Come work at the heart of Europe’s largest network of environmental citizens’ organisations and help us shape the future of waste policy in a circular economy. 

We are seeking a new Senior Policy Officer for Circular Economy and Waste to play a key role in advancing waste prevention, waste management and circular economy policies, together with our members and partners across Europe and beyond.

About us

The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) is the largest network of environmental citizens’ organisations in Europe. We bring together over 190 member organisations in more than 40 countries, representing some 30 million individual members and supporters. We advocate for progressive policies to create a better future where people and nature thrive together.

The EEB strives to be a fair, inclusive, safe place and a welcoming and learning organisation. We are an equal opportunity employer and encourage applications from a diverse range of candidates. Your experience matters. Please consult our Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Policy. Please do not use pictures in your CV. Do leave out any information that may contribute to unconscious bias such as reference to your nationality, date or place of birth.

We respect our employees’ lives outside of work, support colleagues in care roles, and take work-life balance and wellbeing seriously.

About the job

You will be part of the EEB’s dynamic and impactful Circular Economy team, strengthening our work on waste policies at EU and international level. You will play a central role in advancing the EEB’s work on waste prevention, waste management and circular economy policies, with a strong focus on ambition, impact and evidence-based advocacy. You will work independently, and in cooperation with our vibrant active member community and a broad range of external partners and experts, proactively identifying political, policy and funding opportunities to deliver high impact work. Please, read more details about the role here.

About you

We are looking for someone with a strong background in EU waste and circular economy policies, and a clear commitment to environmental protection and social justice, who combines solid analytical skills with the confidence to represent the organisation in policy discussions, public events and multi‑stakeholder settings, and an ability to find funding for the work.  

• A relevant academic degree (or equivalent professional experience). 

• At least 5 years of experience working in the EU or national circular economy, waste and/or environmental policy field, including policy analysis and development (candidates with less experience may also be considered for a Policy Officer role, where they can demonstrate exceptional motivation and particularly relevant expertise) 

• The ability to understand, analyse and clearly communicate the key scientific, economic and legal dimensions of complex policy topics, both in writing and orally. 

• Strong communication and networking skills, including confidence to take the floor at public events and engage with the media. 

• Experience facilitating multistakeholder processes, integrating different perspectives across value chains and stakeholder groups. 

• A sound understanding of EU institutions, EU environmental law, and the functioning of EU environmental legislative and policy‑making processes. 

We also welcome applications from candidates with a minimum of three years’ experience who may join as Officer, with the opportunity to grow into the Senior role. 

Assets That Make You Stand Out

• Experience engaging with civil society organisations and/or economic actors along product or waste value chains.  

• An understanding of the technical complexities of waste management and waste policies, the capacity to work with life‑cycle assessments (LCA) and other scientific or technical data, and an understanding of how these inform product policy, production processes and waste management performance. 

• A track record of successful fundraising and project management for EU policy work.  

Your Values

• You care about the environment and subscribe to the EEB’s values

What we offer

• A full-time contract, initially for one year but with the intention of making the role permanent. 

• An organisation committed to its values of democracy, fairness, respect, integrity and sustainability, and a purpose-driven, supportive and friendly team with 70+ people working for a better future in which people and nature thrive together. 

• An attractive workspace in the heart of the EU quarter and a healthy organisational culture, including, for instance, staff away days and (optional) social gatherings. 

• A mix of working from the office and home with high flexibility and structural teleworking, according to what makes sense to you and the type of work.  

• Flexible working hours with a transparent floating time system. 

• A monthly gross salary starting from EUR 3791, with a higher salary depending on the level of experience. 

• Various monetary benefits, including a holiday bonus, 13th month, a generous pension scheme, lunch vouchers, teleworking indemnity, transport allowance, travel insurance. 

• Quality trainings (group and individual), peer learning and skills shares. 

• Next to 20 days of legal leave, we offer 5 days of extra-legal leave during the winter break closure, 5 days of extra-legal leave anytime in the year and 2 days of extra-legal leave days for office-wide long weekends in spring and autumn, that is, a total of 32 paid leave days, plus seniority leave (up to 10 extra days), and paid leave for compelling reasons. 

Registration in Belgium and work permits

As our contracts fall under Belgian law, the candidate must commit to being officially registered in Belgium and working from our office in Brussels (with structural teleworking).

The EEB welcomes applicants from outside the EU, and we consider it a privilege to have non-EU nationals amongst our staff members and to benefit from their perspectives and skills.

If you are not an EU citizen, please let us know if you have a work permit for Belgium.

Please note that it is not always possible for us to initiate and succeed with work permit applications for non-EU nationals due to legal restrictions, additional costs and practical issues for a medium-sized non-profit organisation. If you do not hold a work permit for Belgium, please feel free to reach out to request further information before you apply..

If you hold a work permit, please mention if you hold a valid Single Permit (A card) or permanent residence permit (B card, long-term resident).

How to apply

We are looking forward to receiving: 

• a short letter of motivation 

• your CV (without pictures) 

• a completed questionnaire (see below)  

We value clarity, motivation and authenticity more than formal letters and too much detail. 

Only applications comprising these three elements will be considered.  

Please send your complete application to personnel@eeb.org.  

Thank you for clearly marking “[Senior Policy Officer Circular Economy and Waste]” in the subject of your email.  

Shortlisted candidates may be asked to provide two references later.

Due to limited staff resources and the number of applications anticipated, only candidates selected for interviews will receive a reply.

Please read our recruitment privacy statement before applying.

Questionnaire

We want to know about your approach and experience. 

Please answer the following questions in max 200 words each: 

• What, from your personal perspective, are the three most pressing elements that should be part of the revision of the WEEE Directive? 

• What is the better option, landfill or incineration? Why? Under which conditions? 

• If you had to pick one piece of waste legislation (proposed by the Commission in the environment omnibus or of your own choosing) to simplify/remove, which would it be and why? 

Please do not have AI tools write your answers. If we detect arguments or text blocks which have been generated by an AI tool, your application may be rejected. We are interested in genuine perspectives and original ideas. We do not encourage or invite the use of AI at all, but if you do use AI for polish, we invite you to disclose the prompts used. 

Next steps

Deadline for Application: 5 June 2026

Interviews first round (tentative):17, 18 or 19 June 2026

Starting date:13 July or as soon as possible

We are looking forward to getting to know you!