IT Specialists (AD6)

Ref.: CPVO/2026/TA/02
Type of post: Temporary agent
Category and Grade: AD 6

Publication date: 2026/01/21
Deadline: 2026/02/23

Community Plant Variety Office

The Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) is an independent EU Agency that was established by Council Regulation (EC) No 2100/94 on 27 July 1994. The CPVO is responsible for the management of the Community Plant Variety Rights System. This system provides protection with an intellectual property right for new plant varieties on European Union level. The mission of the CPVO is to deliver and promote an efficient Intellectual Property Rights system that supports the creation of new plant varieties for the benefit of Society.

Profile / Duties

Profile

The CPVO seeks to recruit highly motivated and well-qualified professionals who, under the authority of the Head of the Digital Transformation Unit, will serve as IT Specialists.

The ideal candidates are skilled professionals with a strong track record in driving digital transformation - designing cloud-native solutions, modernising legacy systems, and delivering high-quality software within collaborative, cross-functional environments. The successful candidates demonstrate strong analytical and communication skills, maintain attention to detail while retaining a strategic perspective, and adopt a client-focused mindset when addressing business and operational needs.

The role requires solid experience in cloud-native application development, including serverless and event-driven architectures, and the ability to make sound architectural trade-offs across scalability, resilience, and maintainability. Strong expertise in relational databases and SQL is essential, including performance optimisation and procedural logic (advanced PL/SQL knowledge is an asset). Experience with modern application packaging and orchestration approaches for scalable and resilient systems is highly desirable, supporting portability and efficient application lifecycle management.

Candidates should be comfortable working with version control systems and designing reliable, automated delivery pipelines across multiple environments. Experience integrating advanced AI or large language model capabilities into applications is considered an advantage.

On the frontend, familiarity with modern, component-based web frameworks is expected. On the backend, experience maintaining, evolving, and progressively modernising legacy systems is an asset, as is experience with general-purpose backend programming languages.

The role values autonomy, system-level thinking, and the ability to operate effectively within complex and evolving technical ecosystems.

This profile is aligned with the CPVO Strategic Plan 2022-2026 accessible here. 

Duties

Application Development & Architecture: Design, develop, and maintain cloud-native applications using serverless and event-driven architectures. Make informed architectural decisions balancing scalability, performance, maintainability, and cost. Contribute to frontend development using modern TypeScript-based frameworks.

Legacy Systems & Migration: Maintain and evolve existing backend systems. Plan and execute legacy system migration strategies, ensuring business continuity and minimal disruption. Document legacy codebases and establish pathways toward modernisation.

Database expertise: Design, optimise, and maintain relational database schemas. Write and tune complex SQL queries, stored procedures, and procedural logic. Monitor database performance and implement optimisation strategies.

DevOps & Delivery: Design and maintain CI/CD pipelines to ensure reliable, automated build, test, and deployment workflows. Manage version control practices and branching strategies. Support infrastructure as code initiatives and deployment automation.

Innovation & Emerging Technologies: Evaluate and integrate emerging technologies, including large language model capabilities, into existing and new applications. Prototype solutions and assess feasibility for production deployment.

Collaboration & Advisory: Collaborate with cross-functional teams to gather requirements and deliver technical solutions aligned with business needs. Provide technical guidance and recommendations to the Head of Digital Transformation Unit. Contribute to technical documentation and knowledge sharing across the organisation.

General Conditions

Selection criteria

In the application, candidates must indicate that they fulfill the criteria here-under.

Essential (mandatory) 

Design and development of cloud-native applications leveraging serverless, event-driven, and microservices architectures. Experience with application packaging and orchestration across modern runtime platforms, including artifact management, declarative deployments, workload autoscaling, service-to-service communication, policy enforcement, and production-grade observability - making informed architectural trade-offs around scalability, portability, resilience, and operational complexity.

End-to-end CI/CD pipeline design and operation, encompassing version control and branching strategies, automated testing and quality gates, release and deployment strategies, and environment lifecycle management. Platform engineering experience integrating artifact management, security and compliance controls, deployment workflows, and Infrastructure as Code to deliver repeatable, secure, and observable environments with continuous monitoring and feedback loops.

After obtaining the qualifications mentioned in Section “Qualifications & Experience” specified above, 3 years of relevant professional experience in relation to the duties mentioned above

Excellent knowledge of English: spoken and written skills equivalent to level C1 or higher level for working purposes

Competencies

In addition to the criteria identified above, the Selection Board may assess candidates invited to the interview and test phase against the following competencies: 

Organisation and prioritisation, demonstrates ability to plan and structure work effectively, setting clear priorities and managing multiple IT tasks or incidents. Demonstrates flexibility to adapt plans while ensuring deadlines and system continuity.

Working with others, collaborates constructively across teams and with external partners. Shares knowledge, supports colleagues, and communicates technical matters clearly to non-technical audiences.

Accuracy, delivers reliable, precise, and well-documented technical work. Ensures data integrity, follows established procedures, and maintains compliance with IT and data protection standards.

Decision making and problem solving for achieving results, analyses issues objectively and proposes efficient, evidence-based solutions. Balances technical rigour with practical outcomes to ensure effective and sustainable results.

Qualifications

To be considered eligible for selection, applicants must meet by the closing date of this call, the following formal requirements:

· Completed university studies of at least 3 years attested by a diploma in the field of Business Administration or Management, Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science or Analytics, or related fields.

· Three years of professional experience following the completed university studies required in point 1;

· Be a national of a Member State of the European Union[1];

· Have a thorough knowledge of one of the languages of the European Union[2] and a satisfactory knowledge of another EU language;

· Entitlement to full rights as a citizen;

· Have fulfilled any obligations imposed by national laws concerning military service;

· Be physically fit to perform duties linked to the post[3].

[1] The Member States of the European Union are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.

[2] Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, Irish, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish

[3] Before the appointment, the successful candidate shall be medically examined by one of the institutions' medical officers in order to fulfil the requirement of article 82 point 3(d) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities

Professional Experience

Three years of professional experience following the completed university studies required.

Additional Requirements

Advantageous criteria

Experience in database management, including SQL optimisation, stored procedures, and procedural logic (PL/SQL)

Experience integrating large language model capabilities into applications

Satisfactory knowledge of additional languages of the European Union, demonstrating the ability to work effectively in a multilingual and multicultural environment.

Contractual Conditions

Conditions of employment

The successful candidates will be offered a contract in grade AD6 under Article 2f of the Conditions of Employment of Other servants of the European Communities, subject to a nine-month probation period. The duration of the contract will be four years and may be renewed not more than once for a fixed period. Any further eventual renewal will be for an indefinite contract. Contract renewals are based on the performance, needs of the service and under the rules of the Staff Regulations.

The place of employment is Angers (France), where the CPVO is based.

The job holder shall work in a multicultural environment where social dialogue between management and staff is regarded as vital. The CPVO is fully computerised and working time is flexible according to the current rules in place.

The normal working week is 40 hours. For reasons related to the CPVO’s operational requirements, the chosen candidates will be expected to start as soon as possible.

Work-life balance

We offer flexible working arrangements: CPVO allows its staff to work within a perimeter of 350 km and 4 hours of car from Angers, while respecting the provisions applicable to its working conditions.

Teleworking from abroad is also possible, with a maximum of 10 working days established per year, aiming at helping our staff manage their personal and professional commitments effectively.

For more information about our working conditions and why join the CPVO, candidates can consult our career page (here).

Remuneration

Successful applicants who are offered a contract of employment will, on their entry into service, be placed in step 1 or step 2 of the AD6 grade, according to the length of their professional experience. The basic net monthly salaries for Temporary Agents in grade AD6, as of 1 December 2025, are:

Step 1: € 6 000.87 (without expatriation allowance) and € 7 266.16 (with expatriation allowance)

Step 2: € 6 224.35 (without expatriation allowance) and € 7 542.80 (with expatriation allowance)

In addition to the basic salary, staff members may be entitled to various allowances, in particular expatriation allowance, household allowance, dependent child allowance and education allowance. Salaries are subject to tax at source but are exempt from national taxation. Deductions are also made for medical insurance, pension and unemployment insurance. Please note that the correction coefficient weighting for France is currently equal to 113.6.

Independence & declarations of interest

The job holders will be required to enter into a commitment to act independently in the public interest and to make complete declarations of any direct or indirect interests that might be considered prejudicial to his/her independence. Candidates must confirm their willingness to do so in their application.

Equal opportunities

CPVO is an equal opportunities employer and accepts applications without distinction on the grounds of sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, age or sexual orientation, marital status or family situation. All applicants to selection procedures will be given an equal opportunity to demonstrate their abilities. The staff members are recruited on the broadest possible geographical basis from among nationals of all Member States of the European Union.

Recruitment procedure

The selection procedure includes the following steps:

Only duly completed applications (i.e. CV and Motivation Letter) submitted via our IT Recruitment tool within the deadline will be taken into consideration;

Each duly completed application will be examined with a view to establishing that the candidate meets all eligibility criteria;

Eligible applications will be evaluated by the appointed Selection Board based on the selection criteria defined in this vacancy notice. Depending on the number of applications received, the Selection Board may apply stricter requirements within the selection criteria noted above;

The best-admissible candidates will be short-listed for interview and other tests[5 ] may be organised, including a written test and/or a computer-based tests to test general skills; Depending on the position and posts available, the Selection Board may decide to invite more or less candidates to interviews.

Interviews and written tests will be in English and most likely held online, via MS Teams;

During the interviews, the Selection Board will examine the candidates' profiles and assess their relevancy for the post in question;

Before the day of interviews, candidates will be requested to present documents detailing citizenship, studies and professional experience, in particular:

a copy of their identity card, passport or other official document specifying citizenship;

a copy of their diploma certifying the required level of academic qualifications;

documentary evidence of professional experience, clearly indicating starting and finishing dates.

Copies of these documents will be retained by the CPVO.

If, at any stage of the procedure, it is established that information provided in the application was knowingly falsified, false, clearly misleading, or intentionally presented in a manner intended to mislead the Selection Board, the candidate shall be disqualified from the selection process.

Outcome of the selection process

The Selection Board will place the most suitable eligible candidates[6 ] on a draft reserve list. This draft will be submitted to the Appointing Authority (AIPN) for approval. The adopted reserve list will be valid for 24 months. The validity of this list may be extended.

Each candidate will be informed by email whether or not s/he has been placed on the reserve list.

Prior to being offered a post, candidates on a reserve list may be required to undergo further evaluation by the CPVO (e.g. a second interview with the President and /or senior management of the CPVO).

Inclusion on a reserve list does not imply any entitlement to employment in the CPVO.

The AIPN (the President of the CPVO) will appoint the selected jobholders from the reserve list, taking into account the establishment of a gender balanced and geographically diverse organisation.

Please note that:

The internal proceedings of the Selection Board are confidential and any contact with its members is strictly forbidden. Soliciting on behalf of a candidate can lead to immediate disqualification.

For applications to be valid, they must be made through the CPVO electronic recruitment portal, which can be found on the CPVO web site: https://cpvo.europa.eu/en/about-us/recruitment

Applicants are requested not to attach any supporting documents at this stage, e.g. copies of ID cards, diplomas, evidence of previous professional experience, etc. Only candidates invited to an interview will be asked to present copies of these documents for verification. Applications will not be returned to candidates but will be kept on file by the CPVO in line with its data protection guidelines.

Incomplete applications will automatically be excluded from the selection procedure.

The time span between the closing date for the submission of applications and the end of the process to short list candidates for the interview may take several weeks.

Due to the high number of applications we receive, the HR team will contact pre-selected candidates only.

Candidates will be contacted via email, only using the email address provided during the registration of the candidate’s Gestmax profile. Therefore, candidates should regularly check their email including the spam folder, as CPVO cannot be held accountable for emails that may end up in that folder.

Closing date for applications: 22 February 2026, 23:59, Local Time (France)

Starting date: as soon as possible

Review-Appeal-Complaints

Applicants who consider that they have grounds for complaint concerning a particular decision may, at any point in the selection procedure, request further details regarding said decision from the Chair of the Selection Board, instigate and appeal procedure or file a complaint with the European Ombudsman. Since the Staff Regulations apply to selection procedures, please note that all proceedings are confidential. If at any stage of this selection procedure applicants consider that their interests have been prejudiced by a particular decision, they may take the following action:

Requests for further information or for review

Send an email to hr-cpvo@cpvo.europa.eu or registered mail requesting further information or a review and stating your case to:

For the attention of the Chair of the Selection Board

CPVO/2026/TA/02

CPVO/OCVV

3 Boulevard du Maréchal Foch

CS 10121

F-49101 Angers CEDEX 2

within a month of being notified the decision regarding the selection procedure. The Selection Board will send a reply as soon as possible and not later than within a month.

Appeal procedures

Lodge a complaint under Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union, by email to hr-cpvo@cpvo.europa.eu or registered mail to the following address:

For the attention of the Chair of the Selection Board

CPVO/2026/TA/02

CPVO/OCVV

3 Boulevard du Maréchal Foch

CS 10121

F-49101 Angers CEDEX 2

The time limit for initiating this type of procedure (see Staff Regulations as last amended by Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1023/2013 (OJ L 287 of 29 October 2013 p.15 – http.//www.europa.eu /eur-lex) starts to run from the time applicants are notified of the act allegedly prejudicing their interests.

Please note that the Appointing Authority does not have the power to amend the decisions of a Selection Board. The Court has consistently held that the wide discretion enjoyed by the Selection Board is not subject to review by the Court unless the rules which govern the proceedings of the Selection Board have clearly been infringed.

Complaints to the European Ombudsman

Like all citizens of the European Union, applicants can make a complaint to the:

European Ombudsman

1 avenue du Président-Robert-Schuman – BP 403

67001 STRASBOURG CEDEX

France

Under Article 228 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and in accordance with the conditions laid down in Decision 94/262/ECSC, EC, Euratom of the European Parliament of 9 March 1994 on the regulations and general conditions governing the performance of the Ombudman’s duties (OJ L 113 of 4 May 1994, p. 15) and amended by its decisions of 14 March 2002 (OJ L 92 of 9 April 2002, p. 13) and 18 June 2008 (OJ L 189 of 17 July 2008, p. 25).

Please note that complaints made to the Ombudsman have no suspensive effect to the period laid down in Articles 90(2) and 91 of the Staff Regulations for lodging complaints or for submitting appeals to the Civil Service Tribunal under Article 270 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Please note also that, under Article 2(4) of the general conditions governing the performance of the Ombudsman’s duties, any complaint lodged with the Ombudsman must be preceded by the appropriate administrative approaches to the institutions and bodies concerned.

Protection of personal data

The Community Plant Variety Office (as the body responsible for organising the selection procedure) will ensure that applicants’ personal data are processed in line with Regulation (EU) N° 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, officers and agencies and on the free movement of such data (repealing Regulation (EC) N° 45/2001 and Decision N° 1247/2002/EC). This applies in particular to the confidentiality and security of such data. For further information on Data Protection at the CPVO, please refer to the dedicated page on the website (Data protection | CPVO (europa.eu)), or contact dpc@cpvo.europa.eu.

Further information

For any request of information, please contact the CPVO HR Team via email: hr-cpvo@cpvo.europa.eu

[5] The written test is meant to test the knowledge specific to the post and the computer-based focus on general skills (e.g. abstract, verbal, reasoning)

[6] On the basis of the criteria listed under point “Qualifications & Experience” above

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