Junior Professional Positions

The EEA Coordination Division (ECD) is responsible for the management and coordination of general EEA related work, which consists of providing support to the meetings  of the EEA Council, the Standing and Joint Committees, Subcommittee V on legal and institutional issues, the Parliamentary and Consultative Committees and the EEA EFTA Forum of Local and Regional Authorities. Moreover, the ECD is responsible for legal and institutional issues, policy analysis and for the preparation of official documents.

The ECD recruits two Junior Professionals (Policy Coordination and Legal Affairs) every year and consists of 16 staff members. The Junior Professionals assist in the preparation and follow-up of the meetings of the different committees by drafting reports, speaking notes and minutes, and in the organisation of the biannual EEA seminar, assist the legal officers in their work by drafting legal memoranda and carry out specific research on substantive issues related to the EEA, in addition to other ad hoc tasks. The legal Junior Professional  provides support to the EEA Legal Team and Subcommittee V. This work covers all legal aspects of the EEA Agreement and related agreements, with particular focus on horizontal and institutional legal questions. ECD legal is also responsible for certain tasks related to the ongoing management of some of the EEA EFTA States’ agreements with the United Kingdom. The policy Junior Professional assists with the preparation and organisation of the EEA Council, the Standing and Joint Committees and the Advisory Bodies. Both Junior Professionals work in close cooperation with ECD Officers and are full members of the ECD team.

Knowledge of and interest in the EEA Agreement are essential requirements for both Junior Professionals. One of the Junior Professionals must have a legal background and the other one ideally a background in political science or economics.

The Internal Market Division (IMD) is EFTA’s largest Division and gives support and assistance to the EFTA States in their work related to the incorporation of EU legislative acts into the EEA Agreement. The Division is responsible for the coordination of the work of the EFTA Sectoral Working Groups and Subcommittees I-IV and covers all the EU policy areas that fall within the scope of the EEA Agreement.

IMD recruits two Junior Professionals every year and consists of 22 staff members, including 12 policy officers and 3 legal officers. The Junior Professionals assist the policy and legal officers in their work within all policy areas of the EU’s Internal Market, such as on Energy, Environment, Food Safety, Free Movement of Goods, Competition, Digital Policy, Financial Services, Transport, Free Movement of Persons, Social Policy, Consumer Protection, Education and Research.

The main Junior Professional tasks include conducting policy analysis and research on EEA-relevant EU law initiatives, attending EFTA and Commission Working Group meetings and drafting reports from these meetings, assisting the policy officers with drafting agendas, notes and overview documents for the Working Group meetings, case-handling related to the incorporation of acts into the EEA Agreement, giving presentations to external visitor groups and generally assisting the officers or management of the Division as needed.

To the extent possible, the Junior Professionals are allocated to policy sectors in which they have specific experience, knowledge, and interest. They are also invited to take on EEA related research projects based on individual interest if time allows. They work in close cooperation with several policy officers and the legal officers and are full members of the IMD team.

Knowledge of and interest in EU policy and the EEA Agreement are essential requirements for both Junior Professionals. Ideally one of the Junior Professionals has a legal background and the other one a background in political science or economics.

The EFTA Statistical Office (ESO) is responsible for international statistical cooperation both within and outside the framework of the EEA Agreement. ESO coordinates the work of the Working Group of the Heads of the EFTA National Statistical Institutes, and its main objective is to promote the full participation of the EFTA Member States in the European Statistical System (ESS). Statistics is a horizontal policy area in the EEA Agreement. Although ESO’s focus is on legal and institutional affairs and data dissemination, some smaller statistical publications are also published from time to time depending on interest and resources availability. ESO has one to two Junior Professional positions under EFTA’s Junior Professional programme.

The ESO Junior Professional’s main tasks are to identify EU legislative acts to be incorporated into the EEA Agreement, to liaise with the National Statistical Institutes of the EFTA Member States and with the Commission (Eurostat), to monitor and report on the inclusion of EFTA data in Eurostat’s dissemination channels, and to contribute to the information and communication work of ESO. In addition, the Junior Professional is expected to provide general assistance to the EFTA Secretariat and to the EFTA Member States on various issues concerning official statistics and in the daily work of the ESO team.

ESO is located on the same premises as Eurostat in Luxembourg, and its staff work closely with Eurostat’s staff. ESO consists of six staff members including the Junior Professional. The Junior Professional Programme at ESO offers opportunities to gain insight into the workings of the ESS and of the EEA Agreement, to learn about technical cooperation in the field of statistics with non-EU partner countries, to prepare, attend, and ensure the follow-up of ESS and EFTA meetings, and to get acquaintance with communication work. Comfort with numbers, knowledge of or interest in official statistics and their use for public policy making and monitoring as well as the EEA Agreement, excellent command of spoken and written English, and good knowledge of Microsoft Office are required. Intermediate knowledge of R is desirable.

The two Junior Professional (JP) positions in Geneva offer the opportunity to learn about EFTA’s third country and intra member states activities. The JPs work for the Secretariat’s governing body and on activities related to third country trade relations outside the European Union (EU). The two Junior Professionals in Geneva will work both for  the Secretary-General’s Office as well as the Trade Relations Division.

The Secretary-General’s Office in Geneva supports EFTA’s governing body, the EFTA Council. The SGO is also responsible for horizontal matters such as internal legal, institutional, and budgetary matters. The Trade Relations Division is responsible for the exploration, negotiation, implementation and monitoring of preferential trade arrangements with non-EU partner countries.   

The JPs in Geneva participate in the meetings of the EFTA Council and related bodies, and assist in the preparation and follow-ups of meetings, contributing to meeting documents and reports, background notes, and press releases. This includes the annual meeting of the Council at Ministerial level, taking place in a different EFTA Member State each year. This requires excellent drafting skills in English. Strong organisational skills and political sensitivity/awareness are desirable. The JPs also contribute to the preparation of economic notes and exchanges of information with partner countries. They work on EFTA internal regulations and other legal and governance issues.

The JPs also perform tasks related to free trade agreements such as economic, legal or political analyses on current trade topics (including, for example, trade and sustainable development, digital trade and developments in global trade cooperation), preparatory work and assistance for free trade negotiations and trade-related meetings, work on implementation of agreements and monitoring tasks (for example on preference utilisation).

Regarding horizontal projects, analytical/quantitative skills are desirable, including familiarity with international trade statistics and a good understanding of the global economy and international trading environment. Experience in data management projects or programming in any statistical software would be an asset in the recruitment process.