ESA søker communications junior professionals

About ESA

ESA monitors compliance with the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA Agreement) in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, enabling those States to participate in the Internal Market of the European Union.

ESA is an international organisation, independent of the States, which safeguards the rights of individuals and undertakings under the EEA Agreement, ensuring free movement, fair competition and control of state aid. ESA's work helps remove barriers to trade and open up new opportunities to over 450 million Europeans, creating jobs and growth and adding to the international competitiveness of the States.

ESA is based in Brussels. It currently employs staff members of 18 nationalities. ESA is led by a College consisting of three members, each appointed for a period of four years by the three participating EFTA States.

Launch your career in the heart of Europe

The EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) is looking for two talented candidates for its Communications Junior Professional positions. The Junior Professional Programme provides young professionals and recent graduates from the EEA EFTA States (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) with a unique opportunity to experience and participate in ESA’s work. They will be joining several others as part of ESA’s 2024/2025 Junior Professional cohort on an 11-month programme from September 2024 to July 2025. 

The Communications Team

The overall aim of ESA’s external communications is to strengthen knowledge about ESA and the EEA Agreement. ESA is committed to publishing accurate and informative material and engaging with the media. ESA aims to explain its investigations, decisions and views in intelligible, clear language – in English and in the language of the relevant EEA EFTA State. ESA has built an online presence through its website and works to strengthen its presence on social media. ESA uses social media to engage with wide audiences and organises events to further raise awareness of ESA and the EEA Agreement.

ESA operates a wider outreach strategy to encourage and enhance compliance by the EEA EFTA States with their obligations under the EEA Agreement and to facilitate and support our work in this regard. ESA aims to maximise impact and build loyal cooperation and commitment to the EEA Agreement. To this end, we actively engage and communicate with governmental and civil society stakeholders at all levels to share information and knowledge about the functioning of the Agreement and our work. We understand accountability and knowledge sharing as a fundamental responsibility of a public authority. Our aim is therefore to establish ESA as a transparent, accountable, approachable and trusted organisation.

Role Description

The Junior Professional Programme at ESA is a great way to kick-start your career. Whether you are pursuing a career in the public or the private sector, at home or internationally, the experience will prove beneficial. As one of ESA’s Communications Junior Professionals, you will gain valuable experience by assisting the Head of Communications in a diverse array of tasks. This may include the drafting and publishing of press releases, liaising with the media, organising events, delivering presentations and managing ESA’s website and social media. You will take an active role in ESAs internal and external communications and work with staff in all departments. Based in Brussels, you will have the opportunity to live and work in a thriving multicultural environment.

The Communications Junior Professionals will work under the guidance of the Head of Communications, within the Legal and Executive Affairs (LEA) Department.

Essential Skills

• Applicants must be nationals of Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway. Exceptionally, in light of the under-representation of Liechtenstein nationals at ESA, other EEA or EFTA nationals who can demonstrate close links with Liechtenstein may also be considered.
• Applicants should be young professionals with a university degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. Journalism, European Studies, Political Science, International Relations, Communications etc.) or final year students due to complete their degree prior to 1 September 2024
• A proven interest or specialisation in EU/EEA matters and national politics
• Relevant work experience in media and communications would be advantageous, as would experience of working with social media, photography or photo editing
• Experience of working with website CMS platforms (notably Drupal) would be advantageous
• An excellent command of written and spoken English (ESA’s working language) is essential
• The ability to communicate fluently, both orally and in writing, in Icelandic or Norwegian is also essential. This is to ensure that the Communications Team is able to handle communications in the languages of ESA's largest relevant media markets
• A working knowledge of German would be advantageous
• Applicants should be engaged, well-organised, proactive and independent, whilst at the same time being strong team players

Other information

The Junior Professional Programme at ESA is a paid position, and the Junior Professionals receive: 

• A monthly allowance of €1,827.60
• Furnished and private accommodation in Brussels
• Utility and internet costs covered, and mobile phone provided
• Health, life and invalidity and travel insurance cover
• Reimbursement of travel costs upon taking up and leaving the Programme
• An allowance for language training costs

Tax conditions are favourable. For more information about ESA and the Junior Professional Programme, visit: https://www.eftasurv.int/careers.

In the interests of ensuring that the Junior Professional positions are open to as wide a group of individuals as possible, current and former Junior Professionals of the EFTA Secretariat/Financial Mechanism Office (FMO) will not be eligible to apply for ESA Junior Professional positions. Current and former Trainees of the EFTA Court will, however, be eligible to apply in light of the short-term nature of traineeships in the Court as compared with those in the Secretariat/FMO.

Application procedure:

Further questions regarding the Junior Professional Programme may, in the first instance, be addressed to Emma Thomas, HR Officer: eth@eftasurv.int or +32 (0)2 286 18 70, or Aida Mansour, HR Coordinator: aman@eftasurv.int or +32 (0)2 286 18 07.

Deadline for applications: 3 March 2024 midnight CET

Start Date: 1 September 2024

Interviews via MS Teams: March/April 2024

Apply now on-line