The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation MAECI has announced a public competition, based on qualifications and exams, for the recruitment of 95 units of non-managerial, full-time and permanent staff, to be placed in the Officials Area.
The posts are divided into three professional families: 60 units for administrative, accounting and consular activities (ACC profile), 20 units for economic, commercial and statistical activities (EXPORT-STAT profile) and 15 units for architects and engineers (ARCH/ING profile). This last profile is the one of greatest interest for technical professionals: the activities may concern the central offices of the MAECI and the Italian diplomatic and consular representations abroad, with skills in the construction, civil, electrical and mechanical sectors, procurement, safety, planning and management of interventions.
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Who can participate: general requirements and admitted profiles
For all profiles, among other requirements, Italian citizenship, age of majority, enjoyment of civil and political rights, physical suitability for the specific job, possession of moral and conduct qualities, and the absence of causes impeding employment by a Public Administration are required. The requirements must be met both at the deadline for submitting applications and at the time of signing the contract.
For the ACC and EXPORT-STAT profiles, the possession of a degree, bachelor’s degree, specialist degree, master’s degree, single-cycle degree or equivalent qualifications is required, in any discipline (therefore even graduates in architecture or engineering can apply). For the ARCH/ING profile, however, the notice indicates more specific requirements: candidates with master’s degrees in architecture, engineering, planning, environment, construction, IT, safety, energy, materials and other expressly listed technical fields are admitted, or with three-year degrees in coherent classes, including civil and environmental engineering, information engineering, industrial engineering, architectural sciences, territorial planning, construction sciences and techniques, information technology and environmental sciences.
Focus on architects and engineers: qualification and registration in the Register
Furthermore, for the ARCH/ING profile, a university degree alone is not enough. The notice also requires qualification to practice the profession of architect or engineer and registration in the professional register. For those who enter with a master’s degree, registration in Section A of the Register of Architects, Planners, Landscape Architects and Conservators or of the Register of Engineers is required; for those who enter with a three-year degree, registration in Section B is required. Registration can be completed before signing the individual employment contract.
The technical profile requires specialist skills in the construction and civil sectors, as well as in the electrical and mechanical sectors, knowledge of administrative law, procurement, safety in the workplace, acquisition of engineering and architectural services, assignment of works and use of software for the management of technical processes and projects. Planning skills, drafting of technical documents, coordination of working groups, management of priorities and activities in international contexts are also required.
Questions about InPA: deadline and methods
The application must be submitted exclusively online via the InPA Portal, authenticating with SPID, CIE, CNS or eIDAS and completing the application format. The candidate must have a registered PEC address or a digital domicile. The deadline for submitting applications is 30 July 2026 at 11.59pm.
It is possible to apply for multiple competition codes, but in this case the participation fee of 10 euros for each code must be paid. Communications relating to the competition, including test calendar and results, will be published on the InPA Portal with the value of notification in all respects.
Selection tests and exam subjects
The procedure – managed by the RIPAM Commission, with the support of Formez PA – provides, for each competition code, a possible pre-selective test (if the number of applications is equal to or greater than ten times the places available for the individual code), a written test, an oral test, a possible optional test in a foreign language, in addition to the evaluation of qualifications.
The pre-selective test, if activated, will consist of 50 multiple choice questions to be solved in 60 minutes, with questions on the subjects of the written test, logical-deductive questions and situational questions.
The written test will consist of one or more open-ended and concise questions, to be completed in three hours. For the ARCH/ING profile the subjects are: administrative law, state accounting and foreign procurement regulations; building regulations and safety in the workplace; planning and management of construction interventions in Italy and abroad; English language at level C1, with answers to one or more questions in English on topics relating to Public Administration, MAECI activities or international current affairs.
The oral test will be an interdisciplinary interview on the subjects of the written test and on further topics. For architects and engineers, digital methods and tools are provided for construction, design and facility management, with reference to Ministerial Decree 560/2017, UNI 11337 and project management; MAECI regulations; second foreign language chosen from French, Spanish, German, Arabic, Russian, Portuguese, Chinese or Japanese, level B2; information technologies and digital skills.
How to prepare
The volume deals with the subjects that will be the subject of the pre-selective test and the written test, namely: Administrative law, State accounting, Consular law, Deductive logic and critical-verbal reasoning, situational questions (organizational and management problems). In the online section there is also a digital tutor, a quiz simulator to practice on the pre-selective and written test and an English language quiz section (for the C1 level written test), as well as logic video lessons by Giuseppe Cotruvo:
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