Is CBE JU an EU institution?

CBE JU is an EU body, specifically a Joint Undertaking that is a public-private partnership between the European Union and bio-based industry partners. It recruits through the EU staff framework, including EPSO competitions and its own vacancy notices, so EU staff rules and salary scales apply to its personnel.

Where is CBE JU located?

CBE JU is based in Brussels, Belgium, close to the European Commission departments it coordinates with. The duty station for its posts is Brussels, so successful candidates normally relocate to Belgium, and expatriation allowances exist to support staff recruited from other countries.

Do I need to be an EU citizen to apply?

Most CBE JU posts require nationality of an EU member state, full civil rights, and completion of any military obligations. You also generally need a thorough knowledge of one official EU language and a satisfactory knowledge of a second, with each vacancy listing the exact requirements.

How much does CBE JU pay its staff?

Pay follows the EU scale. Contract agents in FGIII earn roughly 2,954 to 5,932 EUR gross monthly and FGIV about 3,637 to 8,225 EUR, while temporary agents range from AST3 near 3,523 EUR up to senior AD11 around 9,066 to 9,993 EUR before EU tax.

How do I apply to CBE JU?

You apply either through EPSO competitions and the CAST contract agent pool, or directly through the CBE JU vacancies page for temporary and contract agent posts. Expect an eligibility check, evaluation of qualifications, written tests or case exercises, and a competency-based interview with a selection board.

Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking Jobs 2026 - 12 Open Positions

Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking is currently advertising 12 open positions on our EU Jobs Alert tracker. Every vacancy below is sourced from the official Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking careers portal, normalised into a consistent schema, and refreshed daily so you never miss a deadline.

Use the filters on this page to narrow Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking roles by grade, contract type, location, and policy domain. The listing is updated daily from official EU recruitment sources and every job links straight through to the institution's application page. No recruiter middlemen, no expired postings.

The Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) is an EU public-private partnership based in Brussels, Belgium. It funds projects that develop sustainable bio-based industries and circular economy solutions across Europe, awarding grants under the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme. As a Joint Undertaking, CBE JU is a body of the European Union, which means it recruits through the EU staff framework rather than a private company process. Its teams are small and focused, combining scientific programme management with the legal, financial, and communication work needed to run a large grant portfolio. The active postings collected here point to a mix of assistant, officer, and adviser roles in finance, law, communication, and programme delivery. If you are looking at EU careers in research funding and the bioeconomy, CBE JU offers a compact organisation where individual contributors have broad responsibility. Browse current openings on the jobs board to see what is live now.

What CBE JU does and its mandate

CBE JU is the successor to the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking. It brings together the European Union, represented by the European Commission, and a consortium of bio-based industry partners. The shared goal is to move Europe toward a circular, bio-based economy that replaces fossil resources with renewable biological ones, such as agricultural residues, forestry by-products, and organic waste. In practice, CBE JU runs annual calls for proposals, selects projects, signs grant agreements, and monitors the results. The Joint Undertaking model lets public money and private investment be pooled and steered toward shared research and demonstration goals. Because the mandate is set by an EU regulation and a strategic research agenda, the organisation works to clear objectives around sustainability, industrial scale-up, and market uptake of bio-based products. Staff there sit close to both the science and the money, which is why so many roles combine technical programme knowledge with financial and legal control. The office is in Brussels, alongside many other EU bodies, which keeps it near the Commission departments it coordinates with. For candidates, that means the day-to-day work is grant management inside an EU policy context, not laboratory research. Understanding the bioeconomy and Horizon Europe rules is a real advantage when applying to a body like this one. The industry partners commit their own resources alongside the EU contribution, so the organisation has to balance public accountability with the practical needs of companies scaling up new processes. Its governance brings together representatives of the European Commission and the industry consortium, which sets the tone for a body that is public in purpose but close to real markets. That mix gives staff exposure to both sides of how European research money reaches industry.

Role categories and what they hire for

The sample of CBE JU vacancies is dominated by finance, legal, communication, and programme roles. Recent titles include Financial Officer, Financial Assistant, Financial and Accounting Correspondent, Legal Assistant, Knowledge Management Officer, Communication Assistant, Project Officer, and Head of Administration and Finance. That spread reflects what a grant-awarding body needs day to day: people who can process payments and budgets correctly, lawyers who can draft and check grant agreements, communicators who explain the programme to applicants and the public, and project officers who track scientific progress. Assistant-level posts handle documentation, records, and support work, while officer and adviser posts carry more independent judgement and stakeholder contact. The Head of Administration and Finance is a management role overseeing the internal running of the agency. Traineeships appear regularly, including placements in the Communications team and the Programme Unit, which give early-career candidates a structured entry point. If your background is in accounting, EU law, science communication, or research programme management, the recruitment pattern here maps well to your profile. There is less demand for pure bench scientists, since CBE JU funds research rather than performing it. Reviewing the live openings is the best way to match your experience to the exact profiles the agency is seeking at any given moment. Because the teams are small, individual staff often carry a wider range of tasks than they would in a large institution, which suits people who like variety and responsibility. A trainee in the Programme Unit, for instance, may see the full path from a call for proposals to a signed grant, which is useful early exposure for a career in EU research funding.

Eligibility, nationality, and languages

As an EU body, CBE JU recruits mainly nationals of the European Union member states. Most vacancies require citizenship of an EU country, full enjoyment of civil rights, and any military obligations to be completed. Language requirements follow the EU pattern: candidates generally need a thorough knowledge of one official EU language and a satisfactory knowledge of a second, usually at least B2 level in the second language. Because CBE JU works in Brussels and coordinates with the European Commission, English is the main working language for most roles, and strong written English is expected for finance, legal, and communication posts. A relevant diploma is required, with the level depending on the grade: contract agent function groups and temporary agent grades each set minimum education and experience thresholds. For assistant roles, secondary or post-secondary education plus relevant experience is common, while officer and adviser roles typically ask for a university degree and several years of professional experience. Trainee positions are open to recent graduates and are a good route for people who do not yet meet the experience bar for permanent posts. Always read the specific vacancy notice, since each one lists the exact diploma, experience, and language levels that will be checked during eligibility screening before your application is scored. Meeting the formal minimums is only the first hurdle, because eligible applications are then compared against each other on the strength of relevant qualifications and experience. It helps to show, in concrete terms, how your background matches the tasks described in the notice rather than listing general skills.

Recruitment process and EPSO

Recruitment to CBE JU follows the European Union model. Some competitions are organised through the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO), which runs the large open competitions that build reserve lists of candidates for permanent official posts across EU institutions and bodies. For contract agents, EPSO also runs the CAST permanent selection procedure, a standing pool that agencies draw from when they need to fill function group roles. Alongside these central routes, CBE JU publishes its own vacancy notices on its vacancies page for temporary agent and contract agent positions, and applications for those are usually submitted directly to the agency. A typical selection involves an eligibility check against the formal criteria, an evaluation of qualifications and experience, and then written tests or case exercises and interviews with a selection board. Successful candidates may be placed on a reserve list before an offer is made, which means timing between application and start date can vary. Because CBE JU is a small body, individual campaigns can move faster than the very large EPSO competitions. To stay current, monitor both the agency page and the aggregated jobs listings, and prepare for a competency-based interview that tests both technical knowledge and the core skills the EU assesses, such as analysis, communication, and delivering quality results under deadlines.

Staff categories and contract types

CBE JU staff fall into the standard EU categories seen across agencies. Temporary agents (TA) are engaged for the work of the Joint Undertaking, often in the administrator (AD) or assistant (AST) function, on fixed-term contracts that can be renewed. Contract agents (CA) are hired into function groups, with function group III (FGIII) and function group IV (FGIV) appearing in the CBE JU grade data, covering support and more advanced professional tasks respectively. The grades recorded for the agency include FGIII, FGIV, AST3, AD7, and AD11, which shows the range from junior support up to senior administrator and management level. Traineeships are a separate, temporary category aimed at early-career learning rather than permanent employment. The distinction between TA and CA matters for pay, contract length, and career progression, so it is worth checking which category a vacancy uses before applying. AD grades cover policy, legal, and programme management roles that require a university degree, while AST and the contract agent function groups cover assistant and specialist support work. For the higher grades such as AD11, the agency is looking for substantial experience and, often, some team or unit leadership. Each vacancy notice states the category and grade, which together determine the salary band and the type of duties you would be assigned.

Pay, benefits, and duty station

Because CBE JU is an EU body, staff are paid on the EU salary scale, with monthly gross figures set by grade and step. Using the current bands, a FGIII contract agent falls roughly between 2,954 and 5,932 EUR gross per month, while FGIV ranges from about 3,637 to 8,225 EUR. On the temporary agent side, AST3 sits around 3,523 to 3,883 EUR, AD7 around 6,137 to 6,767 EUR, and senior AD11 between roughly 9,066 and 9,993 EUR. These are gross amounts before EU tax and social contributions, and actual take-home depends on family situation and applicable allowances. EU staff typically receive allowances that can include an expatriation allowance for those recruited from outside the host country, household and dependent child allowances, and access to the EU health insurance and pension schemes. The duty station is Brussels, so relocation to Belgium is normally required, and expatriation-related allowances exist precisely to support staff who move from another country. Brussels hosts a large international community and many EU institutions, which makes it a practical base for this kind of career. You can review the pay context on the grades pages and see which Brussels-based roles are live through the locations page for the city. Progression through steps and grades over time also raises pay, so the entry figure for a grade is a starting point rather than a ceiling for a long EU career.

Frequently asked questions

Is CBE JU an EU institution?: CBE JU is an EU body, specifically a Joint Undertaking that is a public-private partnership between the European Union and bio-based industry partners. It recruits through the EU staff framework, including EPSO competitions and its own vacancy notices, so EU staff rules and salary scales apply to its personnel.
Where is CBE JU located?: CBE JU is based in Brussels, Belgium, close to the European Commission departments it coordinates with. The duty station for its posts is Brussels, so successful candidates normally relocate to Belgium, and expatriation allowances exist to support staff recruited from other countries.
What kinds of jobs does CBE JU offer?: Recent vacancies focus on finance, legal, communication, and programme roles, including Financial Officer, Legal Assistant, Knowledge Management Officer, Communication Assistant, Project Officer, and Head of Administration and Finance. Traineeships in the Communications team and Programme Unit are also offered for early-career candidates entering the bioeconomy funding field.
Do I need to be an EU citizen to apply?: Most CBE JU posts require nationality of an EU member state, full civil rights, and completion of any military obligations. You also generally need a thorough knowledge of one official EU language and a satisfactory knowledge of a second, with each vacancy listing the exact requirements.
How much does CBE JU pay its staff?: Pay follows the EU scale. Contract agents in FGIII earn roughly 2,954 to 5,932 EUR gross monthly and FGIV about 3,637 to 8,225 EUR, while temporary agents range from AST3 near 3,523 EUR up to senior AD11 around 9,066 to 9,993 EUR before EU tax.
How do I apply to CBE JU?: You apply either through EPSO competitions and the CAST contract agent pool, or directly through the CBE JU vacancies page for temporary and contract agent posts. Expect an eligibility check, evaluation of qualifications, written tests or case exercises, and a competency-based interview with a selection board.

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