Job notes

Dataset: Available job opportunities in the EU institutions
Source row ID: 20842
Contract type: Temporary staff
Grade: AD 10
Institution: (EMSA) European Maritime Safety Agency
Location: Lisbon, Portugal
Domain: Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, Information Technology
Deadline: 15/10/2026 23:59

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Head of Unit Maritime Digital Solutions

Recruitment procedures for temporary staff are organised by the EU institutions, bodies and agencies concerned and are not under EPSO’s responsibility. We advise you to visit their job vacancies websites for the latest information on their respective job vacancies.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Call for Applications: EMSA/AD/2026/08 - Head of Unit 'Maritime Digital Solutions'

The selection of candidates will follow the EMSA Staff Recruitment Procedure. Candidates must apply for this post via the EMSA website - vacancies. Please note that to make an EMSA on-line application you will need to create your EMSA profile using a valid e-mail address and a password.

1. Background

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.

2. Tasks of the agency

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.

3. Unit 3.2: Maritime Digital Solutions

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.

4. Functions and duties

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.

5. Eligibility and Selection Criteria

A. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

A.1 Education and experience

A level of education which corresponds to completed university studies, attested by a diploma, when the normal period of university education is four years or more AND at least thirteen years of proven professional experience acquired after the award of university diploma, or;

A level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma when the normal period of university education is at least three years AND at least fourteen years of proven professional experience acquired after the award of university diploma.

It should be noted that due to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on the 31/01/2020, candidates from the United Kingdom who do not hold the nationality of another European Union Member State, are not eligible.

Only qualifications that have been awarded in EU Member States or that are subject to the equivalence certificates issued by the authorities in the EU Member States will be taken into consideration. Please note, that degrees awarded by the United Kingdom up to 31/12/2020 are considered as valid.

A.2 Language skills

The main working language in the field of maritime safety is English. Candidates must therefore have a very good command of oral English as well as in writing with a satisfactory knowledge of at least one other official language of the European Union to the extent necessary for the performance of the above-mentioned duties.

B. SELECTION CRITERIA

B.1. Essential

At least thirteen years of proven relevant professional experience obtained after completing the required University Degree, including a minimum of 6 years of professional experience in the field of digital services;

At least six years of proven professional experience in a management position, successfully leading/coordinating work of a medium-sized team (i.e minimum of 5 persons and above);

Proven professional work experience in project and/or technical management in the implementation of ICT projects, in particular contract management;

Strong high-level technical analytical skills, with a proven ability to translate business requirements into technical specifications;

Proven professional experience in IT service management frameworks, such as ITIL;

Expertise in ICT enterprise architecture;

The Competencies listed in the Annex of the Middle Management Decision.

B.2. Advantageous

A university degree in Information Technology, Science, Computer Science, Information systems, Engineering, Computer Engineering, or similar related to the field;

Good knowledge of the maritime sector and maritime safety legislation;

Proven professional experience working with application technologies;

Strong knowledge in applying artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and algorithms;

Knowledge of a third official EU language;

Excellent knowledge of the EU legal and financial framework (EMSA Founding Regulation, the Financial Regulation and its Implementing Rules, and EU public procurement rules);

Good knowledge of project management methodologies and certifications, such as PMBOK, PRINCE2, PMI, and Scrum.

Applicants must meet the required eligibility criteria concerning the required educational qualifications and years of experience, as well as the essential criteria by the deadline for this call for applications.

The advantageous criteria will be considered by the Selection Board depending on the number of applicants meeting the essential criteria.

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.

6. General conditions

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.

7. Conditions of employment

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 th