EDPB
Independent body ensuring consistent application of GDPR across the EU and promoting cooperation between national data protection authorities.
European Data Protection Board is currently advertising 2 open positions on our EU Jobs Alert tracker. Every vacancy below is sourced from the official European Data Protection Board careers portal, normalised into a consistent schema, and refreshed daily so you never miss a deadline.
Use the filters on this page to narrow European Data Protection Board 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 European Data Protection Board (EDPB) is the independent EU body that makes sure the General Data Protection Regulation is applied consistently across the Union. It brings together the national data protection authorities of the member states and the European Data Protection Supervisor, giving them a forum to agree common positions, settle disputes between regulators, and issue guidance on how the rules should work in practice. The EDPB is based in Brussels, Belgium, and its day-to-day work is supported by a secretariat. For jobseekers, that secretariat is the part that recruits: it is staffed largely by lawyers and data protection specialists, along with the administrative and technical people who keep the Board running. This page describes the EDPB's mandate, its location, the roles it hires for, the eligibility rules that apply to EU posts, the pay on the EU salary scale, and how to approach an application if data protection law is your field.
The EDPB was created by the General Data Protection Regulation, which took effect in 2018, to guarantee that the same data protection rules are read the same way everywhere in the Union. Its members are the heads of the national data protection authorities plus the European Data Protection Supervisor, and they meet to adopt guidelines, recommendations, and binding decisions. When two or more national regulators disagree about a cross-border case, the EDPB can step in with a binding dispute resolution decision, which keeps enforcement coherent across borders. It also issues opinions on draft national measures and on questions of general application, and it advises the European Commission on data protection issues. Much of the substantive work happens in expert subgroups that prepare the technical and legal analysis behind the Board's positions. A secretariat provides the legal, analytical, and logistical support that keeps this machinery moving, and it is provided by the European Data Protection Supervisor. For anyone interested in privacy law, the EDPB is one of the places where the practical meaning of the GDPR is worked out, which is why its recruitment leans heavily toward qualified lawyers and policy specialists rather than generalists. Understanding this structure explains why legal profiles dominate its vacancy notices.
The EDPB is located in Brussels, Belgium, the same city that hosts many of the EU's core institutions and a large share of its agencies. That location keeps the Board close to the European Commission, the Council, and the network of regulators and legal practitioners it works with. For a jobseeker, Brussels means a wide EU labour market in one place, which is useful if you want to build a career across several bodies over time. The city has international schools, a sizeable expatriate community, and strong rail and air links across Europe. Belgium's official languages are Dutch, French, and German, but the EU workplace runs largely in English and French, so you do not need Dutch to work or live comfortably there. The cost of living is moderate compared with cities like London or Geneva. Staff who relocate from another country to take up a post may be entitled to an expatriation allowance and installation support under the EU rules. If you want to compare openings in the city, the Brussels location page collects roles across the bodies based there, and the broader job board tracks live vacancies. Other Brussels bodies, such as the Single Resolution Board, recruit comparable legal and specialist profiles.
The EDPB secretariat is small and its recruitment is heavily weighted toward legal work. The clearest recent example is a vacancy for several legal officers, advertised as a single notice covering multiple posts, which is typical of how the Board builds up its legal capacity in batches. Legal officers draft and review guidelines, analyse cross-border cases, prepare the reasoning behind binding decisions, and support the expert subgroups that do the detailed work. Around this legal core, the secretariat needs policy and data protection specialists who track technological and regulatory developments, along with the support functions common to any EU body, including communications, IT, human resources, and administration that keeps meetings, translations, and publications on track. Because the organisation is compact, individual staff often own substantial pieces of work and see their analysis feed directly into positions that affect regulators across the Union. A strong grounding in EU data protection law is the common thread for the specialist roles, and candidates typically hold a law degree plus relevant experience in privacy, whether from a regulator, a law firm, an in-house team, or academia. To see the exact titles and grades on offer at any given time, check the current vacancies, since the mix shifts with the Board's workload.
Staff at the EDPB secretariat are employed under the EU Staff Regulations, so posts follow the standard categories. Temporary agents and officials fill professional legal and policy roles, often in the administrator (AD) function group, while contract agents (CAST) cover a range of support and specialist work across function groups FGI to FGIV. The body can also draw on seconded national experts, for instance staff on loan from a national data protection authority who bring regulatory experience while remaining on their home employer's payroll for the secondment. Eligibility follows the usual EU rules. Applicants normally must be nationals of an EU member state, enjoy their full rights as citizens, and have completed any national service obligations. You need a knowledge of at least two official EU languages, and in practice a strong command of English is expected because it is the main working language for the Board's legal and policy output. For legal officer posts, you generally need a law degree and, depending on the grade, relevant professional experience in data protection or a closely related field. Selection is based on how well your qualifications and experience match the criteria in the notice, followed by written tests and a competency-based interview, with successful candidates often placed on a reserve list.
EDPB pay follows the EU salary scale, so it is fixed by grade and step rather than negotiated. Legal officers are typically recruited in the administrator grades. An entry-level AD5 post, the grade named in the recent legal officer notice, pays a monthly gross basic salary of roughly 4,917 to 5,565 euro, and pay rises step by step within the grade and again with promotion to higher grades such as AD6 at around 5,565 to 6,137 euro and AD7 at around 6,137 to 6,767 euro. Contract agents in the FGIV group earn roughly 3,637 to 8,225 euro gross per month across the full range of steps. These figures are basic salary before allowances. On top of the base, staff may receive a household allowance, dependent child and education allowances, and an expatriation allowance for those who moved country to take the job. EU salaries are subject to an internal Union tax rather than Belgian income tax, and staff join the EU pension scheme and the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme. Standard benefits also include generous annual leave, paid relocation, and family-related leave. Looking up the band for a grade such as AD5 shows how basic pay progresses through the steps over the years.
The EDPB advertises its posts through the secretariat's recruitment channels rather than through general EPSO open competitions, so you apply to specific notices as they appear. Start at the EDPB career opportunities page, where each vacancy sets out the grade, the profile, the deadline, and the documents required. Applications generally ask for a CV, often in Europass format, and a motivation letter that maps your experience against the selection criteria. Because the roles are legal, it helps to point to concrete work, for example specific GDPR matters you have handled, guidance you have drafted, or cases you have advised on, rather than general claims of interest in privacy. Shortlisted candidates are usually invited to a written test and an interview that probes both legal knowledge and competencies, and many procedures build a reserve list from which the Board recruits over the following period. A reserve list place is not an offer, but it keeps you available as posts open. Since the secretariat is small and posts appear irregularly, check the page often and set alerts on the job board. If you are open to related work, other EU bodies in Brussels recruit lawyers and policy specialists on similar terms, so it is worth watching several at once.
Applying to the EDPB, like most EU bodies, runs on a defined timeline that rewards preparation. Once a vacancy notice is published, there is usually a fixed window of a few weeks to submit your application, and late submissions are not accepted, so it pays to start early rather than on the deadline. After the closing date, an eligibility check confirms that applicants meet the formal criteria, such as nationality, languages, and the required legal qualification and experience. Eligible candidates are then scored against the selection criteria, and the strongest are invited to the next stage, which typically includes a written test and a competency-based interview covering both substantive data protection law and the behavioural competencies the EU looks for. The whole process, from closing date to a job offer or a place on a reserve list, can take several months, so it is normal to keep applying elsewhere while you wait. Prepare by reading recent EDPB guidelines and decisions so you can speak to current issues, and structure interview answers around concrete examples from your own work. If you are placed on a reserve list, stay reachable, because the Board draws from it as posts open over the following period. You can track new notices through the job board and apply as soon as a fit appears.
2 positions found
Senior Communication Officer - TA - AD6 - EDPB Secretariat - Deadline for submitting the applications: 31/07/2026 (Brussels time GMT+1) at 12:00 midda...
5 Legal Officers - AD (AD5-AD9) - EDPB Secretariat - Deadline for submitting the applications: 01/09/2026 (Brussels time GMT+1) at 12:00 midday. Visit...