WE ARE

The European External Action Service (EEAS) supports the High Representative in the exercise of his/her mandate to conduct and implement an effective and coherent Union’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), to represent the EU and to chair the Foreign Affairs Council.

It also supports the High Representative in his/her capacity as Vice-President of the Commission with regard to his/her responsibilities within the Commission in the external relations field, including the coordination of other aspects of the EU's external action. The EEAS works in close cooperation with the EU Member States, the General Secretariat of the Council, the services of the Commission and the Secretariat General of the European Parliament.

Within the EEAS, the Division "Information and Document Management" works to foster information management practices across the EEAS. Information is the raw material behind every one of our activities. Increasing our proficiency with information management will positively boost the overall performance of the whole institution.

The Division carries out these tasks by working on the domains of information, records and archives management with the support of three dedicated teams. Furthermore, we are coordinating the meetings of the Information Management Committee (IMC) to support the implementation of the EEAS Information Management Strategy. Furthermore, the Division is developing and implementing the corporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy.

WE PROPOSE

The position of the Information Management Assistant contract agent FGIII as per article 3b of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union (hereafter, the “CEOS”)^[1].

The position is for a highly motivated linguist with a keen interest in Generative AI. This role involves working on cutting-edge projects in the field of Generative Artificial Intelligence, focusing on applications like natural language processing, working with Large Language Models (LLMs) and deep learning. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in linguistics to perform side-by-side human evaluation, great attention to detail and reading comprehension, ability to follow complex guidelines and excellent writing skills.

Place of employment: EEAS Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium

Post available: 1 February 2025  

LEGAL BASIS

The vacancy is to be filled in accordance with the conditions stipulated under the CEOS, in particular Article 82 thereof. In case of recruitment, the successful candidate will be offered a contract agent position (Function group III), on the basis of a contract with an initial duration of one year that may be successively renewed for a maximum duration of six years[2], subject to the maximum duration of engagement by the EEAS allowed under successive limited duration contracts of different types[3].

WE LOOK FOR

A dynamic, proactive and highly motivated colleague with very good analytical and communication skills and with a developed sense of service. S/he will be entrusted with the following tasks:

• Contribute to fine-tune, evaluate and deploy machine learning models, such as Large Language Models (LLMs);
• Contribute to the preparation of datasets;
• Contribute to the optimization of prompts;

• Assess the LLM(s) for quality, relevance, and coherence, aiming to gauge user satisfaction and how well the model meets interaction expectations;
• Assess the AI-generated responses [or responses from different AI models] in several dimensions: instruction following, verbosity, safety/harmlessness, writing style, truthfulness, and overall quality; 
• Identify responses that do not meet criteria or require special attention; rewrite responses where not compliant; rate and rank responses;
• Examine texts’ coherence, fluency, and accuracy, comparing it against outputs from other models or human writers to evaluate its performance. This process includes domain experts or potential users reviewing the model’s outputs and incorporating their subjective opinions into preference-based evaluations;
• Check alignment of model(s) behaviour with desired human values and norms;
• Define evaluation criteria for foundational models’ ability to reason about safety, values, and questions of cultural norms;
• Collaborate with a team of data scientists and information managers to explore new advancements in the field of generative AI;

• Contribute to organise, structure,  assess and implement AI solutions, such as LLMs;
• Contribute to draft and support policies and procedures for the Corporate AI Strategy.

Eligibility criteria[4]

Further to the conditions set out in Article 82 of the CEOS, candidates must:

• (i) have passed a valid EPSO CAST in a valid function group for this post, OR

(ii) be registered in the EPSO Permanent CAST in a valid function group for this post (https://epso.europa.eu/en/job-opportunities/open-for-application). In that case, while the registration will render the candidate eligible for the selection procedure, the recruitment of a candidate on this vacant post will be subject to their successfully passing the CAST exam that this candidate will be called to attend;

• have 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 three year
• have the capacity to work in the languages of the CFSP and external relations (English and French) necessary for the performance of their duties.
• be a national of one of the Member States of the European Union and enjoy full rights as a citizen.

Selection criteria

Candidates should possess:

• a Bachelor’s degree in linguistics, social sciences or a related field;
• Knowledge of generative AI concepts and experience with LLMs;
• Good experience with the handling and management of datasets, preferably in the context of AI;
• Good experience with the handling and management of taxonomies;
• The ability to communicate clearly on complex issues and the capacity to perform with accuracy;
• Being a flexible team player.

Furthermore, experience: 

• in project management;
• in information management at an international organisation;
• of working in a team in multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural environment;

would be considered as strong assets.

CONDITIONS OF RECRUITMENT AND EMPLOYMENT

MEDICAL CLEARANCE

The signature of the contract will be subject to prior favourable opinion of the Medical Service.

PERSONNEL SECURITY CLEARANCE

This post is currently not identified as a post which requires Personnel Security Clearance (hereafter, the “PSC”) to access EU classified information (EUCI) in accordance with point 7 of Annex A I of the Decision ADMIN(2023) 18 on the security rules of the EEAS[5] and as implemented by Decision ADMIN(2019) 7 on Security Clearance Requirements and Procedures for the EEAS of 08 March 2019 and its implementing decisions.

Nonetheless, candidates are informed that the list of posts requiring a PSC in the EEAS Headquarters is subject to regular review and that the current post might be identified in the future as a post which requires PSC.

If required after the taking of duty, the selected candidate will need to be in a position to obtain a valid PSC issued by the competent authority of their Member State in accordance with national laws and regulations.

In case of failure to obtain or renew the required PSC, the AACC may take the appropriate measures in accordance with Article 3(3) of the Decision ADMIN(2019) 7 on Security Clearance Requirements and Procedures for the EEAS of 08 March 2019.

Description of the EU classified information levels is available under Article 2 of Annex A of the Decision ADMIN(2023) 18 on the security rules of the EEAS.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

The EEAS is committed to an equal opportunities policy for all its employees and applicants for employment. As an employer, the EEAS is committed to promoting gender equality and to preventing discrimination on any grounds. It actively welcomes applications from all qualified candidates from diverse backgrounds and from the broadest possible geographical basis amongst the EU Member States. We aim at a service, which is truly representative of society, where each staff member feels respected, is able to give their best and can develop their full potential.

Candidates with disabilities are invited to contact [email protected]  in order to accommodate any special needs and provide assistance to ensure the possibility to pass the selection procedure in equality of opportunities with other candidates. If a candidate with a disability is selected for a vacant post, the EEAS is committed to providing reasonable accommodation in accordance with Art 1(d)(4) of the Staff Regulations.

APPLICATION AND SELECTION PROCEDURE[6]

Please send your CV and cover letter (with your EPSO CAST number), in English or French via email, with reference to the Vacancy Number in the Subject field, to

[email protected]

Deadline for applications: 20/12/2024 at 12.00 noon (CET).

Candidates shall draft their CV using the Europass CV, which can be found at the following internet address: http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/en/documents/curriculum-vitae.

Late applications will not be accepted.

The selection panel will make a pre-selection on the basis of the qualifications and professional experience described in the CV and motivational letter, and will produce a shortlist of eligible candidates who best meet the selection criteria for the post. Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be informed about the outcome of the pre-selection phase.

The candidates who have been preselected will be invited for an interview by a selection panel.

The selection panel may decide, subsequent to the interview, to organise written tests, either for all pre-selected candidates or to the best ranked ones. The content of such written tests will be defined by the selection panel and may include, but not be limited to, multiple choice questions, open questions and/or topics for a short essay.

Pre-selected candidates without a valid CAST shall be invited to sit the CAST exam before or after the interview stage (in accordance with the eligibility criteria set out above).

The panel will then recommend a shortlist of candidates for a final decision by the Authority Authorised to Conclude Contracts of Employment (hereafter, the “AACC”). The AACC may decide to interview the candidates on the final shortlist before taking this decision.

It is recalled that the selection procedure may be terminated at any stage in the interest of the service.

In the interest of the service, after identifying the candidate that best fits the requirements of the post as set out in the vacancy notice, the AACC may also establish a reserve list of candidates. These candidates shall be informed that the reserve list shall remain valid for a period of one year from when it is established and that it may be used to fill the same post or an equivalent post in the EEAS with the same job profile.

[1]     Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union (SR) and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union (CEOS).

[2]      Article 8 of the Commission Decision C(2017) 6760 of 16.10.2017 on the general provisions for implementing Article 79(2) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, governing the conditions of employment of contract staff employed by the Commission under the terms of Articles 3a and 3b thereof.

[3]     Decision ADMIN(2023) 24 on the maximum duration of engagement by the European External Action Service of non-permanent staff under successive limited duration contracts of different types, and on the minimum lapse of time between successive contracts under Article 2(e) of the CEOS.

[4]      All the eligibility criteria must be met on the closing date for applications to this post.

[5]    OJ C 263, 26 July 2023, p.16. 

[6] Your personal data will be processed in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, as implemented by ADMIN(2019)8 Decision of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The privacy statement is available on the Europa website: (https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/eeas-privacy-statement-data-protection-notice-purpose-processing-personal-data-related-public_en) and on the EEAS Intranet:(https://intranet.eeas.europa.eu/page/eeas-work/data-protection/privacy-statements-dp-notices).