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# 212a - Project Officer Critical Infrastructure Protection and Energy Security (CIPES)

- **Company:** European Defense Agency
- **Location:** Brussel, Belgium
- **Experience:** Expert
- **Salary:** €106,938.0
- **Contract:** Temporary contract
- **Skills:** Artificial Intelligence, Information Systems, Desktop Computing, Enterprise Planning Systems, Chatbots, Generative AI, Cyber Warfare, GPT, Vulnerability Analysis
- **Published:** October 23, 2026
- **Apply:** https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=7cb15990d4d171dc

## About the Role

* be a national of a Member State participating in the Agency;
 * be entitled to their full rights as citizens;
 * have fulfilled any obligations imposed on them by the laws concerning military service;
 * produce the appropriate character references as to their suitability for the performance of their duties (extract from the "judicial record" or certificate of good conduct will be requested prior to recruitment);
 * be physically fit to perform their duties;
 * have a thorough knowledge (minimum level C1 oral and written) of one of the languages of the participating Member States and a satisfactory knowledge (minimum level B2 oral and written) of another of these languages to the extent necessary to discharge their duties;
 * have no personal interest (financial, family relationship, or other) which could be in conflict with disinterested discharge of their duties within the Agency;
 * hold, or be in a position to obtain, a valid Personnel Security Clearance Certificate (national or EU PSC at SECRET UE/EU SECRET level). Personnel Security Clearance Certificate (PSCC) means a certificate issued by a competent authority establishing that an individual is security cleared and holds a valid national or EU PSC, and which shows the level of EUCI to which that individual may be granted access (SECRET UE/EU SECRET), the date of validity of the relevant PSC and the date of expiry of the certificate itself. Note that the necessary procedure for obtaining a PSCC can be initiated on request of the employer only, and not by the individual candidate;
 * have a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma when the normal period of university education is four years or more, or a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma and appropriate professional experience of at least one year when the normal period of university education is at least three years or be a graduate of a national or international Defence College; or where justified in the interests of the service, professional training of an equivalent level.

Only diplomas that have been awarded in EU Member States or that are the subject of equivalence certificates issued by the authorities in the said Member States shall be taken into consideration. In the latter case, the authority authorised to conclude contracts of employment reserves the right to request proof of such equivalence., For native English speakers, your ability to communicate in another EU language will be tested during the selection process. To assess your foreign language levels, see: https://europa.eu/europass/en/common-european-framework-reference-language-skills, * a university degree (or equivalent academic degree) in a field relevant to the duties of the post, such as engineering, energy management, infrastructure protection, security studies, defence studies, military sciences, logistics or another relevant field;

 * at least six (6) years of relevant professional experience, acquired after the award of the qualification required as a condition of eligibility;
 * proven professional experience within a defence-related or security-related governmental organisation and/or an international organisation, including experience in military/security capability development;
 * very good knowledge of and proven professional experience in Critical Infrastructure Protection and/or Energy Security, particularly in areas such as defence or security preparedness and resilience, operational energy, infrastructure protection, energy resilience or strategic sustainment;
 * proven experience in international defence or security cooperation and a good understanding of defence acquisition and collaborative procurement processes;
 * good knowledge of the EU defence environment and relevant defence initiatives, including EDA's role, main tasks and functions, together with an understanding of NATO activities relevant to the area of responsibility;
 * a very good command of written and oral English.

(2) Personal

All staff must be able to fit into the Agency's way of working (see para. 2). Other attributes important for this post include:

 * ability to work both independently within his/her area of responsibility and to proactively collaborate with colleagues and stakeholders;
 * ability to work effectively in a multinational environment;
 * reliability and capacity to work under pressure with minimal supervision;
 * good organisational and coordination skills;
 * strong conceptual, analytical and problem-solving skills;
 * excellent interpersonal, communication and negotiation skills;
 * results-orientation and strong motivation;
 * flexibility and innovativeness;
 * genuine commitment to the Agency's objectives.

B. Desirable

The following will be considered an advantage:

 * experience in national or multinational military or security exercises, operations or deployments involving critical infrastructure protection, energy security or resilience;
 * experience in civil-military cooperation related to critical infrastructure protection, energy security, preparedness or resilience;
 * experience in requirements harmonisation, collaborative acquisition and/or aggregation of demand in the CIPES area;
 * a recognised project and/or programme management qualification.

## Description

The Capability, Armament & Planning Directorate (CAP) supports Member States in collaboratively planning, developing and acquiring defence capabilities that meet their needs as well as EU priorities. This implies supporting Member States in identifying, preparing and supporting the execution of possible cooperation projects and programmes ranging from long term military capability development to short term armament procurement. This includes obtaining agreement on shared needs and related priorities, harmonising capability requirements and conducting capability development preparatory activities across all dimensions of capabilities (concept & doctrine, organisation, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel, facilities, and interoperability). It also includes aggregating demand towards joint procurement of defence products and services.

The Directorate, together with Member States and with the support of other competent EU institutions and bodies, operates the intergovernmental EU Capability Development Planning System (EU-CDPS) comprising several EU tools. The Capability Development Plan (CDP), managed with the EU Military Committee (EUMC) and EU Military Staff (EUMS) contributions, leads to the identification of Capability Development Priorities agreed at EU level as a reference for all EU initiatives on Defence. The Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD), conducted with the contribution of EUMS, enables the analysis of the "State of the Union on Defence" and to identify opportunities for cooperation. The Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), conducted together with the European External Action Service (EEAS), including EUMS, coordinates the analysis of the annual PESCO National Implementation Plans to assess the participating Member States' fulfilment of the PESCO commitments, assesses
Member States' PESCO project proposals and monitors their progress.

Within EU-CDPS, the Directorate engages with Member States' capability planners and experts to implement the EU Capability Development Priorities based on agreed collaborative roadmaps. When preparatory activities enable the identification of a possible cooperation project, the Directorate supports Member States interested in the project by elaborating a business case with them.

The CAP Directorate comprises:

 * Capability Development Coordination and Strategic Analysis Unit;
 * Air & Space Domain Unit: Air Combat, Airborne Command and Inform Capabilities, Integrated Air and Missile Defence, Air Transport, Space Operations and Space Services;
 * Maritime Domain Unit: Naval Combat and Maritime Interdiction, Underwater and Seabed Warfare, Maritime Domain Awareness;
 * Land Domain Unit: Ground Combat Capabilities, Land-Based Precision Engagement, Future Soldier Systems;
 * Strategic Enablers & Cyber Unit: Cyber Warfare & Operations, Electro Magnetic Spectrum Operations & Electronic Warfare, Command / Control / Communications / Computers / Information Systems / Surveillance / Target Acquisition & Reconnaissance (C4ISTAR), Special Operation Forces;
 * Resilience & Support Unit: Military Mobility, Logistics, CBRN Defence, Critical Infrastructure Protection, Medical Support, Energy;
 * Cooperation Planning Unit: Management of EU-CDPS, including the conduct of the Capability Development Plan, CARD and PESCO.

Based on this organization, in coordination with other Directorates, CAP supports Member States with concrete proposals for cooperation at levels ranging from the technical to the political, while actively contributing to various capability-related initiatives launched by Member States at EU level, such as the EU Defence Readiness objective and associated Priority Capability Areas., Under the supervision of the Head of Resilience and Support Unit, the Project Officer Critical Infrastructure Protection and
Energy Security (CIPES) will be responsible for planning, initiating and conducting collaborative military capability development activities in the specific domain. In particular, the jobholder will be responsible for/contribute to the following activities:

 * support EU Member States in improving their military capabilities in the area of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Energy Security, with particular focus on enhancing military preparedness, resilience, freedom of action and operational readiness;
 * implement EDA Core Tasks 3 and 4, namely harmonisation of military requirements and aggregation of demand towards joint procurement, including to the of business cases with MS interested in launching specific collaborative development/acquisition projects;
 * establish, manage and, when required, chair the Capability Expert Groups Critical Infrastructure Protection and Energy Security (CEG CIPES), as well as related Ad-Hoc Working Groups;
 * contribute to other related activities in the area of responsibility such as Priority Capability Areas (PCAs) Coordinating Groups, providing technical direction and subject-matter expertise;
 * develop and update the Priority Implementation Roadmap (PIR) to implement the EU Capability Development Priority Critical Infrastructure Protection and Energy Security;
 * support the establishment and implementation of ad-hoc projects, and the launch of new and/or management of existing EDA Category B projects as required, as well as plan and manage activities funded by the EDA Operational Budget, as required;
 * contribute to ensuring coherence across the 4 CEGs implementing Resilience and Support Priorities (Logistics, Military Mobility, CBRN Defence, Critical Infrastructure Protection and Energy Security), and related work strands across the Agency, including in the framework of the Centre for European for Defence Innovation (CEDI) and the Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector (CF SEDSS);
 * liaise, as appropriate, with other relevant stakeholders such as national authorities, the European External Action Service (EEAS), EU Military Staff (EUMS), European Commission (EC), NATO, EU Defence Technological and Industrial base (EDTIB), and any other relevant EU Institutions, bodies and agencies;
 * contribute to EDA's and the EU's broader resilience, preparedness and support objectives through coherent and future-oriented military capability development in the fields in Critical Infrastructure Protection and Energy Security, including secure, resilient and sustainable energy solutions and power supply for defence capabilities across all operational domains;
 * contribute to the further development and improvement of the Capability Development Plan (CDP), including identifying, promoting and proposing meaningful collaborative opportunities framed under the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) within the jobholder's area of responsibility;
 * contribute, as appropriate, to the assessment of the PESCO projects and European Defence Fund (EDF) topics, related to the jobholder's area of responsibility, including other EU Commission-led initiatives;
 * provide technical advice within the jobholder's area of responsibility to EU defence-related policies and concepts;
 * represent the Agency at conferences and seminars;
 * take on additional tasks as required in the interest of the service.

Duties may evolve according to development of the EDA's structure and activities, and the decisions of EDA management., EDA, whose staff are governed by its own Staff Regulations, offers specific conditions of employment with regards to contract duration and pension arrangements., EDA will not accept any phase of the selection & recruitment process prepared or assisted, in whole or in part, by means of generative artificial-intelligence (AI) tools, including and without limitation to chatbots, such as Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (Chat GPT), or other language generating tools. EDA reserves the right to screen applications to identify the use of such tools. All applications prepared, in whole or in part, by means of such generative or creative AI tools may be rejected without further consideration at EDA's sole discretion, and EDA reserves the right to take further steps in such cases as appropriate.

If recruited, candidates will be requested to supply documentary evidence in support of the statements made in their application. They should not send any supporting or supplementary information until asked to do so by the Agency. Candidates are advised that part of the recruitment process includes medical analyses and physical check-up with the Agency's Medical Adviser.

Staff members employed at EDA require a Personnel Security Clearance Certificate (PSCC). The process to obtain a PSCC can be initiated only by EDA on behalf of the staff member. Failure to obtain the requisite security clearance certificate before the expiration of the probationary period may be cause for termination of the contract.