Officer - Earth Observation Services - Copernicus Maritime Surveillance (FGIV)

The European Maritime Safety Agency was established for the purpose of ensuring a high, uniform and effective level of maritime safety that aims at a maximum reduction of accidents, a high, uniform and effective level of maritime security, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from ships and the environmental sustainability of the maritime sector as well as the prevention of and response to pollution caused by ships and the response to marine pollution caused by oil and gas installations. The Agency supports digitalisation and the reduction of the administrative burden in the maritime sector by facilitating the electronic transmission of data and supports simplification and the provision of integrated maritime surveillance and maritime situational awareness systems and services to the European Commission and the Member States.

The Agency was established by Regulation (EU) 2025/2434 of the European Parliament and of the European Council of 26 November 2025 on the European Maritime Safety Agency and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002.

The Agency provides technical, operational and scientific assistance to the European Commission and Member States in the fields of maritime safety, maritime security, prevention of, and response to, pollution caused by ships as well as response to marine pollution caused by oil and gas installations.

The Agency also contributes to the overall efficiency of maritime traffic and maritime transport and supports European cooperation on coastguard functions.

EMSA's activities can be broadly described as:

• providing technical and scientific assistance to the Member States and the European Commission in the proper development and implementation of EU legislation on maritime safety, security, prevention of pollution by ships and maritime transport administrative simplification;
• monitoring the implementation of EU legislation through visits and inspections;
• improving cooperation with and between Member States;
• building capacity of national competent authorities;
• providing operational assistance, including developing, managing and maintaining maritime services related to ships, ship monitoring and enforcement;
• carrying out operational preparedness, detection and response tasks with respect to pollution caused by ships and marine pollution by oil and gas installations;
• at the request of the European Commission, providing technical operational assistance to non-EU countries around relevant sea basins.

The mission of Unit 2.2 is to provide maritime surveillance services to enhance the Agency’s maritime information picture by implementing solutions that put at the centre the operational needs of users. This is achieved by managing the sourcing and day-to-day operations of the Earth Observation information flow from satellites, through the provision of Automatic Identification System information detected by satellites (SAT-AIS), and by transmission of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) based information. This involves both the set-up of routine surveillance services based on requests made by maritime authorities and other Coast Guard Agencies and the support that is provided through the EMSA contingency plan in response to maritime emergencies.

Unit 2.2 is responsible for the general sourcing and day-to-day provision of the extensive portfolio of satellite-based earth observation data, added value products and alert services, as derived from Synthetic Aperture Radar and optical satellites, in support to the operational requirements of multiple maritime user communities.

These are the main components of three distinct services: i) CleanSeaNet, the European oil spill detection and monitoring service; ii) Copernicus Maritime Surveillance, as delegated by the Commission to the Agency and iii) satellite imagery-based services provided to Frontex for maritime border control surveillance.

As for RPAS and Satellite Communication Services, Unit 2.2 is responsible for the set-up of RPAS operations and the general sourcing and day-to-day provision of RPAS and Satellite communication-based information, such as AIS messages, live video, radar detections, distress signals and emissions measurements, to support the operational requirements of multiple maritime user communities, including other EU Agencies in the framework of the Coast guard cooperation. This information complements the general maritime information picture including the oil spill detection and monitoring service (CleanSeaNet), the ship source emission surveillance (SOx detection) as well as the vessel detection via satellite for maritime surveillance. In addition, by installing RPAS on board EMSA and other EU Agencies/Member States authorities’ vessels this service further supports pollution response and other Coast Guard activities at sea.

• Gathering and analysing user requirements, performing gap analyses, and contributing to the drafting of functional specifications, applying a system-oriented and engineering approach to Earth Observation services'
• Assessing the relevance, technical suitability and potential added value of Earth Observation data sources and technologies, including their integration into operational workflows.
• Planning, ordering and monitoring the delivery of radar and optical satellite image acquisitions, including liaising with other members of the planning team to align acquisition schemes and optimise the planning process.
• Providing support to quality control activities linked with Earth Observation Services.
• Providing support to the monitoring and management of incidents and problems linked with the Copernicus Maritime Surveillance service.
• Providing helpdesk in the scope of Copernicus Maritime Surveillance service.
• Performing data analysis and statistics for Earth Observation related reporting obligations.
• Drafting reports, studies, documents, delivering presentations and supporting trainings activities.
• Participating in EMSA's Contingency Plan Rota.
• Supporting the activities of the Unit when required.

• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with people of different national and cultural backgrounds;
• Ability to deal with people effectively, respectfully and courteously;
• Ability to communicate clearly and present complex subjects simply, both orally and in writing;
• Ability to work under pressure and to respond quickly to new demands;
• An excellent level of written and spoken English.

In order to be eligible the candidate must:

• Be a national of one of the Member States of the European Union or of Iceland or Norway;
• Be entitled to his/her full rights as a citizen;
• Have fulfilled the obligations imposed on him/her by the laws concerning military service;
• Meet the character requirements for the duties involved; and
• Be physically fit to perform the duties linked to the post.

The Officer - Earth Observation Services - Copernicus Maritime Surveillance will be appointed by the Executive Director, upon recommendation of the Chairperson of the Selection Committee.

This vacancy notice concerns a Contract Agent position, pursuant to Article 3a and Title IV of the Conditions or Employment of other servants of the European Union.

The initial contract of employment will be aligned to the duration of the Implementation Period of the Copernicus Contribution Agreement between EMSA and DG DEFIS which shall last until 31/12/2028.

In the event that the Copernicus Contribution Agreement is renewed beyond that period, the contract of employment may also be renewed beyond the initial duration mentioned, subject to the normal conditions on contract renewal.

If recruited from the reserve list, the successful candidate will be recruited in Function Group IV (FG IV). The grade will be determined in accordance with the number of years of professional experience.

The basic monthly salary, before any deductions or allowances, weighted for Lisbon, at 1 July 2025 for the entry grade of Function Group IV (FGIV, Grade 13, Step 1) is 4,111.16EUR.

In addition to the basic salary, staff members may be entitled to various allowances, such as an expatriation allowance (16% of basic salary), household allowance, dependent child allowance and education allowance. The salary is subject to a Community tax deducted at source and staff members are exempt of national taxation.

Please note that recruitment is done in the first or second step of the indicated grade, depending on the duration of the acquired professional experience. EMSA offers a comprehensive welfare package including pension scheme, medical, accident and occupational disease insurance coverage, unemployment and invalidity allowance. Further information regarding rights and conditions of employment can be found in the following document.

Please note that in line with the Staff Regulations recruited candidates shall be required to demonstrate before their first promotion the ability to work in a third European Community language.

The place of employment is Lisbon, Portugal.

Candidates are advised that if they are offered a post, and accept, they must undergo a compulsory medical examination to establish that they meet the standard of physical fitness necessary to perform the duties involved.

EMSA is an Agency focused on gender balance and a harmonic workplace and strongly encourages the applications of women for the positions where they are underrepresented.

Candidates should ensure that they clearly indicate how they meet the selection criteria in their application and motivation letter.

Candidates must submit their application electronically solely via the EMSA website within the deadline. Applications by any other means (hard copy or ordinary e-mail) or submitted after the deadline will not be accepted.

All candidates will receive an acknowledgement of receipt for their application.

EMSA is an equal opportunities employer. Staff is selected without prejudice as to sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation.

You may apply in any of the official languages of the European Union, but it would be helpful to apply in English in order to facilitate the selection process.

For each selection process a Selection Committee is nominated. The selection is carried out in two phases:

1. In the first phase all eligible applications will be evaluated by the Selection Committee and scored against the selection criteria. Please note that non-compliance with at least one of the essential selection criteria will result in the exclusion of the candidate from the selection process. Advantageous criteria constitute additional assets and will not result in exclusion, if not fulfilled. The advantageous criteria will be considered by the Selection Committee depending on the number of applicants meeting the essential selection criteria.

On this basis, the Selection Committee will invite to the interview and to the test phase the best qualified candidates (maximum of 15), on condition that they have achieved at least 60% of the highest possible score during the evaluation of applications. Should the case arise that there are various candidates scoring the same number of points in the 15th ranking, the number of candidates to be invited will be increased accordingly to accommodate this.

2. In the second phase, the selected candidates will be invited to pass one or several written tests related to the job profile and to take part in a selection interview.

During this recruitment phase, the selected candidates will be evaluated by the Selection Committee. After the interviews and tests, the Selection Committee will draw up a list of the most suitable candidates to be proposed to the Appointing Authority. Only candidates receiving at least 70% of the maximum points at interview and at the test phase will be included in the list of the most suitable candidates. The Appointing Authority will select the successful candidate and decide whether to also adopt a reserve list. The successful candidates will be informed accordingly.

Candidates are strictly forbidden to make any contact with the members of the selection committee, either directly or indirectly. Any infringement of this rule will lead to disqualification from the selection procedure.

All candidates will receive an information letter of the outcome of their application.

Please be informed that the interviews and/or the written tests will be organised remotely. Further information on the organisation of the test and interview will be provided upon invitation.

Please note that a binding commitment can only be made after verification of all conditions and will take the form of a contract signed by the Executive Director.

Please note that the selection process may take several months to be completed and that no information will be released during this period. Once a selection process has been completed, its status will be displayed in the e-recruitment.

Please note that once you have created your EMSA profile, any correspondence regarding your application must be sent or received via your EMSA profile.

For any prior enquiry, please refer to the FAQ (Frequently asked questions) section, or send an e-mail to recruitment@emsa.europa.eu

Requests for information:

An applicant who would like further information or considers that he/she has grounds for complaint concerning a particular decision of the selection procedure may send a request by e-mail to recruitment@emsa.europa.eu preferably within 10 working days from the date he/she was notified.

EMSA Human Resources will forward the request to the Chairperson of the Selection Committee and the applicant will receive a reply as soon as possible.

How to lodge a complaint:

An applicant may lodge a complaint under Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities and Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities by email to recruitment@emsa.europa.eu or registered mail at the following address:

Human Resources Unit

EMSA

Praca Europa 4

1249-206 Lisbon

Portugal

The time limit for initiating this type of procedure is three months (see Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations as amended by Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1023/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2013, OJ L 287, 29.10.2013 from the time you become aware of the act allegedly prejudicing your interests.

Applicants can make a complaint to the European Ombudsman. Before submitting a complaint to the European Ombudsman applicants must already have contacted EMSA about the matter and used all the internal administrative options for review and/or complaints provided for in the Staff Regulations.

More information: https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/home

Personal Data protection:

The processing of personal data in the Community institutions and bodies like agencies is regulated by Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC.

For more on personal data protection and related documents see the Personal Data Protection page.