual environment.

Specialist skills and experience — Proven experience in developing and leading an organisation, leading and managing teams with multidisciplinary backgrounds at a high management level as well as ability and experience in developing and steering an operational vision based on policy priorities, building on the Agency’s mandate and strategic objectives; — Good understanding and proven knowledge of the EU context, such as the role of the EU institutions and decision-making procedures, and of the interaction between national administrations and EU institutions; additional knowledge of the functioning of other international organisations would be considered an asset; — In-depth knowledge and proven experience in the field of drug policy, acquired in a national, European or international context; additional experience in other fields relevant to the Agency’s mandate and activities, in particular health, justice and law enforcement, would be considered an asset.

Personal qualities — Excellent interpersonal, analytical, decision-making, organisational and negotiation skills; — Proven ability to communicate fluently and efficiently at all levels, including with stakeholders, media and with the public (European, international, national and local authorities, international organisations, civil society organisations, etc.).

Candidates must (eligibility requirements)

Candidates will only be considered for the selection phase on the basis of the following formal requirements to be fulfilled by the deadline for applications:

—	Nationality: candidates must be a citizen of one of the Member States of the European Union.

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University degree or diploma: candidates must have: — either a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma when the normal period of university education is 4 years or more; — or a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma and appropriate professional experience of at least 1 year when the normal period of university education is at least 3 years (this 1 year’s professional experience cannot be included in the postgraduate professional experience required below).

—	Professional experience: candidates must have at least 15 years postgraduate professional experience (4) at a level to which the qualifications referred to above give admission. At least 5 years of that professional experience must be in the area of the activities of the Agency.

—	Management experience: at least 5 years of the post-graduate professional experience must have been gained in a high–level management function (5) in a field relevant for this position.

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Languages: candidates must have a thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the European Union (6) and a satisfactory knowledge of another of these official languages. Selection panels will verify during the interview(s) whether candidates comply with the requirement of a satisfactory knowledge of another official EU language. This may include (part of) the interview being conducted in this other language.

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Age limit: candidates must be able to complete, at the deadline for application, the full mandate of 5 years before reaching the retirement age. For temporary staff of the European Union, the retirement age is defined as being the end of the month in which the person reaches the age of 66 years (see Article 47 of the Conditions of Employment of other Servants of the European Union (7)).

Selection and appointment

The Executive Director will be appointed by the Management Board of the European Union Drugs Agency on the basis of a shortlist of at least three candidates proposed by the European Commission.

To establish this shortlist, the European Commission organises a selection in accordance with its selection and recruitment procedures (see the Document on Senior Officials Policy (8)). The Commission may include a representative of the Management Board as an observer in the selection procedure.

As part of this selection procedure, the European Commission sets up a pre-selection panel. This panel analyses all applications, proceeds with a first eligibility, verification and identifies candidates having the best profile in view of the selection criteria mentioned above, and who may be invited for an interview with the pre-selection panel.

Following these interviews, the pre-selection panel draws up its conclusions and proposes a list of candidates for further interviews with the European Commission’s Consultative Committee on Appointments (CCA). The CCA, taking into consideration the conclusions of the pre-selection panel, will decide on the candidates to be invited for an interview.

Candidates who are called for an interview with the CCA participate in a full-day management assessment centre run by external recruitment consultants. Taking account of the results of the interview and the report of the assessment centre, the CCA establishes a shortlist of candidates it considers suitable to exercise the function of Executive Director of the European Union Drugs Agency.

Candidates on the CCA shortlist will be interviewed by the Member(s) of the Commission responsible for the Directorate-General in charge of the relations with the Agency (9).

Following these interviews, the European Commission adopts a shortlist of the most suitable candidates, which will be communicated to the Management Board of the European Union Drugs Agency. The latter may decide to interview the candidates before appointing the Executive Director from among the candidates on the Commission shortlist. Inclusion on this shortlist does not guarantee appointment.

Candidates may be required to undergo further interviews and/or tests in addition to those indicated above. Before appointment by the Management Board to the post of Executive Director, the shortlisted candidates proposed by the Commission may be invited, without delay, to make a statement before the competent committee or committees of the European Parliament and answer questions from the committee members. After hearing the statement and the responses, the European Parliament may adopt an opinion setting out its views and submit it to the Management Board.

The selected candidate should hold, or be in the position to obtain, a valid security clearance certificate from their national security authority. A personal security clearance is an administrative decision following completion of a security screening conducted by the individual’s competent national security authority in accordance with applicable national security laws and regulations and certifying that an individual may be allowed to access classified information up to a specified level. (Note that the necessary procedure for obtaining a security clearance can be initiated on request of the employer only, and not by the individual candidate).

Until the personal security clearance has been granted by the Member State concerned and the clearance procedure completed with the legally required briefing from the European Commission’s Security Directorate, the candidate will not be able to access EU Classified Information (EUCI) at the level of CONFIDENTIEL UE / EU CONFIDENTIAL or above, nor attend any meetings at which such EUCI is discussed.

Equal Opportunities

The Commission and the Agency pursue a strategic objective of achieving gender equality at all management levels by the end of its current mandate and applies a policy of equal opportunities and non-discrimination accordance with Article 1d of the Staff Regulations (10) encouraging applications that could contribute towards more diversity, gender equality and overall geographical balance.

Conditions of employment

The salaries and conditions of employment are laid down in the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union.

The successful candidate will be engaged by the European Union Drugs Agency as a Temporary Agent at grade AD 14 (11). She/he will be classified depending on the length of their previous professional experience in step 1 or step 2 within that grade.

She/he will be appointed for an initial mandate of 5 years, with a possible extension of the mandate once for a period of no more than 5 years according to the Regulation establishing the Agency as applicable at the time of appointment.

Applicants should note the requirement under the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union for all new staff to complete successfully a 9-month probationary period.

The place of employment is Lisbon, Portugal.

The post is available from 1 January 2026.

Important information for candidates

Candidates are reminded that the work of the selection panels is confidential. It is forbidden for candidates to make direct or indirect contact with their individual members or for anybody to do so on their behalf. Any query has to be addressed to the secretariat of the respective panel.

Protection of personal data

The Commission will ensure that candidates’ personal data are processed as required by Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council (12). This applies in particular to the confidentiality and security of such data.

Independence and declaration of interests

Before taking up their duties, the Executive Director will be required to make a declaration of commitment to act independently, impartially and in a transparent manner in the public interest and to declare any interests, which could affect their impartiality. They will be required to renew that declaration on a yearly basis.

Application procedure

Before submitting your application, you should carefully check whether you meet all eligibility requirements (‘Candidates must’), particularly concerning the types of diploma, high-level professional experience as well as linguistic capacity required. Failure to meet any of the eligibility requirements means an automatic exclusion from the selection procedure.

If you want to apply, you must register via the Internet on the following website and follow the instructions concerning the various stages of the procedure:

https://ec.europa.eu/dgs/human-resources/seniormanagementvacancies/

You must have a valid e-mail address. This will be used to confirm your registration as well as to remain in contact with you during the different stages of the procedure. Therefore, please keep the European Commission informed about any change in your e-mail address.

To complete your application, you need to upload a CV in PDF format, preferably using the Europass CV format (13), and to fill out, online, a letter of motivation (maximum 8 000 characters). Your CV and your letter of motivation may be submitted in any of the official languages of the European Union.

It is in your interest to ensure that your application is accurate, thorough and truthful.

Once you have finished your online registration, you will receive an electronic mail confirming that your application has been registered. If you do not receive a confirmation mail, your application has not been registered!

Please note that it is not possible to monitor the progress of your application on-line. You will be contacted directly by the European Commission regarding the status of your application.

Applications sent by e-mail will not be accepted. If you require more information and/or encounter technical problems, please send an e-mail to: HR-MANAGEMENT-ONLINE@ec.europa.eu.

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 fault with your internet connection could lead to the online registration being terminated before you complete it, thereby obliging you to repeat the whole process. Once the deadline for the submission of registrations has passed, you will no longer be able to introduce any data. Late registrations will not be accepted.

Closing date

The closing date for registration is 30 October 2024, 12.00 noon Brussels time, following which registration is no longer possible.

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(1)  Council Regulation (EEC) No 302/93 of 8 February 1993 on the establishment of a European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OJ L 36, 12.2.1993, p. 1).

(2)  Regulation (EC) No 1920/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OJ L 376, 27.12.2006, p. 1).

(3)  Regulation (EU) 2023/1322 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2023 on the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) and Repealing Regulation (EC) No 1920/2006 (OJ L 166, 30.6.2023, p. 6).

(4)  Professional experience is only taken into consideration if it represents an actual work relationship defined as real, genuine work, on a paid basis and as employee (any type of contract) or provider of a service. Professional activities pursued part-time shall be calculated pro rata, on the basis of the certified percentage of full-time hours worked. Maternity leave / parental leave / leave for adoption is taken into consideration if it is in the framework of a work contract. PhDs are assimilated to professional experience, even when unpaid, but for a duration of three years maximum, provided that the PhD has been successfully completed. A given period may be counted only once.

(5)  In their curriculum vitae, candidates should clearly indicate for all years during which management experience has been acquired: (1) title and role of management positions held; (2) numbers of staff overseen in these positions; (3) the size of budgets managed; (4) numbers of hierarchical layers above and below; and (5) number of peers.

(6)   https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A01958R0001-20130701.

(7)   OJ 45, 14.6.1962, p. 1385/62, consolidated text: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A01962R0031-20240101.

(8)   https://commission.europa.eu/jobs-european-commission/job-opportunities/managers-european-commission_en#vacancies.

(9)  Unless the Member of the Commission concerned, in line with the Commission Decision of 5 December 2007 (PV(2007) 1811) and 30 September 2020 (PV(2020) 2351), has delegated this task.

(10)   OJ 45, 14.6.1962, p. 1385/62, consolidated text: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A01962R0031-20240101.

(11)  The correction coefficient applicable to the remuneration and pensions of officials and other servants of the European Union for Portugal is set at 96,6 % as from 1 July 2023. This coefficient is subject to an annual revision.

(12)  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, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39).

(13)  You can find information on how to create your Europass CV online at: https://europa.eu/europass/en/create-europass-cv.