Is REA an EU institution or agency?

REA is an executive agency of the European Union based in Brussels. It manages parts of Horizon Europe for the European Commission. Because it is an EU body, it recruits through the EU system, uses EU staff categories and pays according to the EU salary scales.

How do I apply for a job at REA?

Contract-agent and temporary-agent vacancies are published on REA's own jobs pages, where you apply against a specific notice with a CV and supporting documents. Permanent official posts are filled from EPSO open-competition reserve lists, so those require passing an EPSO competition first.

What grades and contract types does REA use?

REA uses EU staff categories, including contract-agent function groups such as FGIII and FGIV and administrator grades such as AD5 and AD6. Posts can be contract agent, temporary agent or permanent official, and each carries a different pay scale and eligibility path.

Do I need EU citizenship to work at REA?

Yes, in general. As an EU body, REA normally requires citizenship of an EU member state, full civic rights and completion of any national service obligations. Each vacancy states the exact conditions, so check the eligibility section of the specific notice before applying.

What kind of work does REA do?

REA manages EU research funding, mainly under Horizon Europe. It runs calls for proposals, organises evaluations, prepares grant agreements and monitors funded projects. It does not carry out research itself, so it hires programme managers, financial officers, legal advisers and administrative staff rather than laboratory scientists.

European Research Executive Agency Jobs 2026 - 67 Open Positions

European Research Executive Agency is currently advertising 67 open positions on our EU Jobs Alert tracker. Every vacancy below is sourced from the official European Research Executive Agency 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 Research Executive Agency 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 Research Executive Agency, known as REA, is an executive agency of the European Union based in Brussels. It manages large parts of the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme on behalf of the European Commission, running calls for proposals, evaluating applications and handling the grants that fund researchers across Europe and beyond. As an EU executive agency, REA recruits mainly through the EU system: vacancies for contract staff and temporary staff are published on its own site and through EU channels, and permanent EU official posts are filled from EPSO competition reserve lists. EU staff categories apply here, including function group contract agents such as FGIII and FGIV and administrator grades such as AD5 and AD6. The EU salary scales that apply to REA are the same monthly gross bands used across the European institutions. If you are comparing EU and non-EU employers, REA is firmly in the EU camp, unlike bodies such as CERN, the OECD or the EBRD covered elsewhere on this site.

What REA is and its mandate

REA is one of the European Commission's executive agencies, set up to run parts of EU funding programmes so that the Commission's own departments can focus on policy. Its central task is managing a large share of Horizon Europe, the EU's framework programme for research and innovation, together with related programmes. In practice this means publishing calls for proposals, organising the independent evaluation of applications, preparing and signing grant agreements, and then monitoring projects through their lifetime, including payments and reporting. REA also provides shared support services to other parts of the Commission's research family. The agency does not itself carry out scientific research; instead it administers the funding that lets universities, companies and research organisations do that work. This shapes the kind of staff it needs. Rather than laboratory scientists, REA hires people who can manage programmes, assess budgets, apply EU financial rules, handle legal questions around grants and communicate with applicants and beneficiaries. Because it operates within the EU institutional framework, its recruitment, staff rules, grades and pay all follow the EU Staff Regulations. For candidates this is an advantage in transparency: eligibility, selection steps and salary bands are defined by published rules rather than left to case-by-case judgement. Current openings gathered here appear under jobs.

Where REA is based

REA is located in Brussels, the administrative centre of the European Union and home to the European Commission and many of its executive agencies. Working in Brussels places staff alongside a large EU community and within easy reach of the Commission departments that REA supports. Brussels is a multilingual, international city with good transport links to the rest of Europe, a wide choice of housing and a well-developed network of European schools and services for staff with families. As with other EU postings, the duty station matters for pay and allowances, because the EU salary scales are set for the place of employment and expatriation and household allowances depend on personal circumstances. Most REA roles are office-based in Brussels, though EU bodies have increasingly adopted structured hybrid working arrangements. Candidates relocating from another country should factor in the cost of settling in Brussels and the administrative steps of registering as a resident, which the EU institutions support through their human resources services. For people already working elsewhere in the EU system, a move to REA is a move within a familiar framework rather than a change of employer type, which many candidates find makes internal mobility straightforward.

The roles REA hires for

REA's vacancies concentrate on programme management, finance, law and administration, matching its role as a grant-managing agency. Recent listings include a Project Adviser and an Administrator working as a Research Programme Manager and Call Coordinator, both of which sit at the heart of running Horizon Europe calls and projects. Financial roles are prominent, with posts such as a Financial Officer, an Administrative and Financial Officer and a Legal Adviser and Financial Manager reflecting the emphasis on budgets, payments and compliance with EU financial rules. Legal expertise is a distinct strand, seen in a Legal Officer and a Legal and Financial Adviser who deal with grant agreements and the rules governing EU funding. The agency also needs internal support functions, illustrated by an Administrative Officer in human resources, an Administrative Officer acting as Assistant to the Head of Unit, a Business Processes Manager and a Project Officer. Taken together, these titles show that REA is a good fit for candidates with backgrounds in EU project and programme management, public finance, audit, law and administration, rather than for laboratory researchers. Knowing which job family a vacancy belongs to, and whether it is pitched at a contract-agent function group or an administrator grade, helps you judge both eligibility and likely pay before you apply.

EU staff categories and grades

As an EU executive agency, REA employs people under the EU Staff Regulations, so its jobs come with recognised EU categories. Contract agents are grouped into function groups, and REA vacancies commonly cite FGIII and FGIV. Function group III typically covers clerical and administrative execution tasks, while function group IV covers administrative, advisory and managerial work that usually requires a university degree. Administrator posts use the AD grades, and REA listings mention AD5 and AD6, which are entry and early-career administrator levels for graduate professionals in policy, legal, financial and programme roles. Some posts are for temporary agents and some for permanent officials; permanent official positions are generally filled from reserve lists produced by EPSO open competitions, whereas contract and temporary posts are often recruited directly by the agency. The grade attached to a vacancy tells you a lot: it signals the expected level of qualifications and experience, the responsibilities and the salary band. Candidates should read whether a notice is open to external applicants, reserved for EPSO laureates, or limited to internal or inter-agency mobility. Understanding the difference between a function-group contract-agent role and an AD administrator grade is essential, because the two follow different pay scales and different eligibility and career paths within the EU system.

Eligibility, nationality and languages

Employment at REA follows EU rules, so the baseline requirement is citizenship of an EU member state, subject to any specific conditions stated in each vacancy. Candidates must also enjoy their full rights as citizens and have completed any national service obligations where applicable. Language requirements reflect the EU's multilingual working environment: applicants generally need a thorough knowledge of one official EU language and a satisfactory knowledge of a second, and in practice a good command of English or French is useful because these are widely used as working languages in Brussels. Educational requirements depend on the category. Function group IV and administrator grades usually require a completed university degree, sometimes with a defined number of years of relevant professional experience, while lower function groups may accept post-secondary or secondary education combined with experience. For EPSO-based recruitment to permanent posts, candidates first pass an open competition and are placed on a reserve list before an agency can recruit them. For contract and temporary posts, REA runs selection directly, assessing applications against published criteria and inviting shortlisted candidates to interviews and, in some cases, tests. Reading the eligibility section closely, including nationality, diploma level, experience and language conditions, is the reliable way to confirm you qualify before investing time in an application.

Pay, benefits and how to apply

REA pay follows the EU salary scales, quoted as monthly gross figures. For the grades that appear in REA listings, indicative EU bands are roughly 2,954 to 5,932 euros for FGIII, 3,637 to 8,225 euros for FGIV, 4,917 to 5,565 euros for AD5 and 5,565 to 6,137 euros for AD6, with the exact point depending on step and personal circumstances. On top of basic salary, EU staff may receive allowances such as expatriation, household and dependent-child allowances, and they benefit from the EU pension scheme and the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme. EU salaries are subject to an internal Community tax rather than national income tax, which affects net pay. To apply, use REA's own recruitment pages at https://rea.ec.europa.eu/working-rea/jobs-rea_en, where contract-agent and temporary-agent vacancies are published, and consult EPSO for open competitions leading to permanent posts. Applications are made against specific notices, with a CV, motivation and any documents the notice requires, and shortlisted candidates are invited to interviews and possibly written tests. Because deadlines are firm and selection can take time, it is worth tracking notices early. For candidates weighing EU against non-EU employers, REA offers the structured pay, allowances and career framework of the EU institutions, which differs markedly from the organisation-specific scales used by bodies such as the OECD.

Career prospects and mobility

One reason candidates target EU executive agencies such as REA is the wider career framework they connect to. Contract agents and temporary agents at REA work under the same EU Staff Regulations that apply across the institutions, which makes movement within the EU system more coherent than jumping between unrelated employers. Contract-agent function groups have their own progression through steps and, over time, opportunities to move up as experience grows, while administrators on the AD grades follow the administrator career path. For those aiming at a permanent EU career, passing an EPSO open competition and joining a reserve list opens the door to official posts across the Commission and its agencies, and time spent as a contract or temporary agent can build directly relevant experience. Internal and inter-agency mobility is a real feature of EU working life, so a role at REA can be a stepping stone to other bodies in Brussels or elsewhere, including specialised agencies and Commission departments. Because REA manages Horizon Europe, staff also build deep expertise in EU research funding, grant management and financial rules that is valued across the research and innovation family of bodies. Candidates should still read each vacancy for whether it is open externally, reserved for EPSO laureates or aimed at internal mobility. For comparison across the wider system, the jobs pages on this site collect openings from many EU bodies alongside REA.

Frequently asked questions

Is REA an EU institution or agency?: REA is an executive agency of the European Union based in Brussels. It manages parts of Horizon Europe for the European Commission. Because it is an EU body, it recruits through the EU system, uses EU staff categories and pays according to the EU salary scales.
How do I apply for a job at REA?: Contract-agent and temporary-agent vacancies are published on REA's own jobs pages, where you apply against a specific notice with a CV and supporting documents. Permanent official posts are filled from EPSO open-competition reserve lists, so those require passing an EPSO competition first.
What grades and contract types does REA use?: REA uses EU staff categories, including contract-agent function groups such as FGIII and FGIV and administrator grades such as AD5 and AD6. Posts can be contract agent, temporary agent or permanent official, and each carries a different pay scale and eligibility path.
Do I need EU citizenship to work at REA?: Yes, in general. As an EU body, REA normally requires citizenship of an EU member state, full civic rights and completion of any national service obligations. Each vacancy states the exact conditions, so check the eligibility section of the specific notice before applying.
What does REA pay?: Pay follows EU monthly gross salary bands. Indicative ranges include roughly 2,954 to 5,932 euros for FGIII, 3,637 to 8,225 euros for FGIV, 4,917 to 5,565 euros for AD5 and 5,565 to 6,137 euros for AD6, plus EU allowances and benefits depending on circumstances.
What kind of work does REA do?: REA manages EU research funding, mainly under Horizon Europe. It runs calls for proposals, organises evaluations, prepares grant agreements and monitors funded projects. It does not carry out research itself, so it hires programme managers, financial officers, legal advisers and administrative staff rather than laboratory scientists.

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