Publication of a vacancy for the function of Director of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) (Temporary Agent – Grade AD 14) (COM/2025/20115)
Date: 2025-11-11
Institutions: European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators
Subjects: administrator, competition (EU), job vacancy, managing director, recruitment, servant (EU)








C_202505886EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/5886


11.11.2025






Publication of a vacancy for the function of Director of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER)
(Temporary Agent – Grade AD 14)
(COM/2025/20115)
(C/2025/5886)


          
      

We are

The initial competences of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (hereinafter ‘Agency’ or ‘ACER’) have been set out in its founding Regulation (1) in 2009. Since then, the Agency has been assigned further tasks and responsibilities to better pursue the integration of the European internal energy market, including by the REMIT Regulation, the Clean Energy Package, the Revised Regulation on Guidelines for Trans-European Energy Infrastructure, the new Electricity Market Design Rules, REMIT II Regulation, and the Hydrogen and Decarbonised Gas Market Package (2). Those Regulations have reinforced the responsibilities of the Agency as concerns the coordination with National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs), cross-border cooperation, promoting regulatory convergence and alignment of its tasks with the overall policy targets.
As a result, the Agency’s competences encompass today the following broad categories:






1.


Ensuring governance, compliance, and coordination of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E), the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSOG), the European Network of Network Operators for Hydrogen (ENNOH) and the European Entity for Distribution System Operators (EU DSO entity).










2.


Advancing the internal energy market in electricity, gas and hydrogen by contributing to the development, amendment and implementation of Network Codes and Guidelines.










3.


Facilitating coordination, oversight, and support for regulatory authorities across the EU by providing a framework for cooperation on cross-border and technical issues, issuing binding or advisory decisions and opinions on regulatory matters.










4.


Overseeing and supporting the effective functioning of Regional Coordination Centres, issuing opinions and recommendations to ensure their operation is in line with EU legislation.










5.


Ensuring the effective oversight of Nominated Electricity Market Operators, issuing recommendations to the European Commission and requesting information as needed.










6.


Coordinating methodologies and assessments for generation adequacy, flexibility needs, risk preparedness, and energy supply security, approving related proposals.










7.


Providing an opinion on the draft joint scenarios for the ten-year network development plan, providing opinions and recommendations on the Union-wide network development plans for electricity, gas and hydrogen and the biennial infrastructure gap reports, and supporting the development of trans-European energy infrastructure projects.










8.


Monitoring of EU-wide wholesale energy market integrity and transparency, issuing guidance documents and updating its REMIT documentation, exercising investigatory powers in cross-border cases, complementing the role of NRAs.





We propose

The Director heads and manages the Agency, being its legal representative and public face. The Director will be accountable to the Administrative Board, and work closely with the Board of Regulators, which comprises senior regulatory representatives from each Member State, to deliver the Agency’s work plan. The European Parliament and the Council may also request the Director to submit a report on the performance of their duties. In the course of their mandate, the Director may also be invited to make a statement before the competent committee of the European Parliament and to answer questions put forward by members of that committee.
The Director will also play a fundamental role in ensuring the Agency meets the challenges arising from any changes in legislation or in market realities. They will be pivotal for monitoring the Agency’s progress under its statutory tasks.
The Director will be responsible for ensuring the business continuity of the Agency and improving administrative, operational and financial structures necessary for the proper operation of the Agency, including the recruitment of staff.
A non-exhaustive list of the Director’s tasks includes the following:






—


adopt and publish opinions, recommendations and decisions of the Agency after consulting the relevant working groups and receiving a favourable opinion of the Board of Regulators, and in cooperation with the NRAs when required by the ACER Regulation,










—


support the work of the Administrative Board according to the ACER Regulation,










—


recruit and supervise Agency staff and foster a good team spirit and working environment,










—


prepare the annual draft work programme of the Agency as well as the Agency’s annual reporting,










—


implement the annual work programme of the Agency, under the guidance of the Board of Regulators and under the control of the Administrative Board,










—


draw up a preliminary draft budget of the Agency and implement said budget,










—


take the necessary measures to ensure the functioning of the Agency, notably the adoption of internal administrative instructions and the publication of notices,










—


exercise the powers conferred to the appointing authority by the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and to the authority entitled to conclude contracts by the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union,










—


communicate with the public on all matters within the Agency’s remit.




The post of Director of the Agency is a demanding, full-time job requiring a high degree of professional investment that will in principle not allow to carry out other professional activities of a nature not directly related to the job specifications. This is without prejudice to any exceptions to this consideration that may be exceptionally granted by the Administrative Board, in line with Article 12b of the Staff Regulations (3).
A more detailed description of the tasks can be found in Regulation (EU) 2019/942.

We look for (selection criteria)

The candidates should have:






 



Management skills







—


the capacity to lead and manage a decentralised agency, both at strategic and at internal management level, and to meet the challenges faced by a body interacting with the NRA’s and multiple stakeholders; relevant experience at national and/or European level would be a strong asset,










—


the capacity to manage effectively significant financial resources including budgetary planning and internal control; experience of quality assurance and risk management systems would be an asset,










—


experience with efficiency enhancing management practices, such as re-allocation of resources in line with new priorities, as well as experience of financial management in a national and/or European environment would also be an asset,










—


proven success in leading and managing staff, in particular the ability to lead, motivate and develop to the best of their potential a team including both administrative and technical personnel; experience in a multicultural and multilingual context would be an asset.














 



Specialist skills and experience







—


extensive knowledge and experience in one or more of the following domains: energy regulatory policy, supervision of the energy market, market design at EU and/or national level,










—


good understanding of the EU institutions and how they operate and interact,










—


capacity to develop a strategic vision for the Agency,














 



Communication and personal skills







—


excellent communications skills and proven ability to communicate fluently, clearly and effectively to internal and external stakeholders,










—


excellent ability to build trusted working relationships with the European Union’s institutions and with stakeholders,










—


high ethical standards, transparency, and a strong sense of responsibility in decision making and resource management, fostering trust with internal and external stakeholders.









Candidates must (eligibility requirements)

Candidates will only be considered for the selection phase on the basis of the following formal requirements to be fulfilled by the deadline for applications:






—



Nationality: candidates must be a citizen of one of the Member States of the European Union.










—



University degree or diploma: candidates must have:






—


either a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma when the normal period of university education is 4 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 1 year when the normal period of university education is at least 3 years (this one year’s professional experience cannot be included in the postgraduate professional experience required below).




Only diplomas that have been awarded in EU Member States or that are the subject of equivalence certificates issued by the authorities of one of these Member States may be taken into consideration.










—



Professional experience: candidates must have at least 15 years’ postgraduate professional experience (4) at a level to which the qualifications referred to above give admission. At least 5 years of that professional experience must be in the area of the activities of the Agency.










—



Management experience: at least 5 years of the post-graduate professional experience must have been gained in a high-level management function (5), ideally in a field relevant for this position.










—



Languages: candidates must have a thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the European Union (6) and a satisfactory knowledge of another of these official languages. Selection panels will verify during the interview(s) whether candidates comply with the requirement of a satisfactory knowledge of another official EU language. This may include (part of) the interview being conducted in this other language.










—



Age limit: candidates must be able to complete, at the deadline for application, the full mandate of 5 years before reaching the retirement age. For temporary staff of the European Union, the retirement age is defined as being the end of the month in which the person reaches the age of 66 (see Article 47 of the Conditions of Employment of other Servants of the European Union (7)).





Selection and appointment

The Director will be appointed by the Administrative Board of ACER, following a favourable opinion of the Board of Regulators, on the basis of a shortlist provided by the European Commission.
To establish this shortlist, the European Commission organises a selection in accordance with its selection and recruitment procedures (see the Compilation Document on Senior Officials Policy (8)).
As part of this selection procedure, the European Commission sets up a pre-selection panel. This panel analyses all applications, proceeds with a first eligibility verification and identifies candidates having the best profile in view of the selection criteria mentioned above, and who may be invited for an interview with the pre-selection panel. Candidates may be requested by the European Commission to provide documents supporting the information provided in their application at any moment of the procedure. Failure to provide those documents within the deadline set in the request may lead to the exclusion from the selection.
Following these interviews, the pre-selection panel draws up its conclusions and proposes a list of candidates for further interviews with the European Commission’s Consultative Committee on Appointments (CCA). The CCA, taking into consideration the conclusions of the pre-selection panel, will decide on the candidates to be invited for an interview.
Candidates who are called for an interview with the CCA participate in a full-day management assessment centre run by external recruitment consultants. Taking account of the results of the interview and the report of the assessment centre, the CCA establishes a shortlist of candidates it considers suitable to exercise the function of Director of ACER.
Candidates on the CCA shortlist will be interviewed by the Member(s) of the Commission responsible for the Directorate-General in charge of the relations with the Agency (9).
Following these interviews, the European Commission adopts a shortlist of at least three candidates, which will be communicated to the Administrative Board of ACER. The latter may decide to interview the candidates before appointing the Director from among the candidates on the Commission shortlist. Inclusion on this shortlist does not guarantee appointment.
Candidates may be required to undergo further interviews and/or tests in addition to those indicated above. Before appointment, the candidate selected by the Administrative Board shall make a statement before the competent committee of the European Parliament and answer questions put by its members.
The selected candidate should hold, or be in the position to obtain, a valid security clearance certificate from their national security authority. A personal security clearance is an administrative decision following completion of a security screening conducted by the individual’s competent national security authority in accordance with applicable national security laws and regulations and certifying that an individual may be allowed to access classified information up to a specified level. (Note that the necessary procedure for obtaining a security clearance can be initiated on request of the employer only, and not by the individual candidate).
Until the personal security clearance has been granted by the Member State concerned and the clearance procedure completed with the legally required briefing from the European Commission’s Security Directorate, the candidate will not be able to access EU Classified Information (EUCI) at the level of CONFIDENTIEL UE/EU CONFIDENTIAL or above, nor attend any meetings at which such EUCI is discussed.

Diversity and inclusion

The Agency recognises that a healthy work-life balance is an important motivational factor for many people and that flexible working is increasingly expected to be part of a modern working environment. As an employer, the Agency is committed to ensuring gender equality and to preventing discrimination on any grounds. It actively welcomes applications from all qualified candidates from diverse backgrounds, across all abilities and from the broadest possible geographical basis amongst the EU Member States. To promote gender equality, the Agency encourages applications in particular from women. Assistance can be provided to persons with disabilities during the recruitment procedure.

Conditions of employment

The salaries and conditions of employment are laid down in the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union.
The successful candidate will be engaged by the Administrative Board of ACER as a Temporary Agent at grade AD 14 (10) and will be classified depending on the length of their previous professional experience in step 1 or step 2 within that grade.
The successful candidate will be appointed for an initial mandate of 5 years, with a possible extension for a maximum 5 years according to Regulation (EU) 2019/942.
Applicants should note the requirement under the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union for all new staff to complete successfully a nine-month probationary period.
The place of employment is Ljubljana (Slovenia), where ACER is based.
The post is available from 16 October 2025.

Important information for candidates

Candidates are reminded that the work of the selection panels is confidential. It is forbidden for candidates to make direct or indirect contact with their individual members or for anybody to do so on their behalf. Any query has to be addressed to the secretariat of the respective panel.

Protection of personal data

The Commission will ensure that candidates’ personal data are processed as required by Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council (11). This applies in particular to the confidentiality and security of such data.

Independence and declaration of interests

Before taking up duties, the Director will be required to make a declaration of commitment to act independently in the public interest and to declare any interests, which might be considered prejudicial to her/his independence.

Application procedure

Before submitting your application, you should carefully check whether you meet all eligibility requirements (‘Candidates must’), particularly concerning the types of diploma, high-level professional experience as well as linguistic capacity required. Failure to meet any of the eligibility requirements means an automatic exclusion from the selection procedure.
If you want to apply, you must register via the internet on the following website and follow the instructions concerning the various stages of the procedure:






 



https://ec.europa.eu/dgs/human-resources/seniormanagementvacancies/





You must have a valid email address. This will be used to confirm your registration as well as to remain in contact with you during the different stages of the procedure. Therefore, please keep the European Commission informed about any change in your email address.
To complete your application, you need to upload a CV in PDF format, preferably using the Europass CV format (12), and to fill out, online, a letter of motivation (maximum 8 000 characters). Your CV and your letter of motivation may be submitted in any of the official languages of the European Union.
It is in your interest to ensure that your application is accurate, thorough and truthful.
Once you have finished your online registration, you will receive an electronic mail confirming that your application has been registered. If you do not receive a confirmation mail, your application has not been registered!

Please note that it is not possible to monitor the progress of your application on-line. You will be contacted directly by the European Commission regarding the status of your application.

Applications sent by email will not be accepted. If you require more information and/or encounter technical problems, please send an email to:

HR-MANAGEMENT-ONLINE@ec.europa.eu

It is your responsibility to complete your online registration in time. We strongly advise you not to wait until the last few days before applying, since heavy internet traffic or a fault with your internet connection could lead to the online registration being terminated before you complete it, thereby obliging you to repeat the whole process. Once the deadline for the submission of registrations has passed, you will no longer be able to introduce any data. Late registrations will not be accepted.

Closing date

The closing date for registration is 
               9 December 2025, 12.00 noon Brussels time, following which registration is no longer possible.


(1)  Regulation (EU) 2019/942 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 establishing a European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (OJ L 158, 14.6.2019, p. 22).

(2)  Regulation (EU) No 1227/2011; Regulation (EU) 2019/942, Regulation (EU) 2019/943 and Directive (EU) 2019/944; Regulation (EU) 2022/869; Directive (EU) 2024/1711 and Regulation (EU) 2024/1747; Regulation (EU) 2024/1106; Directive (EU) 2024/1788 and Regulation (EU) 2024/1789.

(3)  
            https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A01962R0031-20250513.

(4)  Professional experience is only taken into consideration if it represents an actual work relationship defined as real, genuine work, on a paid basis and as employee (any type of contract) or provider of a service. Professional activities pursued part-time shall be calculated pro rata, on the basis of the certified percentage of full-time hours worked. Maternity leave / parental leave / leave for adoption is taken into consideration if it is in the framework of a work contract. PhDs are assimilated to professional experience, even when unpaid, but for a duration of three years maximum, provided that the PhD has been successfully completed. A given period may be counted only once.

(5)  In their curriculum vitae, candidates should clearly indicate for all years during which management experience has been acquired: (1) title and role of management positions held; (2) numbers of staff overseen in these positions; (3) the size of budgets managed; (4) numbers of hierarchical layers above and below; and (5) number of peers.

(6)  
            https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A01958R0001-20130701.

(7)  
            https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A01962R0031-20250513.

(8)  
            Microsoft Word – Compilation doc on Snr managers policy SEC_2004_1352.doc (europa.eu) (only exists in English).

(9)  Unless the Member of the Commission concerned, in line with the Commission Decision of 5 December 2007 (PV(2007) 1811) and 30 September 2020 (PV(2020) 2351), has delegated this task.

(10)  The correction coefficient applicable to the remuneration and pensions of officials and other servants of the European Union for Slovenia is set at 85,9 % as from 1 July 2024. This coefficient is subject to an annual revision.

(11)  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 (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39).

(12)  You can find information on how to create your Europass CV online at: https://europa.eu/europass/en/create-europass-cv.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/5886/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)