Director, Centre for European Reform

The Centre for European Reform is looking for a newdirector.

The successful candidateshouldhave the following qualitiesand experience:

• The ability to provide intellectual leadership to the CER. The CER covers European politics,economicsand security as well as the EU-UK relationship; the director should be an expert in at least one of these areas and familiar with the key issues in the others. They should help the team of eight or nine researchersidentifythemes to include in the work programme, and spot important gaps, including those that might need to be filled by commissioning work from associate fellows or others.
• Alignment with the CER’s ethos and values. The CER is an independent and politically non-aligned think-tank thatseeksto achieve an open, outward-looking,influentialand prosperous EU. It has two core missions:coming up withideas and policies for making the EU more effective and successful; and improving the quality of the EU-UK relationship with a view to the two having the closest economic and political relationship that the political realities will allow. The CER is pro-European butnot uncritical,recognisingthat although European integration islargely beneficial, the EU often under-performs. The CER’s headquarters is in London, but it has a pan-European and transatlantic outlook, and its researchers come from several EU member-states as well as the UK and the US. Their diverse experiences and viewpoints are an added strength. The CER has a democratic culture and is non-hierarchical. It does not impose ‘lines to take’ on its researchers. Staff are encouraged to arrive at their own conclusions through their research, though on rare occasions the director or deputy director may decide that something is not of the right quality to be published by the CER.
• Experience offund-raising, to cover the CER’s annual running costs of approximately £1.4 million. The CER currently receives a little over three-quarters of its income from donations from UK and international corporations and individuals, and theremainderfrom projects funded by the EU and a variety of private and public foundations. The director needs tomaintainrelationships with existing funders and cultivate contacts with potential sponsors.
• The people skills to provide light-touchguidance to the CER’sresearchers, all experts in their own fields, who are based in London, Brussels and Berlin;andalsoto the administrative staff who runthe CER’s in-person and online events,are responsible for its publications, websiteand social media output, andlook after its financial and HR management.The CER prides itself onastrong teamspirit, and the director needs to ensure that geographically dispersed staff feel included and supportedbut not micro-managed.
• Excellent connections with senior levels in governments, EUinstitutionsand other international bodies. The CER stands out for being well-connected in the UK, Europe and the US, and the director’s networking skills will becrucialtomaintainingthe CER’scompetitiveedge. Frequent travel to Brussels and other European capitals will be essential, as well asperiodic trips to Washington, and occasional trips to China and elsewhere.
• A track recordoforiginal thinking, and ofwriting persuasive policy papers and contributing to policy debatesonmatters of European policy and EU-UK relations. Experience of givingevidence to parliamentary committeeswould be a plus.The director willbe responsible formaintainingand enhancingthe CER’sinfluence and its reputation for sober,rigorousand realistic analysis, combined with constructivepolicy recommendations.Fluent written and oral communication skills in Englishwill beessential;being able to work inother major European languages would be a distinct advantage.The director’s work, like that of other researchers, will be subject to the rigorous internal editing process; the director will also take on a share of editing the work of others.
• Experience of live media appearancesand ofparticipation in high-profile international conferences. The director is likely to be invited ontoflagshipradio and TVprogrammesin the UK and elsewhere inEurope, andshould be comfortable with high-pressure interviews andpublicdebates.

The search is being led by thenewchair of the CER, Sir Julian King.The CER will offer a competitive salary.The CERoperatesan open and transparent recruitment process. It is strongly committed to non-discrimination on grounds of gender, race,sexualityor age.

Those interested should send a CV, cover letter and links to relevant publicationsand public appearances or interviews(or articles in pdf format)to Sophie Valiant (sophie@cer.eu ) by12.00 (London time) on Friday 22 May 2026.

Interviews will take place on Thursday 02 July. The successful candidate wouldideallytake up their role in January 2027.

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