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SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking (S3JU) Jobs

1 open positions

SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking (S3JU) is currently advertising 1 open position on our EU Jobs Alert tracker. Every vacancy below is sourced from the official SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking (S3JU) careers portal, normalised into a consistent schema, and refreshed daily so you never miss a deadline.

Use the filters on this page to narrow SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking (S3JU) 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 SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking, often shortened to S3JU, is a European Union body that coordinates research and innovation to modernise air traffic management across Europe. SESAR stands for the Single European Sky ATM Research programme, and this third phase brings together the European Commission, the air navigation industry, airspace users, and research organisations to develop the technologies behind what is described as the Digital European Sky. The Joint Undertaking is based in Brussels, Belgium. Rather than operating air traffic itself, S3JU manages a research programme, funding and steering projects that aim to make European aviation safer, more efficient, and more sustainable. As an EU Joint Undertaking it recruits under the EU Staff Regulations, using temporary agent and contract agent posts and drawing on seconded national experts for specialist input. Its staff combine aviation and technical expertise with programme management and administrative skills. Because the body is compact, recruitment tends to focus on specialist and coordination roles. Current openings can be reviewed on the jobs board.

Mandate and what it does

The SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking runs the research and innovation pillar of the Single European Sky initiative, a long-standing European effort to reform how airspace is managed. Europe's airspace has historically been fragmented along national lines, which adds cost, delay, and environmental impact to flights. SESAR research aims to replace ageing systems and fragmented practices with modern, more automated, and better-connected air traffic management. This third phase, S3JU, operates under Horizon Europe and pursues what it calls the Digital European Sky, a vision of a more scalable and sustainable air traffic system. The Joint Undertaking does not control flights or run control centres. Instead it defines research priorities, funds and coordinates projects carried out by its members and partners, and helps move promising results toward deployment. Its membership brings together public authorities and a broad cross-section of the aviation sector, including air navigation service providers, manufacturers, airlines, airports, and the research community. Much of the internal work is therefore programme management: shaping calls, overseeing projects, integrating results, and maintaining the master planning that guides the wider modernisation effort. The sample role of a Technology and Master Planning Expert reflects this, sitting at the point where technical knowledge of aviation systems meets the planning that keeps a large research programme coherent across many participants and years.

Brussels base

The SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking is based in Brussels, Belgium, which places it within the dense network of EU institutions, agencies, and Joint Undertakings that share the city. This location gives the body ready access to the European Commission departments responsible for transport and mobility, as well as to the many aviation stakeholders that maintain a presence in the EU capital. Brussels is well connected across Europe by rail and air, which matters for a body whose members and partners are spread across the continent and who meet frequently. Staff who relocate for a post benefit from the relocation and expatriation provisions of the EU staff framework. The main working language is English, in line with the international and technical character of the programme, while the city itself operates in French and Dutch. For candidates weighing a move, Brussels offers the practical advantages of a major European hub together with proximity to related transport and research bodies. You can browse other roles tied to the city through the Brussels location page. The concentration of EU employers in Brussels also means that people who join a compact body like S3JU can build a longer public-sector career by moving between neighbouring institutions, since the staff framework and pay scales are shared across them.

Role categories

As a programme-managing body, the SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking recruits people who combine subject-matter expertise in aviation and technology with the skills to run a research programme. The example of a Technology and Master Planning Expert shows the specialist end of this: someone who understands air traffic management systems and can contribute to the master planning that keeps the modernisation effort aligned across many projects and partners. Around such specialist posts sit programme and project managers who oversee calls and monitor funded work, along with the support functions common to any EU body, including finance, legal, procurement, communications, and human resources. Because the organisation is small, staff often take on a broader mix of responsibilities than they might in a large institution. Candidates with engineering or technical aviation backgrounds, or with experience in transport research and innovation, are well suited to the specialist and programme roles, while those with administrative or financial training fit the support functions. The body also uses seconded national experts, which lets specialists from national administrations or bodies contribute for a defined period while remaining employed by their home organisation. This route is a common feature of EU bodies for bringing in deep technical knowledge. To gauge how often particular profiles appear, the consolidated jobs board lists live vacancies you can filter by type across this and similar bodies.

Eligibility and languages

The SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking recruits under EU rules, so most posts require nationality of an EU member state, with the exact condition set out in each vacancy notice. Candidates generally need full citizenship rights, to have met any national service obligations, and to satisfy the character requirements for the duties. Educational and experience requirements depend on the grade and function: specialist and programme roles usually call for a relevant degree and directly relevant professional experience, while support roles state their own criteria. Seconded national experts follow a distinct route, since they are proposed by and remain employed by a national administration or comparable body, and the conditions for secondment are set in the relevant notice. Language requirements follow the EU pattern, with thorough knowledge of one EU language and satisfactory knowledge of a second normally expected. In day-to-day work English is the principal operating language, given the international and technical nature of the programme, so a strong command of English is important for most posts. Additional languages can be an asset. As always with EU bodies, the individual vacancy notice is the authoritative source for the precise eligibility, qualification, and language conditions, and candidates should read it carefully before applying. Meeting the formal conditions is a prerequisite that is checked before the substance of an application is assessed on merit.

Staff categories, pay and benefits

The SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking employs staff under the EU Staff Regulations. Its workforce typically includes temporary agents in the administrator and assistant categories, contract agents in the support function groups, and seconded national experts brought in for their specialist knowledge. The recent Technology and Master Planning Expert opening was advertised for a seconded national expert, a category in which the expert usually continues to be paid by their home administration while receiving allowances from the host body to cover the costs of working abroad. For directly employed staff, pay follows the standard EU salary scales. As an indicative guide from the current bands, an administrator at grade AD5 earns roughly 4,917 to 5,565 euro per month across its steps, with higher administrator grades paying more. Contract agents in function group IV fall roughly between 3,637 and 8,225 euro, and function group III between 2,954 and 5,932 euro. Directly employed staff may also receive allowances such as expatriation and family allowances where they apply, and they are covered by the EU pension scheme and joint sickness insurance. Contracts for temporary and contract agents are usually fixed term with the possibility of renewal, while secondments run for a defined period. These figures are indicative and depend on grade, step, and personal circumstances, so the terms stated in a specific notice are the reliable reference.

How to apply

Vacancies at the SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking are published through EU recruitment channels and the body's own careers pages, with each notice setting out the profile, category, eligibility conditions, deadline, and selection steps. Because the organisation is compact, it does not run a continuous stream of competitions, so checking regularly and applying promptly when a suitable notice appears is the practical approach. For directly employed posts, the selection process follows the EU model of an eligibility check, an assessment against the profile, and interviews or tests for shortlisted candidates, often with placement on a reserve list. For seconded national expert positions, candidates are usually put forward by their national administration, and the process is set out in the specific call. In all cases, an application that maps your experience directly to the published selection criteria stands the best chance, since evaluators score against those criteria. For specialist aviation and technology roles, clear evidence of relevant technical and programme experience is valuable. Candidates interested in comparable EU research bodies can look at other Joint Undertakings to compare openings and conditions. Tracking the consolidated jobs board is a good way to see when S3JU and related bodies open new competitions, giving you time to prepare the required documents before a deadline closes.

The wider Single European Sky context

Understanding the SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking is easier with a sense of the wider policy effort it belongs to. The Single European Sky is a long-running European initiative to reduce the fragmentation of the continent's airspace, which has historically been divided along national boundaries in ways that add delay, cost, and emissions. SESAR is the technological arm of that effort, tasked with researching and developing the systems that make a more integrated sky possible. Over successive phases, the programme has moved from early research toward the deployment of new tools and procedures, and this third phase focuses on the digital transformation of air traffic management. For staff, this context means their work connects to a concrete public goal that affects millions of flights and passengers, even though the daily tasks are those of research coordination rather than flight operations. The Joint Undertaking sits between the policy ambitions set at European level and the practical delivery carried out by industry and air navigation providers, so its staff often work at the interface of policy, technology, and industry. This position gives roles at S3JU a broad view of European aviation and its future direction, which candidates with an interest in transport policy and modernisation may find appealing when comparing it with narrower technical posts elsewhere.

Frequently asked questions

What does the SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking do?
It coordinates European research and innovation to modernise air traffic management under the Single European Sky programme, funding and steering projects that support a more digital, efficient, and sustainable aviation system.
Is S3JU an EU body?
Yes. It is an EU Joint Undertaking operating under Horizon Europe, bringing together the European Commission and the aviation sector, and it recruits staff under the EU Staff Regulations.
Where is the SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking based?
The body is based in Brussels, Belgium, within the network of EU institutions and close to the Commission departments and aviation stakeholders it works with.
What is a seconded national expert at S3JU?
It is a specialist proposed by a national administration who works at the Joint Undertaking for a defined period while remaining employed by their home body, receiving allowances to cover working abroad.
What languages are needed to work there?
EU rules require thorough knowledge of one EU language and satisfactory knowledge of a second. In practice English is the main working language given the programme's international and technical character.
How do I find and apply for openings?
Vacancies appear through EU recruitment channels and the body's careers pages. Each notice sets out the profile, eligibility, deadline, and selection steps, which differ between directly employed posts and secondments.

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