Hybrid

Association manager

General Management
Brussels, Belgium
Position closing date: May 26, 2026

Kellen is the leading professional services firm dedicated to creating, managing and advising EU and global trade associations and interest groups.
Are you a highly motivated & skilled Association’s manager with Public Affairs background ?

At Kellen in Brussels, we are looking for an association manager, who will support various, mainly European association teams. We pride ourselves in delivering personalized services on association management combined with regulatory and public affairs expertise to longstanding clients, active in the food and non-food sector at EU level. The position is full-time.

Your main role will be to:
Support the work of the public affairs committees of various trade associations in the food, feed and non-food sector, with a possibility to grow into Secretary General role.

In Particular, you will be:

  • Monitoring and analysing developments on the Chemical Strategy for Sustainability (CSS) and related policies such as the revision of REACH (GRA, MAF), Safe and Sustainable by Design, but also the Green Claims, the Taxonomy Regulation, the eco-design Regulation
  • Developing and leading the implementation of public affairs strategy of the associations in close cooperation with the Association’s Secretary General, the Comms Manager and related Committee/Working Group experts
  • Functioning as a support to the Secretary General, helping to build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders (EU Institutions and other associations) by representing the associations in relevant fora at legislative and regulatory levels and position the association as the authoritative resource towards stakeholders
  • Leading the development of positions translating technical issues into political arguments
  • Managing meetings and conference calls of working groups independently and taking minutes and actions list; following
    up on implementation of actions
  • A pro-active and efficient professional, able to work independently, with a high level of commitment and a certain degree of flexibility, with strong diplomatic skills
  • A strong team player, quality- and result-oriented and willing to work in an international environment

What we are looking for:

Must-have 

  • 3-5 years’ experience in public affairs Experience with associations or PA departments of companies (In-depth) knowledge of the EU institutions, understanding of EU legislation and EU procedures
  • Established network of contacts in EU institutions
  • Outstanding analytical/research skills and proven accuracy
  • Very good writing and presentational skills
  • Computer literacy (Office 365, web-based tools)
  • Excellent written and spoken English

Nice-to-have 

  • Good knowledge of PPWR and REACH regulation and other chemical legislations

We offer: 

  • A full-time position in the Brussels bubble, in a hybrid workplace
  • An attractive base salary and remuneration package commensurate with experience
  • An international working environment with a leading firm
  • Continuous training and professional development

Application process:

Please send your CV and cover letter explaining your experience preferably before May 26th (ref: PA Association Manager 2026-5.): recruitment@kellencompany.com. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted by Cross International.

For more information on Kellen, check out: www.kellencompany.com/Europe

Kellen will ensure that candidate’s personal data are processed as required by Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data.

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