Project Researcher for NESBp and ReMAP

The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission – Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) is an intergovernmental organization (Denmark, Estonia, the European Union, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden) with its headquarters (Secretariat) in Helsinki, Finland, working to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea. At present, we are around 50 staff members at the HELCOM Secretariat, and our working language is English. We offer an open, friendly, dynamic and energetic, often fast-paced, international working environment offering all staff members the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to achieving our common goals. For more information about HELCOM, please visit our home page: www.helcom.fi.

Northern European Sea Basins project (NESBp)

The EU co-financed NESBp project supports the Greater North Sea Basin Initiative (GNSBI) in fostering international cooperation for maritime spatial planning (MSP) in the North Sea basin, with close ties to the Baltic Sea region. It aims to strengthen collaboration among North Sea countries and between the North Sea and Baltic Sea regions. By linking GNSBI with our regional Working Group (HELCOM-VASAB MSP WG), the project promotes knowledge sharing and networking across sea basins to enable strategic and efficient MSP, building on insights from the previous eMSP NBSR project and other EU Green Deal MSP initiatives. NESBp seeks to overcome siloed approaches by aligning marine plans and encouraging integrative, multi-perspective cooperation. HELCOM ‘s responsibilities and tasks for the NESBp Project Researcherare especially related to (WP2) performing and testing cross sea basin dialogue (through project lifetime events), strengthening the application of the ecosystem-based approach in the Greater North Sea and the Baltic Sea regions, policy instruments for climate neutrality and enhancement of the effectiveness of transboundary governance. Supporting the work for and collaborating with the other expert working for NESBp (WP3) at the HELCOM Secretariat is expected.

Reviewing and Evaluating the Monitoring and Assessment of Maritime Spatial Planning (ReMAP) project

ReMAP project is co-financed by EU and focused on setting-up strategies and approaches and its technical framework at reviewing, assessing the performance and improving the adopted maritime spatial plans, building on the recent developments of the Technical Expert Group (TEG) on Data for MSP and EMODnet to harmonize EU MSP layer and propose an innovative approach to modular analytics, comprised in 10 modules. The project will end in October 2025 and the remaining HELCOM responsibilities relate to finalizing and communicating the project results.

Responsibilities and main tasks

The Project Researcher will be responsible for contributing to the following project tasks:

For NESBp:

• Develop recommendations for the application of an ecosystem-based approach based on experiences from the Baltic Sea Region;
• Coordinate with stakeholders, including marine authorities and environmental agencies in both sea basins, to align MSP practices with ecosystem-based approach principles;
• Organize and facilitate cross-sea basin dialogue events throughout the project lifecycle;
• Develop and test new approaches to improve communication and cooperation between the North Sea and Baltic Sea regions;
• Analyze policy measures to promote climate neutrality within MSP processes;
• Identify and address barriers to effective transboundary MSP cooperation;
• Develop strategies to improve coordination between neighbouring states and regional authorities.

For ReMAP:

• Assist in applying MSP and cumulative impact tools for the Baltic Sea;
• Coordinate regional communication of the results and build well-structured documentation of them;
• Support revision of relevant expert documents for MSP data, such as MSP data user guides;
• Support organization of project dissemination events, including the ReMAP project final conference.

Qualifications and experience

The tasks require a background in e.g. environmental or geographical sciences and maritime spatial planning (MSP) processes as well as understanding of regional intergovernmental policy.

The successful candidate shall have:

• Master’s degree in marine science, environmental policy, geography, oceanography or a related field;
• Minimum of two years of relevant professional experience;
• Knowledge of maritime spatial planning or marine governance;
• Familiarity with policy development related to climate neutrality and marine governance;
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to engage with a wide range of stakeholders and translate complex information to an accessible language tailored to different audiences;
• Strong analytical and research skills, including the ability to synthesize and communicate complex information into clear policy recommendations;
• Experience in event organization and stakeholder facilitation;
• Excellent organizational and administrative skills and proven ability to deliver to tight timelines;
• Ability to work independently, take responsibility and initiatives;
• Excellent social and team skills;
• Thorough knowledge of the English language as well as high competence in IT skills

Experience/knowledge in the following will be considered an asset:

• Ecosystem-based approach application to MSP;
• Knowledge of cumulative impact assessment methodologies and MSP data;
• Experience of international or transboundary organizations and projects.

Terms of appointment

The appointment is planned to be full time, starting as soon as possible in May-June 2025 until July-August 2026 and isbased in the HELCOM Secretariat in Helsinki, Finland.
The monthly salary is 2.900 €. Please note that the HELCOM salaries are exempt from Finnish income tax.

Employee benefits include occupational health care, flexible working hours, hybrid working, generous leave allowance, recreational activities and professional development opportunities.

How to apply?

Candidates with the required expertise and qualifications are invited to submit their application (consisting of a CV and a motivation letter as one file) via email to recruitment@helcom.fi no later than 4 May 2025. Please write “NESBp Project Researcher” in the subject field of the message.