13 April 2026

Project Assistant - EEA & Norway Grants

Closed

FRA-CA-PAST-FGIII-2026
Contract Agents
The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) is organising a selection procedure to draw up a reserve list and fill at least two vacant positions for Project Assistants (FG III) assigned to one or more projects carried out in the framework of FRA’s cooperation with the EEA and Norway Grants. The position is funded by the EEA and Norway Grants under its agreement with FRA and is therefore only for a limited duration (up to a maximum total duration of 7 years), without prospect of permanent employment. Please refer to the section “engagement and conditions of employment” for details. The selection procedure is published inter-agency and externally.

Open until :

30/04/2026 13:00
Opening Date
09/04/2026 13:00

Background

Background

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) provides independent, evidence-based advice to policy-makers, to help ensure full respect for fundamental rights across the EU, for everyone. To this end, the Agency collects and analyses information and data on a range of fundamental rights issues, provides assistance and expertise to EU institutions and to EU Member States’ governments, raises rights awareness, communicates its findings and strengthens cooperation and ties between fundamental rights actors.

The EEA and Norway Grants

FRA cooperates with the EEA and Norway Grants on fundamental rights related programmes and projects in a number of EU Member States which are beneficiaries of the Grants. It also provides strategic advice to the Grants on fundamental rights issues, under a specific cooperation arrangement which the two organisations have concluded. Funding is provided for a limited period for agreed projects.

Project areas

In the context of this new cooperation, funded under the EEA and Norwegian Financial Mechanisms 2021-2028, FRA will implement the following projects:

A.     Strengthening the Civic Space:

The project’s overall objective is to improve the civic space situation in the Grants 15 beneficiary countries, through fostering an enabling environment and strengthening the resilience of civil society actors.

B.     Strengthening National Human Rights Bodies:

The project will enhance the capacity of National Human Rights Institutions and other human rights bodies in the Grants 15 beneficiary countries to effectively carry out their oversight and other mandated roles under selected areas of EU laws, contributing to preventing fundamental rights violations and improving the protection and promotion of fundamental rights across the beneficiary states and beyond.

C.     Roma Empowerment and Inclusion: 

The project’s main objective is empowerment of local Roma youth and Roma women in Bulgaria, Czechia and Romania. This will be done through the development, piloting and implementing a system of local level (lowest territorial level) data collection and facilitating partnerships with local authorities to provide evidence on the enjoyment of fundamental rights of the Roma. The project seeks to shift perception of Roma from being merely subjects of surveys to active agents contributing to the design, analysis and communication of evidence on their enjoyment of their fundamental rights.

Duties

The Project Assistant will be assigned to one or more of the designated Norway Grants-funded projects indicated above and will carry out the following key activities:

  • Provide administrative and organisational support to the projects, including assisting with procurement and contracting activities, budget monitoring and keeping track of project progress;
  • Assist in key activities relevant for the project, e.g. research, policy advice, organisation and follow up of stakeholder meetings, communities of practice, and capacity-building activities;
  • Organise conferences, meetings, and events under the projects;
  • Manage project documentation, appropriately filing documents and maintaining relevant registers or shared working spaces;
  • Schedule project team meetings and events, prepare meeting reports and follow up on agreed actions;
  • Liaise with project beneficiaries and partners;
  • Initiate financial transactions in the accounting tool (SUMMA), such as commitments, de-commitments and payments in conformity with the contractual and legal frameworks;
  • Support project communication activities;
  • Assist with technical maintenance of internal and external portals, websites, digital communication channels and data bases, ensuring quality control. 

Duties applicable to all staff:

  • Perform any other related duties assigned by the manager.

Eligibility requirements

Only candidates who meet all of the following eligibility criteria by the deadline for submission of applications will be marked as eligible. Candidates who do not meet one or more criteria will not be considered further:

General conditions[1]

  • Be a national of one of the Member States of the European Union and be entitled to full rights as a citizen;
  • Have fulfilled any obligations imposed by the laws concerning military service;
  • Meet the character requirements as to suitability for the performance of the duties involved[2];
  • Be physically fit to perform the duties linked to the post[3].

Education[4] and experience

A level of post-secondary education attested by a diploma,

OR

A level of secondary education attested by a diploma giving access to post-secondary education, and appropriate professional experience of at least three years.

Language skills

  • Have a thorough knowledge (level C1) of English, as this is the working language of FRA, and
  • Have a satisfactory knowledge (minimum level B2) of another language of the EU.

The levels indicated correspond to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages[5].


[1] See Article 12 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union.

[2] Prior to appointment, successful applicants will be required to prove that they do not have any criminal record.

[3] Before being engaged, successful applicants will be required to undergo a medical examination to attest to fitness for work.  

[4] Only diplomas and certificates that have been awarded in EU Member States or that are the subject of equivalence certificates issued by authorities in the Member States shall be taken into consideration. Any certificate of equivalence should be obtained by the deadline for applications.

 

Selection criteria

In order to select the best-qualified candidates for the test and interview phase, FRA will assess the following essential and advantageous criteria.

Please note that all essential criteria are mandatory. If a candidate scores zero on any individual essential criterion, their application will not be assessed further.

The following criteria will be considered as essential:

  • At least 3 years of proven full-time experience in tasks mentioned under the “Duties” section, performed as part of projects financed either via research grants or donor-funded programmes;
  • Experience organising meetings and events with both internal and external participants;
  • Experience supporting project management activities as part of a project team, including tracking milestones and following up on activities;
  • Experience in at least one of the two areas:
    • Assisting budget planning, monitoring and reporting;
    • Assisting preparation of communication materials for projects.

The following criteria will be considered as advantageous:

  • Professional experience supporting projects in one of the 3 project areas listed in this vacancy;
  • Completion of relevant training in project management;
  • Experience initiating financial transactions using financial management software (e.g. SUMMA/ABAC);
  • Experience using and maintaining digital tools (e.g. portals, websites, databases) for communicating project-related information.

In addition to the essential and advantageous criteria, candidates invited to the interview and test phase will also be assessed against behavioural competencies relevant for the position. In particular, the successful candidate will be expected to demonstrate:

  • Strong organisational and time management skills;
  • Ability to work independently on agreed tasks and take accountability for the quality of one’s own work;
  • A strong sense of teamwork, demonstrating flexibility and adaptability in the approach to work.

Engagement and conditions of employment

A contract as a member of the contract staff will be offered pursuant to Article 3(a) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union for up to 3 years. The contract may be renewed up to a maximum total duration of 7 years, subject to the continuation of funding under the agreement between the EEA and Norway Grants and FRA.

The successful candidate will be recruited as contract agent in function group III (FGIII). At the time of publication of the call, the monthly basic salary of an FG III starts from 3,475.62 (grade 8) depending on the number of years of professional experience. In addition to the basic salary, staff members may be entitled to various allowances, in particular a household allowance, expatriation allowance (16% of basic salary + household allowance), dependent child allowance and education allowance. The salary is subject to a Union tax deducted at source and it is exempt of national taxation.

FRA also offers a comprehensive welfare package including pension scheme, medical, accident and occupational disease insurance coverage, unemployment and invalidity allowance and travel insurance.

Under certain circumstances, in particular where staff members are obliged to change their place of residence in order to take up employment, the Agency may also reimburse various expenses incurred on recruitment, notably removal expenses.

Additional information can be obtained from the website of the European Commission

For any further information on the contractual and working conditions please refer to the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and the Conditions of Employment of other Servants

Submission of applications and deadline

Candidates are requested to submit their application electronically through the Agency’s website: fra.europa.eu. Only online completed applications submitted in English via the e-recruitment system will be accepted.

Applications must be sent no later than 30/04/2026 13:00 Central European Time (CET).

Information concerning the status of the selection procedure can be found at FRA's website and on the recruiting portal.

In case you experience technical problems during your application please contact, recruitment@fra.europa.eu

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Please note that due to the large number of applications we receive, the system may face problems in processing data when reaching the deadline for submission of applications. We therefore advise to apply well ahead of the deadline.