# African Union jobs: the Commission and its organs

> African Union jobs are posted on one careers portal, jobs.au.int, for the AU Commission and other AU bodies. Postings ask for an African passport and the AU's own CV template, and name the member states the AU most wants candidates from. Regional communities such as ECOWAS, the EAC and IGAD hire separately.

Source: https://zorlya.com/blog/african-union-jobs-the-commission-its-organs-and-recruitment

By Zorlya. Published 2026-09-14, updated 2026-10-31. International and NGO jobs. 8 min read.

African Union jobs are posted on one careers portal, [jobs.au.int](https://jobs.au.int/), which carries vacancies for the AU Commission and other AU bodies. To be considered you need an African passport, a complete online application and a CV on the AU's own template, and the postings list the member states the AU most wants candidates from.

The African Union's employers, in this post, are the bodies whose vacancies appear on that portal: the AU Commission in Addis Ababa, specialised bodies such as Africa CDC, and offices such as the AU's permanent mission in Geneva. Each posting names its body in a field called "AU Organ". The regional economic communities, such as ECOWAS, the East African Community and IGAD, are separate employers with their own rules, covered below.

## Where are African Union jobs posted?

On jobs.au.int. The old address, careers.au.int, now redirects there. The portal describes its workforce as spanning 55 member states, and its list of posts mixes Commission vacancies with those of other bodies: on the day we checked, posts at Africa CDC and at the Geneva mission appeared beside Commission roles.

The search results load inside the page, so the quickest way to find a role is to search the portal by title or place, and then read the "AU Organ" and duty station fields before the duties.

## Who can apply for an African Union job?

The postings set three conditions in one sentence: consideration is given only to candidates who submit a fully completed online application with a CV, an African passport and the required academic qualifications. A banner on every job page adds that the AU CV template is mandatory. Fill your profile in on that template, not by uploading your own CV design.

The postings we read also name the member states that are least represented and under-represented in the AU's staff, and strongly encourages candidates from them to apply. Read the list in the posting you apply to, because it is not fixed. Two postings published on the same day listed different countries: one counted the Republic of the Congo as under-represented and the other as least represented, and only one of them named Niger and South Sudan.

The postings also say the AU is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourage female candidates. For languages, staff postings make proficiency in one AU working language mandatory, from Arabic, English, French, Kiswahili, Portuguese and Spanish, and call fluency in another an added advantage.

## What do AU posts offer?

AU postings print their terms. A regular staff post we read was a three-year contract, with the first twelve months as probation. Pay is stated as an indicative basic salary for the grade and step, plus a post adjustment set as a share of the basic salary, plus a housing allowance:

| Post | Basic salary, US dollars a year | Post adjustment | Housing allowance, US dollars a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| P3, step 1, Addis Ababa | 37,453 | 46% of basic | 22,932 |
| P4, step 1, Geneva | 42,879 | 64% of basic | 34,444.80 |

Both postings add an education allowance for internationally recruited staff of up to US$10,000 per child a year. The AU's figures differ from the UN's, so an AU P3 and a UN P-3 are not paid the same: compare the whole package on each posting, not the grade letters. [UN job grades explained](/blog/un-job-grades-explained-p-d-g-and-national-officer-levels) covers the UN side.

## How does the African Union internship work?

The AU Commission's internship is advertised on the same portal, in a posting open until the end of 2026. Its rules, from the posting:

- **Who.** Citizens of AU member states, either in at least the final year of a bachelor's degree or holding a bachelor's or master's degree in a related field.
- **Age.** No more than 32 at the time of selection.
- **Experience.** None required.
- **Length.** Three months, renewable once.
- **Pay.** None. The AU has no financial obligation towards interns, and travel, accommodation and living costs are the intern's. You also need your own insurance for the whole internship.
- **Documents.** A motivation letter, a copy of a valid passport or national ID, certified copies of your academic certificates, a CV, and a letter of recommendation from your university.

The posting lists four working languages in one place, Arabic, English, French and Portuguese, and six in another, adding Spanish and Kiswahili. Fluency in one of them is required. [How to write a motivation letter](/blog/motivation-letter-for-an-ngo-un-or-internship-application) covers the letter, and [UN internships](/blog/un-internships-who-can-apply-what-they-pay-and-how-to-find-one) covers a comparable scheme.

The portal also carried a call for the AU Youth Volunteer Corps, which was no longer available when we checked. The Corps' own site is a sign-in page for volunteers and host organisations.

## How do the regional economic communities hire?

The regional communities recruit for themselves, each from its own member states. Their pages set different rules:

| Body | Who may apply | Where to apply | Rules to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| ECOWAS | National candidates from its 12 member states | Positions published on ecowas.int; send the form, a CV and a motivation letter by email | Under 35 for General Service, under 45 for Professional and under 50 for Director posts |
| East African Community | Citizens of its 8 Partner States | Only through the EAC E-Recruitment System | Not above 55 when you apply; internships do not count as experience |
| IGAD | Set in each posting | Postings on igad.int; one we read asked for applications by email | One posting asked for English and called French an added advantage |
| SADC | Not known | Not known | Its website did not answer our requests |

### What do the three communities say about language and size?

ECOWAS's [careers page](https://www.ecowas.int/careers/) names English, French and Portuguese as its working languages and says an application missing any mandatory document will not be considered. One ECOWAS vacancy notice we read, for a P3/P4 post in Abuja, printed the annual salary at P3 step 1 in the community's unit of account and in US dollars, at US$52,648.78, and said assessment may include a written exercise and a competency-based interview. ECOWAS also says it does not charge a fee for recruitment and will not ask for your account details.

The [EAC's employment page](https://www.eac.int/opportunities/employment) says more than 400 people work for its organs and institutions, and names housing, transport and education allowances and medical and group insurance among its benefits. In August 2026 its Council of Ministers lifted a moratorium on recruitment, approved a phased recruitment plan from the 2026/27 financial year, and directed the secretariat to advertise 69 priority positions. In an earlier round, in 2022, its interview panels had seven members: one representative from each of the six Partner States at the time and one for the Secretary General.

IGAD's postings name the issuing office, such as its climate centre in Nairobi. One staff post we read offered an initial year, renewable subject to funds and performance. Some IGAD notices are limited to nationals of a single country, so read the eligibility line first.

## Questions people ask

### Can non-Africans work for the African Union?

Not in staff posts, on the postings we read. They consider only candidates who submit an African passport with the application.

### Does the African Union pay interns?

No. The internship posting says the AU has no financial obligation towards interns, who pay their own travel, accommodation, living costs and insurance.

### What is the AU CV template?

A CV format the AU requires on its careers portal. Every job page says its use is mandatory, so complete your profile with it.

### Which countries does the AU want more candidates from?

Each posting lists the least represented and under-represented member states. The lists change, so read the one in the posting you apply to.

## What we know and what we do not

The facts above come from postings on the AU careers portal, the careers pages of ECOWAS, the EAC and IGAD, one ECOWAS vacancy notice and two EAC press releases. The AU's main website asks AI crawlers in its robots.txt file not to read it, so we did not use it. That leaves out the AU's Staff Regulations, which set the quota rules behind the country lists, and the terms of the Youth Volunteer Corps. The SADC website did not answer our requests.

Zorlya does not apply for you. When a role is in your feed, Zorlya scores it against your resume, names its source and links to the original posting, where you apply. [How it works](/how-it-works) shows the steps. The AU asks for its own CV template, so keep a master CV to copy from, as [one resume for many countries](/blog/one-resume-for-many-countries-resume-or-cv) describes, and use [how to read a job posting](/blog/how-to-read-a-job-posting) to check the eligibility lines first.