"My name is Maria and I am Spanish, from Madrid. I have lived in Brussels for the last 20 years and I have to say that I have very much enjoyed it since the start. Brussels is a not so big, but it is very cosmopolitan, which suits me very well. In the streets, you overhear so many languages and see so many different types of people, which strangely makes me feel at home.
Having a background as a lawyer, I have been working in DG ECHO since 2008. DG ECHO deals with Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection. Specifically, since 2016 I have been working in the directorate dealing with emergencies, first in the European Emergency Response Center (ERCC) and now dealing with the European Humanitarian Response Capacities (EHRC).  
The ERCC helps to coordinate a coherent EU response to major natural and man-made disasters occurring inside and outside the EU: earthquakes, cyclones, floods, conflicts, etc. The Center provides a platform for coordination within the EU institutions and Member States.  It also has a 24/7 duty system that coordinates with partners like the UN, international organizations, NGOs and other crises centers in the EU and the world.
Concretely, now I work as a Team Leader of the EHRC which designs, sets up, and monitors DG ECHO's directly implemented operations outside the EU, especially after emergencies.
The EHRC is a set of operational tools designed to provide rapid but temporary support to partners to fill operational gaps in the humanitarian response where the humanitarian community struggles to provide support, thus helping to cover immediate needs of the affected population.   
The different instruments of the EHRC include the provision of common logistics services to humanitarian partners in the form of international and in-country transport operations (i.e., Air Bridges), warehousing capacities, prepositioning and delivery of emergency stockpiles, deployment of logistics and health experts, etc.
Unfortunately, there are too many crises in the world, but what I really like about my job is that, when disasters strike, I contribute to saving lives and bringing support and relief to vulnerable populations, partially fighting the feeling of helplessness that we all have when facing such human tragedies. 
If you feel this itch and like to work in an international environment, I encourage you to join us. It is also a very dynamic environment, with many dedicated colleagues driven by a shared passion to bring European solidarity to those in need.  Good and committed professionals have plenty opportunities to grow, travel, live abroad while doing a fulfilling job at the European institutions."