Forum Coordinator – Social Affairs

Eurocities, the network of major European cities, has won a new four-year project, enabling us to recruit several people to our Social Affairs team. As a result, Eurocities is recruiting a forum coordinator to coordinate and organise the Eurocities Social Affairs Forum.

The candidate will ideally start as soon as possible in 2026.

Eurocities is a dynamic and international team where we trust in people, value constructive exchanges and collaborative work. We help people thrive in a friendly, open and healthy environment while promoting a work/life balance.

About the Eurocities Social Affairs Forum

Eurocities has a dedicated Social Affairs Forum (SAF) that brings together over 150 cities to work jointly to address major social challenges such as employment, skills, housing, homelessness, poverty and the social exclusion of vulnerable individuals, or demographic change. The Eurocities’ SAF brings cities together to jointly defend cities’ interest at European level. The forum also offers exchanges of experience, know-how and transfer of innovative solutions among cities.

Responsibilities

As forum coordinator, you will be responsible for working in close collaboration with the Eurocities Social Affairs Forum members, and for working with the SAF Steering Committee (i.e. chairs and vice-chairs of the forum and of working groups).  You will also be responsible for organising the annual forum meeting (taking place in May each year), and for coordinating the services and activities of the SAF with the rest of the SAF team.

In addition, you will contribute to the organisation’s policy, advocacy and project activities under the EU employment and social innovation (EaSI) project, covering different social inclusion challenges, such as education, social inclusion, poverty or early childhood education and care (ECEC) issues in cities.

You will work under the supervision of the Head of the team. In this role, you will:

1. Coordinate the social affairs forum (SAF) annual meeting and its related activities by:

• coordinating the organisation (in terms of content and format) of the SAF annual meeting, taking place in May each year
• organising other mutual learning and capacity building activities for SAF members
• collaborating with the SAF Chair and Vice-chair to implement the forum’s work programme
• coordinating the forum’s activities with the entire SAF team
• facilitating members’ engagement across the SAF, including effective communication with members using internal channels and communication tools
• proactively reaching out to non-active or potential members
• proactively coordinating and engaging with the SAF Steering Committee
• keeping SAF members informed about the EU policy developments, and the forum’s activities, achievements, and opportunities
• communicating with the EU institutions, and with other stakeholders, about the forum’s activities and achievements.

1. Contributing to our project and policy activities by:

• providing policy support to Eurocities working groups on policy priorities that are set annually
• contributing to the successful delivery of the EaSI operating grant on social inclusion by organising mutual learning events, contributing to capacity building activities, contributing to policy reports, etc.
• contributing to the organisation of the Social Innovation Lab
• cooperating with colleagues in the SAF team to ensure synergies and cross-cutting work
• contributing with expertise and strategic insights to the policy work of Eurocities.

Profile

You are an experienced professional who is full of initiative, self-driven, curious, creative, flexible, and results oriented.

The skills and experience to do this job successfully include *:

• At least five years of work experience, which includes:
  • professional experience in coordinating a group of stakeholders/partners
  • relevant work experience in policy advocacy at the EU level and/or EU project implementation
  • organising high-level events and capacity building workshops
• a Masters’ degree or equivalent in social policies, social sciences, urban development, EU studies or related fields
• thorough understanding of the EU institutions, decision-making processes, and funding instruments
• excellent organisational and coordination skills
• good knowledge of the EU policies and programmes related to the European Pillar of Social Rights (i.e. social inclusion, employment, gender, EU Child Guarantee, youth, skills, etc.)
• good research and analytical skills, including the ability to collect, analyse, and present information in a concise way
• strong interpersonal and networking skills for an international environment
• excellent oral and written communication skills in English

You are:

• a strategic liaison for a specific Eurocities community and key EU representatives
• a dynamic team player who also takes full responsibility for delivering results on own work
• agile in a changing environment with the ability to juggle competing deadlines
• a self-starter, driven by the motivation to deliver outcomes for cities and citizens

Assets:

• coordinating networks or members in a membership-based association
• experience of working with cities, either in a city administration or through a network
• knowledge of urban policies and cities in general, including the role of cities in the EU
• other languages

(*) We are looking for candidates who fulfil most of these criteria, but do not hesitate to apply if you think that you could be a good fit for the position.

We offer

• a full-time position as employee, under Belgian legislation. The selected candidate will need to either live in Belgium or be willing to move to Belgium for the duration of the contract (candidates need to provide a Belgian address)
• an open-ended contract linked to the EaSi grant (until 31/12/2029)
• €3,200 – €3,600 monthly gross salary, according to profile and experience
• flexible working hours
• part-time teleworking

Benefits

Meal vouchers, pension plan, hospitalisation insurance, public transport costs, 13th month, éco-chèques, training opportunities.

How to apply

Applicants are requested to send a letter of motivation, explicitly describing point by point their relevant experience and linking it to the requirements for the position, in two pages maximum, together with a CV with at least two referees (including your current or last employer) by Close of Business on 11 November 2025 to: Patricia de Wouters, People & Operations Director, at [email protected].

Please send the documents in pdf format and mention ‘SAF forum coordinator’ in the subject line.

Interviews will be held in person in Brussels on 3 and 4 December 2025.

We are aware that you might use AI when applying for this position. It’s acceptable to use AI to brainstorm, structure your ideas or edit your language. However, be aware that while AI is one of the tools we use in Eurocities, the main tool we need for the work here is our minds and experience: This is a content-based position, and one that AI cannot do for you. Please note this during the process to avoid any disappointment for either side later on. We want to use this interview to get to know you and your ideas, not what ChatGPT thinks the best answers are.