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Nonprofit, Public and Compliance Jobs in Portugal: 2026 Guide

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How do you find nonprofit, public and compliance jobs in Portugal?

Search the Bolsa de Emprego Público (BEP) for public jobs and CReSAP for top public management posts. For nonprofit work, start with the IPSS, which hold most of the paid jobs in Portugal’s social economy. Compliance work runs on EU law and on Portugal’s own codes, in a Portuguese whose legal vocabulary differs from Brazil’s.

A compliance officer is, in the words of Portugal’s anti-money laundering law, the responsável pelo cumprimento normativo (Lei n.º 83/2017, article 16).

Para quem lê em português: há um resumo em português europeu no fim desta página.

Updated November 10, 2026. Checked November 2026 against the official sources linked below.

By , Founder and Chief Executive Officer, ExecSearches.com
Arco da Rua Augusta on Praça do Comércio in Lisboa, Portugal, with the flag of Portugal and the words Lisboa and Portugal. O Arco da Rua Augusta, na Praça do Comércio, em Lisboa, com a bandeira de Portugal.
The Arco da Rua Augusta on Praça do Comércio, Lisboa. O Arco da Rua Augusta, na Praça do Comércio, em Lisboa. Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped, with text and the flag of Portugal added by ExecSearches.com; flag from Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

The short version

What is a compliance officer called in Portugal?

Responsável pelo cumprimento normativo. Lei n.º 83/2017, the law against money laundering and terrorist financing, uses the term in article 16. The corruption prevention regime, Decreto-Lei n.º 109-E/2021, requires covered entities to adopt a programa de cumprimento normativo (article 5).

Where are public sector jobs in Portugal posted?

On the Bolsa de Emprego Público (BEP), the public jobs portal run by DGAEP. Top management posts go through CReSAP. The public employment service, IEFP, publishes ofertas de emprego.

Who oversees data protection and anti-corruption?

The Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados (CNPD) for data protection, named the national supervisory authority by Lei n.º 58/2019. The GDPR, RGPD in Portuguese, calls the data protection officer the encarregado da proteção de dados (article 38). MENAC, the Mecanismo Nacional Anticorrupção, is an independent administrative body that promotes transparency and integrity in public action.

How big is Portugal’s nonprofit sector?

Portugal had 73,851 social economy organizations in 2020, and they held 5.9% of the country’s paid jobs, according to INE and CASES in the Conta Satélite da Economia Social 2019/2020, the latest edition.

Does the EU AI Act apply in Portugal?

Yes, directly, as it does in every EU member state. Most of it has applied since August 2, 2026. The rules for high-risk systems, which include software that screens job applicants, start on December 2, 2027 (EUR-Lex, consolidated text, article 113).

How big is Portugal’s social economy?

Portugal counts its nonprofits inside a wider category, the economia social, which also takes in cooperatives and mutual associations. INE, the national statistics office, measures it with CASES, the Cooperativa António Sérgio para a Economia Social.

  • INE, press release of July 31, 2023: 73,851 social economy entities in 2020, up from 73,574 in 2019.
  • INE and CASES, Conta Satélite da Economia Social 2019/2020: in 2020 the sector produced 3.2% of national gross value added and 5.9% of paid employment, or 243,783 full-time equivalent jobs. National value added fell 5.8% that year; the sector’s grew 0.4%.
  • Same report: associations with altruistic aims, counted together with community and self-managed bodies, were more than 95% of all entities in 2020 and held 65.5% of the sector’s paid employment.
  • Same report: the 376 Misericórdias employed 41,308 full-time equivalents, the second largest group by paid jobs.
  • CASES, satellite account page, checked November 10, 2026: 2019/2020 is still the latest edition. We will update these figures when a new one is published.

What are IPSS and associações?

Two terms to know before you read a Portuguese nonprofit job ad. An associação is the basic nonprofit association. An IPSS, Instituição Particular de Solidariedade Social, is a private nonprofit that holds a legal social solidarity status, and IPSS hold most of the paid jobs in the sector.

  • Lei n.º 30/2013, the Lei de Bases da Economia Social, as summarized in the INE and CASES report: the social economy covers cooperatives, mutual associations, Misericórdias, foundations, IPSS, associations with altruistic aims in culture, recreation, sport and local development, and community and self-managed bodies.
  • INE and CASES, 2019/2020: 5,476 organizations held IPSS status in 2020, 7.4% of the social economy. About 55% of them work in social services and about 27% in health.
  • Same report: IPSS employed about 154,000 people in 2020, 62.9% of the sector’s paid employment, and produced 44.8% of its value added.
  • Portal da Justiça: a new association can be registered with one request at one counter, and the founders can book the entry in the Registo Central do Beneficiário Efetivo (RCBE), the beneficial ownership register, at the same time.

Our read: IPSS are fewer than one in ten of the organizations and carry most of the payroll.

How are public jobs posted in Portugal?

  • Decreto-Lei n.º 78/2003, article 1: created the Bolsa de Emprego Público to publish the recruitment and mobility processes of the public administration. Article 2 applies it to the services and bodies of the public administration, including public institutes.
  • Same decree, article 3: BEP is run by DGAEP, the Direção-Geral da Administração e do Emprego Público.
  • BEP, checked November 10, 2026: the five newest postings came from the Instituto Politécnico de Leiria and the municipal councils of Chamusca, Mafra and Vila Franca de Xira, with deadlines from November 20 to November 23, 2026.
  • CReSAP, the Comissão de Recrutamento e Seleção para a Administração Pública, runs the selection for cargos de direção superior, the top management posts in the public administration. BEP lists them under Ofertas Dirigentes Superiores.
  • IEFP, the public employment service, publishes job offers from every sector.

Open leadership roles in Portugal, checked November 10, 2026

These four senior public posts were open on CReSAP’s list of open procedures on November 10, 2026. All four are in the Lisbon district. The notices are in Portuguese; read the eligibility rules before you apply.

We did not verify an open nonprofit leadership role in Portugal on an employer’s own site this week. The Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa job site listed nurses, a pharmacist, speech therapists and elder care staff, none of them in senior roles. ExecSearches.com job alerts are free.

Data protection: the GDPR plus Lei n.º 58/2019

The GDPR applies in Portugal as it does across the EU. Lei n.º 58/2019, de 8 de agosto (consolidated text, PGR Lisboa) fills in the national rules.

  • Lei n.º 58/2019, article 3: the CNPD is the national supervisory authority for the GDPR and for this law. Article 4 makes it an independent administrative body that works alongside the Assembleia da República.
  • Same law, article 12: public entities must designate a data protection officer. The list covers the State, the autonomous regions, municipalities, independent administrative bodies, the Banco de Portugal, public institutes, public universities, state-owned companies and public associations.
  • Same article: at least one officer per ministry and one per municipality, and one in each parish (freguesia) where justified, in particular those with more than 750 inhabitants. Several bodies may share one officer.
  • Same law, article 13: a private controller or processor needs one when its core activity involves regular and systematic monitoring of people on a large scale, or large-scale processing of special categories of data or of criminal records data.

Article 12 works as a hiring map. Every ministry and every municipality in Portugal must have an encarregado da proteção de dados, so public data protection work exists in every region of the country.

Does the EU AI Act apply in Portugal?

Yes. Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 is binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all member states, so Portugal needs no law of its own to bring it in. In July 2026 the EU changed the timetable: Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 of July 8, 2026, the Digital Omnibus on AI, set later start dates for the high-risk rules. The consolidated text of July 27, 2026 sets these dates:

  • Article 113(a): February 2, 2025 for the general provisions and the banned practices (Chapters I and II). A few prohibitions added in 2026 apply from December 2, 2026.
  • Article 113(b): August 2, 2025 for the rules on general-purpose AI models, notified bodies, governance and penalties.
  • Article 113, main rule: August 2, 2026 for most of the rest of the regulation.
  • Article 113(c)(i): December 2, 2027 for the high-risk systems listed in Annex III. That list includes AI used to recruit or select people and AI that public authorities use to evaluate who is eligible for public assistance benefits.
  • Article 113(c)(ii): August 2, 2028 for the high-risk systems tied to the product safety laws in Annex I.

For nonprofit and public employers, Annex III is the part to read first. A tool that filters job applications is listed as high-risk, and so is software a public body uses to evaluate eligibility for benefits.

Lisbon and Porto: two job markets

Lisbon is where the national jobs are. The CNPD sits on Avenida D. Carlos I, CReSAP on Avenida 5 de Outubro and the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa on Largo Trindade Coelho. The Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian works from its Lisbon headquarters, with delegations in Paris and London. On November 10, 2026, every one of the first ten senior posts on BEP’s senior management list was in the Lisbon district.

Porto is the base for the North. CCDR Norte, the regional coordination and development commission, has its headquarters on Rua Rainha D. Estefânia, and the Universidade do Porto has its rectorate on Praça Gomes Teixeira. Our view: Porto suits candidates who want regional or university work. National policy roles almost always mean Lisbon.

Who hires

Data between Portugal and Brazil

On January 26, 2026, the European Commission decided that Brazil ensures an adequate level of protection for personal data transferred from the EU (Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/179). Brazil uses different legal words for the same jobs; our Brazil guide covers them. If your work runs across both countries, see our guides to nonprofit and compliance jobs in São Paulo and nonprofit and public sector jobs in Rio de Janeiro. For EU policy careers, see our guide to NGO and EU policy jobs in Brussels.

Bandeira de Portugal, verde e vermelha, com a esfera armilar e o escudo nacional. The flag of Portugal, green and red, with the armillary sphere and the national shield.
Bandeira de Portugal. Fonte: Wikimedia Commons, domínio público.
Em resumo: Em Portugal, a Lei n.º 83/2017 prevê o responsável pelo cumprimento normativo, e o Regime Geral da Prevenção da Corrupção (Decreto-Lei n.º 109-E/2021) obriga as entidades abrangidas a adotar um programa de cumprimento normativo. As ofertas de emprego público são publicadas na Bolsa de Emprego Público (BEP), gerida pela DGAEP, e o IEFP publica ofertas de emprego. Os cargos de direção superior são recrutados através da CReSAP.

A economia social portuguesa contava 73 851 entidades em 2020 e representava 5,9% do emprego remunerado do país, segundo a Conta Satélite da Economia Social 2019/2020, do INE e da CASES. Nesse ano havia 5 476 IPSS, que empregavam cerca de 154 mil trabalhadores.

A proteção de dados é supervisionada pela CNPD, que a Lei n.º 58/2019 designa como autoridade de controlo nacional. Dentro de cada entidade, o RGPD prevê o encarregado da proteção de dados, cuja designação é obrigatória nas entidades públicas, incluindo cada ministério e cada município.

O Regulamento (UE) 2024/1689, o regulamento da inteligência artificial, aplica-se diretamente em Portugal. As regras para os sistemas de risco elevado do anexo III, que incluem o recrutamento e a seleção de pessoas, aplicam-se a partir de 2 de dezembro de 2027.

Em 10 de novembro de 2026, a CReSAP tinha procedimentos concursais abertos para cargos de direção superior em Lisboa, entre eles o de subdiretor-geral da Direção-Geral da Solidariedade e Segurança Social, com candidaturas até 20 de novembro de 2026.

Atualizado em novembro de 2026.

Related guides

Sources

  1. Lei n.º 83/2017, de 18 de agosto, consolidated text, PGR Lisboa
  2. Decreto-Lei n.º 109-E/2021, de 9 de dezembro, PGR Lisboa
  3. RGPD (Regulamento (UE) 2016/679), Portuguese text, PGR Lisboa
  4. Lei n.º 58/2019, de 8 de agosto, Diário da República, and the consolidated text, PGR Lisboa
  5. INE and CASES, Conta Satélite da Economia Social 2019/2020 (2023)
  6. INE, Conta Satélite da Economia Social, press release, July 31, 2023
  7. CASES, Conta Satélite da Economia Social
  8. Lei n.º 30/2013, de 8 de maio, Lei de Bases da Economia Social, Diário da República
  9. Portal da Justiça, Registar associação
  10. Decreto-Lei n.º 78/2003, de 23 de abril, on the Bolsa de Emprego Público
  11. Bolsa de Emprego Público
  12. CReSAP, procedimentos concursais abertos
  13. IEFP
  14. CNPD
  15. MENAC
  16. Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, consolidated text of July 27, 2026, EUR-Lex
  17. Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 (Digital Omnibus on AI), EUR-Lex
  18. Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/179, EUR-Lex