{"schemaVersion":3,"releaseId":"rel_20261114_8683fef1649f","builtAt":"2026-11-14T23:00:00.221Z","canonicalUrl":"https://www.diplomatic.careers/jobs/european-commission-team-leader-principal-operations-officer-brussels-eu-careers-clima-com-2026-526348","job":{"slug":"european-commission-team-leader-principal-operations-officer-brussels-eu-careers-clima-com-2026-526348","title":"Team Leader, Principal Operations Officer","state":"open","closesAt":"2026-12-03T23:00:00.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-11-13T14:27:58.698Z","updatedAt":"2026-11-14T13:23:07.344Z","lastVerifiedAt":"2026-11-14T13:23:07.391Z","sourceUrl":"https://eu-careers.europa.eu/jobs/team-leader-1_en","sourceName":"European Commission careers","applicationUrl":"https://eu-careers.europa.eu/jobs/team-leader-1_en","workModes":["on-site"],"grades":["AD-5–AD-11"],"gradeKey":"ad-5-to-ad-11","careerLevel":"l5","professionalFunction":"risk_compliance","subjectArea":"climate","requiredLanguages":["English"],"requiredLanguagesOneOf":[],"citizenshipEligibility":"member_states","degreeLevel":null,"yearsExperienceMin":12,"positionsCount":1,"internationallyRecruited":true,"summary":"Lead the development and maturation of operational resilience for the ETS Office, supporting continuity and stability of critical climate information systems.","sourceDescription":"Detail page\nReference: CLIMA/COM/2026/526348\n\nApplication deadline: 3 December 2026, 12:00 (CET)\n\nInstitution: European Commission\n\nLocation: Brussels, Belgium\n\nDomain: Climate\n\nContract type: Temporary staff\n\nGrade: AD 5 - AD 11\n\nUnit: CLIMA.E.TRO – Taskforce for Resilient Operations\n\nDirectorate-General or Department: Directorate-General for Climate Action\n\nBack\n\nVacancy notice\n13 November 2026\n\nEnglishDownload (253.93 KB - PDF)\n\nSingle application form\n13 November 2026\n\nEnglishDownload (239.31 KB - PDF)\n\nVacancy notice (CLIMA COM 2026 526348 final.pdf)\n\nVACANCY NOTICE FOR\nTEMPORARY AGENT SELECTION\nJob title (same as on the job\ndescription) Team Leader – Principal Operations Officer\nReference CLIMA/COM/2026/526348\nApplication deadline 03.12.2026 - 12.00 (Brussels time)\nDirectorate-General (full name) Directorate-General for Climate Action\nUnit CLIMA.E.TRO – Taskforce for Resilient Operations\nPlace of assignment Brussels\nGrade range AD5-11\nDomain CLIMATE\nContract type Temporary Agent 2a\nAbout us (“We are”)\nThe European Commission is organising an external selection procedure for a temporary agent\nto fill the post of Team Leader – Principal Operations Officer. The officer will be a part of the\ntaskforce whose main goal is to prepare establishment of a dedicated “secure ETS operations\noffice” by 2028, where all reviewed processes and streamlined administrative tasks will benefit\nfrom efficiency gains and financial sector grade information security services. This taskforce will\nbe hosted by the Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA) and report directly to the\nDirector for Climate Resilience and Information Management of DG CLIMA.\nThe taskforce is established with the aim to retain operational excellence and continuity of the\nETS (Emissions Trading System) Registry in an evolving and increasingly challenging\ngeopolitical and cybersecurity landscape. The taskforce will enhance the current operating\nmodel, by aspiring to ensure maximum compliance with applicable regulations for comparable\nfinancial market infrastructures and to minimise exposure of the critical climate information\nsystems to external threats thereby contributing to predictable and stable policies and business\ncontinuity.\nETS operations are centralised in a single information system, called the Union Registry. It holds\ncarbon emission allowances in accounts for more than 15,000 operators from the power sector\nand energy intensive industry, including the aviation sector. Emission allowances are considered\nfinancial instruments under MiFID, and the registry offers services similar to the notary and\ncentral maintenance services offered by Central Securities Depositories (‘CSD’).\n\nAbout the role (“We propose”)\nThe Operations management function will form an integral part of the first line (of defence), and\nits mission is to support ETS Office in achieving its goals and delivering its strategy through\nproviding robust, compliant and resilient operational activities. We offer an exceptional\nopportunity to help establish a modern enterprise operational architecture from the ground up.\nAs a key member of the initial team establishing the future ETS Office in Brussels, you will co-\ncreate, design, implement and later enhance the office’s operational resilience framework. The\nrole ensures that critical services, processes and supporting capabilities remain resilient under\ndisruption and that the institution is well positioned to prevent, respond to, recover from and learn\nfrom operational incidents, in line with regulatory expectations and business needs.\nThe Principal Operations Officer will contribute to the design, implementation and maturation of\nthe institution’s operational resilience framework, with particular focus on critical functions,\nsevere but plausible scenarios, incident management, business continuity, disaster recovery,\nthird-party dependencies and ICT-related resilience under DORA and related standards.\nWorking across business, operations, technology, risk, compliance and senior governance\nbodies, you will support a coherent end-to-end approach to resilience in an environment where\ncontinuity, market confidence and systemic stability are essential.\nIn close coordination with the relevant management, legal, risk, internal audit and compliance\nfunctions, the Principal Operations Officer will oversee all components of the institution’s\noperational resilience, business continuity and crisis management framework. The role equally\noffers the opportunity to:\n• lead the first line of defence of the risk management strategy of the Office;\n• lead the internal team of experts and manage services in outsourced contracts to strengthen\nthe institution’s preparedness for ICT disruptions, cyber incidents, outsourcing failures and cross-\nfunctional crisis events;\n• work with first and second line functions to strengthen incident management, crisis\npreparedness, business continuity and disaster recovery capabilities;\n• identify and map important business services, critical processes, dependencies and\nvulnerabilities;\n• engage with internal and external stakeholders, including control functions, senior\ncommittees, critical providers and supervisory authorities, to support in the definition and\nmonitoring of impact tolerances, resilience indicators and associated governance arrangements;\n• assess resilience risks related to people, processes, technology, facilities, cyber threats, data\nand third-party dependencies, promoting resilience awareness and cross-functional collaboration\nthroughout the organisation.\n\nQualifications, experience and skills (“We look for”)\nWe are looking for a Team Leader - Principal Operations Officer.\nA post-aligned academic qualification is preferred, such as master’s degree in business\nadministration, telecommunications, information systems, finance, economics or highly relevant\nengineering field. Familiarity with the regulatory environment affecting financial institutions,\nespecially in relation to operational and digital resilience would be a strong asset.\nAdditionally, the ideal candidate should have:\n• a minimum of 12 years of relevant professional experience in a public or private sector\n(preferably finance) institution;\n• experience in operational resilience, operational risk, business continuity, ICT risk, cyber\nresilience or a closely related area;\n• demonstrated experience in developing and implementing operational resilience frameworks,\nincluding service mapping, impact tolerances or equivalent continuity metrics, dependency\nanalysis, scenario testing and crisis coordination;\n• strong understanding of the EU regulatory framework relevant to resilience and ICT risk,\nnotably Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), and familiarity with related expectations\nunder European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR), Central Securities Depositories\nRegulation (CSDR), Markets in Financial Instruments Directive/Regulation (MiFID/MiFIR)-\nrelated interfaces, Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism\n(AML/CFT), in particular with relation to outsourcing and cybersecurity requirements;\n• experience in cross-functional coordination involving operations, technology, risk, security\nand governance stakeholders;\n• an understanding of post-trading activities, settlement cycles, asset servicing, collateral\nprocesses, reconciliations and control frameworks is desirable;\n• familiarity with the regulatory and operational environment applicable to financial market\ninfrastructures, custodians, payment systems or major financial institutions would be highly\ndesirable;\n• relevant information systems, cybersecurity, business continuity and service management\ncertifications such as MBCI, CBCI, CRISC, CISM, CISSP, ISO27001, ISO22301, ITIL and\nequivalent would be strong assets;\n• proven experience with threat-led testing, incident response, disaster recovery, third-party\nrisk, cloud dependency management and cyber resilience exercises organised by central\ninstitutions are significant assets.\n\nOther valued qualities: Strong analytical, organisational and problem-solving skills with the ability\nto work across functions and coordinate with business, technology and control stakeholders. The\nability to lead and manage teams (internal and outsourced) and engage with business managers,\nregulators, auditors and other control functions is also crucial.\nFamiliarity with the European Commission environment, including security practices,\nmethodologies and roles (ITSRM, LSO / LISO, CRO, GRC, etc.), will be valued but is not\nindispensable.\nGiven the nature of the role, the selected individual will embark on the EU security clearance\nprocess. Fluency in English, both spoken and written, is indispensable.\nThe recruitment grade will be determined in accordance with Article 13 of Commission Decision\nC(2025)4716, taking account of the candidate’s recognised professional experience. In\nexceptional and duly justified cases, the Authority Authorised to Conclude Employment contracts\n(AACE) may authorise classification in higher grade with fewer years of professional experience\nthan normally required under that Article.\n\nHow to express your interest?\nYou should send your documents in a single pdf in the following order:\n1. your CV 2. completed application form.\nPlease send these documents by the publication deadline to CLIMA-E-ARES@ec.europa.eu,\nElina.BARDRAM@ec.europa.euand Javier .CACERES@ec.europa.euindicating the selection\nreference CLIMA/COM/2026/526348 in the subject.\nNo applications will be accepted after the publication deadline.\nEligibility\nFor eligibility please consult this page with all the information needed.","description":["Lead the development and maturation of operational resilience for the ETS Office, supporting continuity and stability of critical climate information systems."],"responsibilities":["Lead the first line of defence of the risk management strategy for the ETS Office.","Oversee operational resilience, business continuity and crisis management frameworks.","Coordinate resilience activities across operations, technology, risk, compliance and governance stakeholders."],"requirements":[],"applicationInstructions":[],"engagementType":"staff","datePosted":"2026-11-13","applicationDeadline":"2026-12-03","locations":[{"label":"Brussels, Belgium","city":"Brussels","country":"Belgium","countryCode":"BE","remote":false}]},"organization":{"slug":"european-commission","name":"European Commission","shortName":"European Commission","websiteUrl":"https://commission.europa.eu","careersUrl":"https://eu-careers.europa.eu/en/job-opportunities/open-vacancies/ec_vacancies"},"filters":[{"field":"organization","value":"european-commission","label":"European Commission"},{"field":"city","value":"brussels","label":"Brussels"},{"field":"country","value":"belgium","label":"Belgium"},{"field":"area","value":"climate","label":"Climate"},{"field":"area","value":"risk-compliance","label":"Risk & compliance"},{"field":"level","value":"l5","label":"P5 Principal professional"},{"field":"engagement","value":"staff","label":"Staff"},{"field":"experience","value":"12","label":"12+ years"},{"field":"language","value":"english","label":"English"},{"field":"citizenship","value":"member-states","label":"Organization member-state nationals"},{"field":"mode","value":"on-site","label":"On-site"}],"eligibilityGuide":null,"salaryBand":null,"organizationBenefits":[{"title":"Income tax exemption","summary":"European Commission officials pay European Union tax on their EU remuneration and are exempt from national income tax on that remuneration.","details":["European Commission officials pay European Union tax on their EU remuneration and are exempt from national income tax on that remuneration."],"sourceUrl":"https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A01962R0031-20250101","updatedAt":"2026-07-18T11:23:52.898Z","scope":"organization-wide"},{"title":"Relocation","summary":"Eligible European Commission officials receive an installation allowance plus reimbursement of appointment travel and removal expenses when the post requires a change of residence. Family status determines the installation allowance.","details":["Eligible European Commission officials receive an installation allowance plus reimbursement of appointment travel and removal expenses when the post requires a change of residence. Family status determines the installation allowance."],"sourceUrl":"https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A01962R0031-20250101","updatedAt":"2026-07-18T11:23:52.898Z","scope":"organization-wide"}]}