Head of Unit 'Maritime Digital Solutions' (AD10)

The European Maritime Safety Agency was established for the purpose of ensuring a high, uniform and effective level of maritime safety that aims at a maximum reduction of accidents, a high, uniform and effective level of maritime security, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from ships and the environmental sustainability of the maritime sector as well as the prevention of and response to pollution caused by ships and the response to marine pollution caused by oil and gas installations. The Agency supports digitalisation and the reduction of the administrative burden in the maritime sector by facilitating the electronic transmission of data and supports simplification and the provision of integrated maritime surveillance and maritime situational awareness systems and services to the European Commission and the Member States.

The Agency was established by Regulation (EU) 2025/2434 of the European Parliament and of the European Council of 26 November 2025 on the European Maritime Safety Agency and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002.

The Agency provides technical, operational and scientific assistance to the European Commission and Member States in the fields of maritime safety, maritime security, prevention of, and response to, pollution caused by ships as well as response to marine pollution caused by oil and gas installations.

The Agency also contributes to the overall efficiency of maritime traffic and maritime transport and supports European cooperation on coastguard functions.

EMSA's activities can be broadly described as:

• providing technical and scientific assistance to the Member States and the European Commission in the proper development and implementation of EU legislation on maritime safety, security, prevention of pollution by ships and maritime transport administrative simplification;
• monitoring the implementation of EU legislation through visits and inspections;
• improving cooperation with and between Member States;
• building capacity of national competent authorities;
• providing operational assistance, including developing, managing and maintaining maritime services related to ships, ship monitoring and enforcement;
• carrying out operational preparedness, detection and response tasks with respect to pollution caused by ships and marine pollution by oil and gas installations;
• at the request of the European Commission, providing technical operational assistance to non-EU countries around relevant sea basins.

The Unit supports the development, operation and continuous improvement of a number of maritime digital solutions of the Agency and is in charge of the Maritime Support Services (MSS).

The Unit works in close cooperation with business units, transforming their needs into technical systems and services. In this respect, the Unit manages the technical implementation of applications for reporting and support to business processes such as the Marine Equipment Database, EMCIP (database for accident investigation), STCW Information System (information on the seafarer's certification and training at EU level), DONA (reporting tool for Member States to the Commission), THETIS MRV (monitoring, reporting and verification of emissions), THETIS ETS (maritime Emission Trading System) and THETIS Fuel EU, as well as applications supporting inspection regimes such as THETIS EU, THETIS Sulphur, THETIS MED and THETIS Animal Welfare and RuleCheck (compendium of international legislation for inspections). The Unit also provides the technical coordination for the implementation of applications and databases supporting the implementation of the Ship Source Pollution Directive and other new or amended legislative acts.

Surveillance information applications such as the Earth Observation Data Centre and the RPAS Data Centre are supported and where applicable developed by the Unit.

Reporting to the Head of Department 'Digital Services', the Head of Unit 'Maritime Digital Solutions' will be responsible for the overall management of the Unit and, in particular, for ensuring the effective implementation of its tasks in line with the Agency's Single Programming Document such as:

• Supervising procurement activities and contract management in the field of competency of the Unit;
• Ensuring effective planning and coordination of the Unit's activities, ensuring the required quality standards;
• Defining, monitoring, managing and reporting on the human, financial and budgetary resources allocated to the Unit;
• Co-ordinating and implementing activities foreseen in the Unit's work programme, ensuring their coherence and alignment with the policies of the Agency;
• Ensuring the delivery of results as planned in a timely manner;
• Developing the Agency's administrative capacity within the field of competence of the Unit;
• Verifying and validating, in their capacity as delegated Authorising Officer, the financial and budgetary aspects of projects carried out under their responsibility;
• Ensuring effective teamwork within the Unit and promoting close cooperation with other Units and Departments;
• Contributing to the work of Department 3 and to the achievement of the Agency's objectives in general.

In addition to the requirements above, candidates invited to the interview and test phase may also be assessed against the following supplementary requirements:

• Very good organisational and interpersonal skills, as well as the ability to deal with people tactfully;
• Ability to work effectively under pressure, meet strict deadlines, and prioritise tasks efficiently;
• Service orientated with a strong customer-focused approach, with demonstrated responsiveness, adaptability, and flexibility;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills;
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills;
• A high sense of confidentiality, discretion and professionalism when handling sensitive and confidential information.

In order to be eligible the candidate must:

• Be a national of one of the Member States of the European Union or of Iceland or Norway;
• Be entitled to his/her full rights as a citizen;
• Have fulfilled the obligations imposed on him/her by the laws concerning military service;
• Meet the character requirements for the duties involved; and
• Be physically fit to perform the duties linked to the post.

The Head of Unit 'Maritime Digital Solutions' will be appointed by the Executive Director, upon recommendation of the Chairperson of the Selection Committee.

This vacancy notice concerns a Temporary Agent position, pursuant to Article 2f) of the Conditions of Employment of other servants of the European Communities.

The initial duration of the contract is three years, with possibility of renewal.

The successful candidate will be recruited in the grade AD10.

The basic monthly salary, before any deductions or allowances, weighted for Lisbon, at 1 July 2025 for grade AD10 first step is 10,541.02EUR.

In addition to the basic salary, staff members may be entitled to various allowances, such as an expatriation allowance (16% of basic salary), household allowance, dependent child allowance and education allowance. The salary is subject to a Community tax deducted at source and staff members are exempt of national taxation.

Please note that recruitment is done in the first or second step of the indicated grade, depending on the duration of the acquired professional experience. EMSA offers a comprehensive welfare package including pension scheme, medical, accident and occupational disease insurance coverage, unemployment and invalidity allowance. Further information regarding rights and conditions of employment can be found in the following document.

Staff members newly appointed to a Head of Unit position are obliged to serve a management trial period, in addition to the normal probation period, in both cases for a duration of nine months. A mid-term review shall take place after four months. Please refer to section 6 of the Decision of the Administrative Board laying down implementing rules on middle management in annex for further information.

Please note that in line with the Staff Regulations recruited candidates shall be required to demonstrate before their first promotion the ability to work in a third European Community language.

The place of employment is Lisbon, Portugal.

Candidates are advised that if they are offered a post, and accept, they must undergo a compulsory medical examination to establish that they meet the standard of physical fitness necessary to perform the duties involved.

EMSA is an Agency focused on gender balance and a harmonic workplace and strongly encourages the applications of women for the positions where they are underrepresented.

Candidates should ensure that they clearly indicate how they meet the selection criteria in their application and motivation letter.

Candidates must submit their application electronically solely via the EMSA website within the deadline. Applications by any other means (hard copy or ordinary e-mail) or submitted after the deadline will not be accepted.

All candidates will receive an acknowledgement of receipt for their application.

EMSA is an equal opportunities employer. Staff is selected without prejudice as to sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation.

You may apply in any of the official languages of the European Union, but it would be helpful to apply in English in order to facilitate the selection process.

The selection process will consist of the following steps:

1. Assessment of applications by a pre-selection panel: All eligible applications will be evaluated by the pre-selection panel and scored against the selection criteria. Please note that non-compliance with at least one of the essential criteria will result in the exclusion of the candidate from the selection process. Advantageous criteria constitute additional assets and will not result in exclusion, if not fulfilled. The advantageous criteria will be considered by the pre-selection panel depending on the number of applicants meeting the essential criteria. The pre-selection panel will invite to the interview and test phase the candidates (maximum of 15) who best correspond to the profile sought and on condition that they have achieved at least 70% of the highest possible score during the evaluation of applications. Should the case arise that there are various candidates scoring the same number of points in the 15th ranking, the number of candidates to be invited will be increased accordingly to accommodate this.
2. Interviews and written test with the pre-selection panel: In addition to the interview, all candidates will be obliged to undergo a written test. Following the interview and written test, the pre-selection panel will subsequently draw up a shortlist of the applicants who most correspond to the profile sought to be invited to interview with the Executive Director and two additional members. Only candidates receiving at least 70% of the maximum points of the combined interview and written test will be included in the shortlist.
3. The applicants on the shortlist shall be invited to an interview with the Executive Director and two additional members.
4. All applicants invited to the interviews with the Executive Director and the two additional members shall take part in an assessment centre, unless they have already taken part in such an assessment centre in the course of the two years preceding the closing date for the receipt of application at the requisite level. If an applicant has taken part in an assessment centre within this two-year period, but not within the 18 months preceding the closing date for the receipt of applications, they may at their request be admitted to the assessment centre.
5. After the assessment centre, the Executive Director and the additional members shall interview the invited applicants.
6. The selected candidate shall be appointed by the Appointing Authority. The Appointing Authority will decide whether to also adopt a reserve list.

Please refer to Article 9 and Article 15 of the Decision of the Administrative Board laying down implementing rules on middle management for further information regarding the selection process.

Please note that the selection process may take several months to be completed and that no information will be released during this period. Once a selection process has been completed, its status will be displayed in the e-recruitment.

Please be informed that the interviews and written tests will be organised remotely. Further information on the organisation of the test and interview will be provided upon invitation.

All candidates will receive an information letter of the outcome of their application.

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.

Please note that a binding commitment can only be made after verification of all conditions and will take the form of a contract signed by the Executive Director.

Please note that the selection process may take several months to be completed and that no information will be released during this period. Once a selection process has been completed, its status will be displayed in the e-recruitment.

Please note that once you have created your EMSA profile, any correspondence regarding your application must be sent or received via your EMSA profile.

For any prior enquiry, please refer to the FAQ (Frequently asked questions) section, or send an e-mail to recruitment@emsa.europa.eu

Requests for information:

An applicant who would like further information or considers that he/she has grounds for complaint concerning a particular decision of the selection procedure may send a request by e-mail to recruitment@emsa.europa.eu preferably within 10 working days from the date he/she was notified.

EMSA Human Resources will forward the request to the Chairperson of the Selection Committee and the applicant will receive a reply as soon as possible.

How to lodge a complaint:

An applicant may lodge a complaint under Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities and Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities by email to recruitment@emsa.europa.eu or registered mail at the following address:

Human Resources Unit

EMSA

Praca Europa 4

1249-206 Lisbon

Portugal

The time limit for initiating this type of procedure is three months (see Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations as amended by Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1023/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2013, OJ L 287, 29.10.2013 from the time you become aware of the act allegedly prejudicing your interests.

Applicants can make a complaint to the European Ombudsman. Before submitting a complaint to the European Ombudsman applicants must already have contacted EMSA about the matter and used all the internal administrative options for review and/or complaints provided for in the Staff Regulations.

More information: https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/home

Personal Data protection:

The processing of personal data in the Community institutions and bodies like agencies is regulated 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, 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.

For more on personal data protection and related documents see the Personal Data Protection page.