Key Skills

Job Description

Application deadline: 15 October 2026 Headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands, Europol offers a purpose-driven career, as every role offers a profound sense of accomplishment through making a positive contribution to society. Europol’s mission is to support its Member States in preventing and combating all forms of serious international and organized crime, cybercrime and terrorism. We are committed to upholding the values of service, integrity, accountability, initiative, partnership, and diversity. As part of Europol, you will collaborate with diverse top-tier experts, forge international connections, be involved in the ongoing evolution of strategies, technologies, tools and methodologies that underpin European Security, and thrive in a supportive environment that nurtures both personal and professional growth. Currently Europol is looking for a Specialist – Forensic Examiner (Digital Forensics), who will be responsible for providing digital forensics services and advanced programming in order to support Europol and its partners in the fight against cyber-dependant crime. He/she will be entrusted with the following tasks: Providing expert digital forensic services in the field of competence of Europol’s EC3 DSU Forensics Team, including on-site assistance when required; Operating, maintaining and developing solutions designed to automate digital forensic and data minimisation workflows and reporting. Liaise with Europol ICT on this topic; Representing Forensic Team in EU MS, EU bodies, third countries, and international organisations on digital forensic matters; Supporting projects of the Unit, such as organising meetings, training sessions and conferences; Representing Europol at high-level digital forensic and digital security events across Europe and internationally; Contributing to and conducting research and development of new digital forensic and automation methods, tools, and best practices; Independently drafting and finalising reports, briefings, and strategic documents; Key requirements and knowledge: Level of education as described in the vacancy notice on Europol's website; Preferably at least 5 years’ experience in digital forensics using standard forensic tools (commercial and open-source solutions); Experience in automating the processing and indexing of large structured and unstructured datasets; Experience in designing, building, and operating automated processing pipelines or workflow orchestration; Experience in software development in Python with proficiency in PowerShell, Bash and command-line scripting; Experience working with SQL and structured data stores, including SQLite; Experience with containerisation (Docker) and CI/CD, and with developing reusable APIs, libraries, plugins or automation frameworks. Knowledge in digital forensics investigation and examination techniques, including acquisition methods, file systems, data minimisation and chain of custody; Knowledge in Windows and Linux operating systems and their forensic artefacts; Knowledge of software engineering principles, including testing, debugging, and version control; Ability to analyse existing forensic processes, identify opportunities for automation, and engineer scalable, maintainable, and validated workflow solutions; Knowledge of Indexing and search at scale: text extraction, OCR, deduplication, index integrity, and the behaviour of Lucene/Elasticsearch/dtSearch-style engines. Indicative salary: The basic monthly salary is 6.961,29 (step 1) or EUR 7.253,84 (step 2). The indicative net salary of AD6 step 1 for a staff member (single) in receipt of expatriation allowance (16%) is: a) Staff member (single) in receipt of expatriation allowance (16%): EUR 7.240 b) Staff member with two dependent children in their custody in receipt of expatriation allowance (16%): EUR 9.436 Compensation and benefits: Healthy work-life balance and working environment: flexible working hours, structural teleworking opportunities (depending on the nature of your job), comprehensive annual leave, and maternity/parental leave In line with the EU civil service rules; Employees are protected against illness, accidents, and the risk of occupational disease by the Sickness Insurance Scheme (JSIS), which offers global insurance coverage; Staff pay EU tax at source, but salaries are exempt from national taxes; A competitive salary and benefits package (which can include expatriation, household, foreign residence and education allowances) in line with the EU civil service rules (Click here to explore our supplementary allowances; Europol fosters a continuous learning culture. We offer a comprehensive learning and development programme that is aligned with the overall business strategy and that values people’s performance and development; Social benefits in the form of unemployment allowance under certain conditions, as well as pension rights for Temporary and Contract Agents after 10 years of service; Possibility to advance in grade/salary through annual appraisal exercise and opportunities for lateral development within the organisation; A workplace that values environmental sustainability, diversity, inclusion and equal opportunities. Apply now and create a safer Europe with us! Please refer to the job posting on our website for details regarding the eligibility and selection criteria and duties. The only way to submit an application is via the Europol website. Click here to visit Europol website and learn more about the Agency and its mission.

Core Responsibilities

Provide expert digital forensic services and develop automated solutions for forensic processing, data minimisation, and reporting. Represent the Forensics Team in international engagements, contribute to research and projects, and prepare reports and strategic documents.

Requirements

The role preferably requires at least five years of digital forensics experience using commercial and open-source tools, along with experience automating large-scale data processing and building workflow pipelines. Candidates should have Python development skills, proficiency with scripting and SQL, and knowledge of forensic methods, Windows and Linux artefacts, software engineering, containers, CI/CD, and large-scale indexing and search.

Benefits

• Flexible Working Hours
• Teleworking Opportunities
• Annual Leave
• Maternity And Parental Leave
• Health Insurance
• Occupational Accident And Disease Coverage
• Tax-Exempt Salary From National Taxes
• Expatriation Allowance
• Household Allowance
• Foreign Residence Allowance
• Education Allowance
• Learning And Development Programme
• Unemployment Allowance
• Pension Rights
• Career Advancement Opportunities
• Lateral Development Opportunities