Studies and analyses manager

Presentation of the Agency

The European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) is a multi-programme Executive Agency based in Brussels.

In cooperation with six Directorates-General of the European Commission, EACEA is privileged to manage the implementation of four of the European Union’s flagship funding programmes: Erasmus+, Creative Europe, the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme and the European Solidarity Corps.

Since 2006, EACEA has been a catalyst for projects in education, training, youth, sport, media, culture, solidarity, citizenship and values. On behalf of the European Commission, EACEA works to foster innovation in these areas, always in a spirit of cross-border cooperation and mutual respect.

As a modern, professional organisation, EACEA strives to operate in a spirit of fairness and transparency, to uphold standards of equal access and treatment, and to support the projects that show Europe at its best.

Working at EACEA means taking a role at the heart of European project management. With almost 600 staff, EACEA is a dynamic, open and international workplace, best-placed to serve the citizens of Europe and empower the citizens of tomorrow. Strong values are at the heart of EACEA: commitment, integrity, objectivity, respect for others, and transparency.

For further information on the Agency, please refer to our website: https://www.eacea.ec.europa.eu

Mission of the entity

Unit EACEA.A.6 (Platforms, studies and analysis) coordinates the management of platforms implemented under the Erasmus+ Programme. It promotes language learning, informal learning, professional development and cooperation via: the Online Language Support (OLS) for language learning, the European School Education Platform, EPALE for adult learning staff. More generally, the Unit coordinates a range of networks, wikis and hubs working closely with stakeholders, notably in view of the implementation of the Digital Education Action Plan.

The Unit further provides information and comparative analysis on systems and policies in education and youth in the EU and beyond. The purpose is to improve understanding, enhance co-operation and support policy-making. To that end, the Unit co-ordinates the Eurydice Network and the Network of Youth Wiki National Correspondents of data providers based in most European countries, works closely with the OECD, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, and other organisations for the implementation of key studies in the field of Education.

Overall, the Unit aims at providing relevant, easily accessible and accurate information to policy makers, stakeholders, beneficiaries and citizens on Erasmus+ Programme.

Description of the job

Overall purpose

The Studies and analyses managers undertake a variety of duties, such as conducting analyses and performing advisory, supervisory, coordinating and negotiating tasks as well as implementing research in education and youth policies delegated to the Agency.

In the fields of activity of the Agency, the main duties of a studies and analyses manager in EACEA may include, but are not limited to:

Managing the timely production of accurate, reliable, and comprehensible comparative studies and analyses of European education systems and/or youth policies.
Coordination of multiple research teams.
Providing research guidance and support to team members and external experts.
Contributing to the overall management of the studies and analysis sector, including the management of the Eurydice and Youth Wiki Networks, and potentially working with the Bologna Follow Up Group.
Representing the unit in operational exchanges with other services of the Agency and of the European Commission, as well as representing the Agency/Unit in meetings, conferences, and events with EU institutions and external stakeholders.

Please see "Function and duties" here below for more information on the typical tasks to be performed.

Function and duties

Team coordination

To lead and coordinate the activities of the team in an efficient and effective manner, ensuring that relevant internal and external deadlines are met.
To programme, organise and supervise the correct functioning of the team and to allocate tasks and responsibilities to the team members.
To assure quality standards and timeliness; to supervise and control team performance; and to assure continuity of operations within the team.
To contribute to the definition of the unit’s overall strategic objectives, work programme and specific objectives in the team areas.
To maintain interactive communication with the team, so that staff are informed on all relevant policy and strategic aspects affecting the team and the unit work and get appropriate feedback on their actions.
To support the Head of Unit/Head of Sector in approving, authorising and/or giving an opinion on requests regarding performance and personnel administration.

Program/Process/Project Management

Manage, supervise and validate comparative research in the area of education and/or youth, including the development of data collection tools.
Support teams in designing research projects, drafting and updating studies, reports, briefings in the area of education or youth policies.
Identify emerging trends in the area of education or youth in order to stimulate and support policy discussion.
Provide advice, assistance and support on matters relating to the area of education and/or youth in order to anticipate developments and raise issues, in particular for the European Commission.
Cooperate with other bodies active in the area of education and youth.
Propose, implement and follow-up developments in data management and type of products.
Implement and develop open data policies.
Prepare follow-up reports and statistics, including policy-relevant feedback and support to the parent Directorates-General.
Deal with horizontal activities, concertation and networking aspects of the programme and its projects.
On the relevant files, interact with relevant DG mirror units and/or external stakeholders.

Evaluation and Quality Management

Analyse and assess the results and impact of the studies, data management, product developments, and provide feedback as well as make suggestions for improvements.
Provide assistance in monitoring, quality auditing and evaluation of the work programmes and reports developed in the sector.
Contribute to the development of processes in the sector, ensure their implementation and continuous improvement.
Involve the networks in regular evaluations and in quality management.
Contribute to structured policy feedback via regular feedback on the programme and project implementation to the parent DG.

Communication and Publication

Facilitate the delivery of exploitable results as well as dissemination of reports, studies and analyses.
Identify good practices and contribute to their dissemination.
Identify and disseminate report findings in accordance with policy priorities; facilitate exchange of experiences and participate in the design, writing, production and editing of documents/reports.
Participate in and/or chair relevant working groups, committees, and inter-service groups at EACEA, Commission and/or stakeholders’ level.
Maintain contacts with stakeholders and participate to knowledge sharing activities.
Contribute to the communication and information policy of the programme by speaking at conferences/seminars.

Budget, Finance, Contracts and Accounting

Ensure for respect of the Financial Regulation, implementing rules, internal rules on budget execution, Basic Act, Financing decision and other related rules and budgetary dispositions, including especially the principle of sound financial management.

Planning and Reporting

Prepare periodic and final implementation reports and ad-hoc statistics and information, as well as briefings requested by the Commission services.
Contribute to the preparation of the annual work programme and of the annual activity report of the agency as well as the Work Programmes of the Eurydice Network, Youth Wiki and when needed the BFUG.
Participate in the planning of expert needs and oversee their management within projects, including overseeing technical and financial aspects of contracts.

Please note that this list is non-exhaustive.

Qualifications and experience required

Eligibility criteria

Candidates must meet ALL of the following general and specific conditions on the closing date for application:

A. General conditions

Be a national of a Member State of the European Union.
Enjoy full rights as a citizen.
Have fulfilled any obligations imposed by the applicable laws on military service.
Meet the character requirements for the duties involved (¹).
Be physically fit to perform the duties linked to the post (²).
Knowledge of at least two official EU languages: one at minimum C1 level (thorough knowledge) and the other at minimum B2 level (satisfactory knowledge). (³)

B. Specific conditions - Education

Candidates must have a level of education that corresponds to completed university studies of at least 3 years attested by a diploma (⁴).

(1) Prior to engagement, the successful candidates will be asked to provide a police certificate indicating that they do not have a criminal record.
(2) Before engagement, successful candidates must undergo a medical examination by the medical services of the Commission in order to check whether they satisfy the condition set out in Article 12(d) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union.
(3)These abilities reflect those of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (https://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/en/resources/european-language-levels-cefr).
(4) Only study titles awarded in EU Member States (or with an equivalence certificate issued by the qualified authorities of the Member States) will be taken into consideration. The equivalence certificate must be presented to the Agency by the date of the setting up of the reserve list.

Selection Criteria - Essential

Candidates must fulfil all the essential criteria:

A. Qualifications

Have a PhD- in a relevant scientific field within the Social science and/or Humanities domain.
OR
A Master in Social science and/or Humanities combined with a minimum of 3 years of specialised professional experience in research with data analysis and drafting of analytical reports in a social policy field.

B. Experience and skills

A minimum of 3 years of specialised professional experience in research with data analysis and drafting of analytical reports in the fields of social policies (⁵).
Experience in research design using qualitative data.
Experience in working as a researcher in international research projects and/or in the management of research projects, particularly at European level.
Experience in drafting and publishing research papers, scientific reports, and policy analyses.
Thorough knowledge - oral and written (minimum C1 level) - of English.
Knowledge of European education, and/or youth policies proven by relevant studies or professional experience.

(5) The professional experience must have been acquired after achieving the minimum requirements stated in ‘Qualifications’.

Selection Criteria - Advantageous

Experience in research design using quantitative data especially linked to international surveys (PISA, TALIS, ICCS, ICILS, Eurostat, etc.).
Excellent writing and presentation skills.
Ability to negotiate with stakeholders on issues related to research design, data management and policy priorities.
Very good knowledge of recent European policy developments in one or more of the following aeras:
- School education
- Higher education
- Adult education
- Youth
Track record of scientific publication in peer-reviewed journals.
Experience in managing and coordinating research teams and overseeing the quality of the outputs.

Selection Criteria - Behavioural

Motivation and care for delivering quality results.
Aptitude for teamwork in a multicultural environment.
Capacity to work autonomously.
Ability to work under pressure and manage multiple responsibilities within tight deadlines.
Strong organisational skills.
Sense of responsibility, sense of duty, accountability and service-orientation.
Excellent communication skills.
Excellent problem-solving skills.

Application procedure

Candidates are kinldy invited to apply in English.

In this selection, the language used for the application, the written test, the interview and for communication between EACEA and the candidates is ENGLISH.

The language requirements in this selection have been defined in line with the interests of the service, which require new recruits to have a thorough knowledge (minimum C1 level) of English to be immediately operational and capable of communicating effectively in their daily work. EACEA.A.6 provides information and comparative analysis on systems and policies in education and youth in the EU and beyond. The unit co-ordinates the Eurydice Network and the Youth Wiki National Correspondents Network of data providers based in most European countries. It also manages the development of the European Higher Education Sector Observatory (EHESO).

The publications of the National Policies website (https://national-policies.eacea.ec.europa.eu/), which hosts Eurydice, the Youth Wiki, the Mobility Scoreboard and EHESO, are produced in English only.

English is the main working language for studies and analyses produced for the national policies platforms. All reports produced are drafted in English only as this is generally considered to be the lingua franca of the scientific community. Furthermore, English has become the default language used in international symposia and meetings with stakeholders, such as for example the meetings of the Bologna Follow Up Group, the Organisation Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the meetings of the Eurydice and Youth Wiki Networks.

While knowledge of additional languages may be an advantage, successful candidates will use English for their daily work. English is used in briefings, reporting, draft documents, etc. and in meetings, for communication internally, with services of the Commission and other institutions and external stakeholders.

To apply for this position, candidates must use the "APPLY ONLINE" button here below. They will be asked to create an account or sign into their active account.

Candidates must clearly demonstrate in their application form they meet the Essential and Advantageous criteria mentioned under QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED and to give specific examples. They must also indicate their motivation for the post.

The answers provided in the application form will be assessed by the Selection Board.

After a correct submission of the application, candidates will receive an automated acknowledgement of receipt to the email account indicated in their application.

EACEA strongly advises not to wait until the last few days before the deadline for applying, since heavy internet traffic or connection difficulties could lead to problems. Under no circumstance will late applications be accepted. It is the sole responsibility of each applicant to complete ALL relevant fields of the online application and to submit it before the deadline for application.

Supporting documents showing evidence of the information given in the application will be requested at a later stage. No documents will be sent back to candidates.

Disqualification happens if:

the candidate does not submit the online application by the deadline.
at any stage in the procedure, it is established that the information provided by the candidate is incorrect or false, or if the candidate made declarations unsupported by the appropriate documents.
the candidate attempted to contact, or contacted, a member of the Selection Board either directly or indirectly concerning this selection procedure.

Closing date: applications must be submitted by 8 December 2025 at 13:00 (Brussels time), at the latest.

Selection Board

A Selection Board will be appointed by the EACEA Director and will be composed of at least three members, including a member designated by the Staff Committee of the Agency.

The work and deliberations of the Selection Board are confidential. Under no circumstances should candidates approach the Selection Board themselves, either directly or indirectly, concerning this selection. The authority authorised to conclude contracts of employment reserves the right to disqualify any candidate who disregards these instructions.

Selection procedure

1. Eligibility checks

The eligibility requirements (General conditions & Specific conditions - Education) described under QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED, will be checked by the EACEA HR against the information provided in the application form only.

2. Selection based on qualifications & Experience and Skills

The selection based on qualifications & Experience and skills will be carried out only for the eligible candidates selected as described above, using the information provided by the candidates in the application form. The Selection Board will assign each selection criterion a weighting that reflects its relative importance (1 to 3) and each of the candidate’s responses will be awarded between 0 and 4 points. The Selection Board will then multiply the points by the weighting for each criterion and add these in order to identify those whose profiles best match the duties to be performed.

Submitted applications that do not meet one or more of the essential selection criteria (see Selection criteria / Essential) will not be evaluated further.

Only the candidates with the highest total scores and who have attained a minimum required score set out by the Selection Board, will go through to the next stage of the procedure.

3. Written test

Following the selection based on qualifications, a maximum of 50 candidates (⁶)will be invited to the written test.

The written test in English will assess the following competencies of the candidates: comprehension of qualitative and quantitative information in relevant social policy fields, ability to analyse and synthesise complex, comparative data, and the candidate's drafting ability in English.

The written test will be marked out of 50 with a pass mark of 30.

4. Interview

A maximum of 25 candidates (⁷), who achieve the best scores following the written test will be invited for an interview.

The interview will aim to assess the candidates’ suitability to perform the tasks described under 'Function and duties' of this Call for Expression of Interest, their motivation, capacity to deliver results, communication and interpersonal skills, leadership and supervision of work. The behavioural selection criteria under QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED will also be assessed during the interview.

The interview will be in English.

The interview will be marked out of 50 with a pass mark of 30.

NB: the written test as well as the interview may be held either in Brussels or remotely. The Agency will provide candidates with the technical details regarding the test and the interview at a later stage.

5. Reserve list

The objective of this external selection procedure is to constitute a reserve list with 12 successful candidates.

After checking candidates’ supporting documents, the Selection Board will draw up the reserve list composed of the eligible candidates who have obtained the highest overall marks following the interview, until the number of successful candidates sought is reached (⁸). Names will be listed alphabetically.

The reserve list will be used mainly to fill in vacancies in Unit EACEA.A.6 sector 2 "Studies and Analysis".

Inclusion of candidates on the reserve list does not guarantee recruitment. Recruitment will be based on the availability of posts and budget. The reserve list will be valid until 31 December 2028. The validity of the list can be prolonged by the EACEA Director.

(6) Where a number of candidates tie (ex aequo) for the last available place, they will all be invited to the written test.
(7) Where a number of candidates tie (ex aequo) for the last available place, they will all be invited to the interview.
(8) Where several candidates tie (ex aequo) for the last available place, they will all be admitted to the list.

Engagement and conditions of employment

The successful candidate is engaged as a Temporary Agent in accordance with Article 2(f) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union (CEOS) as an administrator in grade AD6. The employment contract is concluded for a fixed duration of 2 years. This contract may be renewed for a further year. Any subsequent renewal will be for an indefinite period.

The basic monthly salary for Temporary Agent AD6 (step 1) is EUR 6.758,53. In addition to the basic salary, staff members may be entitled to various allowances, in particular household allowance, expatriation allowance (16% of the basic salary), dependent child allowance and education allowance. The salary is subject to a Union tax deducted at source and staff members are exempt from national taxation.

The place of employment is Brussels, Belgium where the Agency has its seat.

For further information, please consult the Staff Regulations.

Information to candidates

All candidates will be informed in due time about the processing of their application, and about whether or not they are invited for the selection procedure as described above.

Candidates may request clarifications about the processing of their application by sending an email quoting the reference of the selection concerned to the following address:

EACEA-TA-SELECTION@ec.europa.eu

Request for review

Candidates who feel that a mistake has been made in their assessment may ask for a review by sending a request within 10 working days of the date on the email/note which notified them of the rejection, quoting the number of the selection procedure concerned to the Selection Board at the following address:

EACEA-TA-SELECTION@ec.europa.eu

The Selection Board will conduct a review and notify the candidate of its decision within 15 working days of receipt of the letter.

• Complaint on the basis of Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union (SR)

Candidates may submit a complaint on the basis of Article 90(2) of the SR, which is to be sent for the attention of the Director of EACEA, by email to:

EACEA-TA-SELECTION@ec.europa.eu

The time limit set out for this type of procedure is 3 months starting from the date of notification of the action adversely affecting the complainant.

• Judicial appeal

Candidates may submit a judicial appeal on the basis of Article 270 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 91 of the Staff Regulations. For details of how to submit a judicial appeal and how to determine the deadlines, please consult the website of the General Court (https://curia.europa.eu).

• Complaint to the European Ombudsman

Candidates, like all citizens of the Union, may lodge a complaint with the European Ombudsman. Before you submit a complaint to the Ombudsman, you must first make the appropriate administrative approaches to the institutions and bodies concerned (see above). Making a complaint to the Ombudsman does not extend the deadlines for lodging administrative complaints or judicial appeal.

Please consult the website of the European Ombudsman (https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/home).

Data protection

The Agency will ensure that candidates’ 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, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data (OJ L 295 of 21.11.2018, p. 39.), and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC Text with EEA relevance. The Privacy Statement can be found on the Agency’s website, including details on the right of access and rectification of personal data.