Assistant Administrator

Vacancy in the Director General's Services.

ESA is an equal opportunity employer, committed to achieving diversity within the workforce and creating an inclusive working environment. We therefore welcome applications from all qualified candidates irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, beliefs, age, disability or other characteristics. Applications from women are encouraged.

This post is classified B5-B6 on the Coordinated Organisations’ salary scale

Location
ESA Headquarters, Paris, France  

The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. ESA’s annual budget is about 7 billion euros. The mandate of the Director General’s Cabinet is to ensure the smooth running of the ESA organs as they pursue their activities. It consists, in particular, in providing all necessary support to the day-to-day work of the Director General, ensuring the preparation and functioning of the ESA Council and coordinating its subordinate bodies.

Your tasks and responsibilities will include:

• supporting the ESA Council, including:
• organisation of meetings at delegate and ministerial level, as well as Council working group meetings and workshops. 

This entails: (i) supporting the Council Secretary in the overall running, coordination, organisation and monitoring of Council and associated events; (ii) liaising with other ESA services to ensure timely availability of documents; (iii) managing the official ESA document management tool (ESA blue-docs);

• providing support to the Council Chair and Vice-chairs as well as liaising with ESA Heads of Delegation;
• ensuring the accreditation of participants in Council meetings.

• supporting Protocol activities, including:
• ensuring the smooth functioning of high-level representatives’ visits to ESA in line with ESA protocol standards;
• following up on protocol obligations in relation to high-level representatives;
• supporting guest operations at launch events, organising the participation of representatives of ESA Member States and ESA partners and accompanying them to launch facilities, such as in Kourou and Cape Canaveral, as required.

• supporting the Director General’s internal and external activities, including
• supporting the meetings of the Executive Board, as well as other senior management meetings and seminars;
• supporting bilateral meetings with ESA directorates;
• other ad hoc tasks and follow-up of actions.

• supporting the coordination of the Director General’s Services, including:
• liaison with the Director General’s Office;
• coordination with assistants of the Director General’s Services;
• support of corporate activities undertaken by other Director General’s Services.

• providing secretarial support:
• to the Head of the Director General’s Cabinet and Cabinet management team, for example by making travel arrangements, managing correspondence, scheduling meetings and maintaining records;
• processing Cabinet procurement actions;
• coordinating other Cabinet assistants providing support to Cabinet members.

• fulfilling other tasks on an ad hoc basis as directed by the Head of the Director General’s Cabinet within your area of responsibility. 

The aforementioned tasks will be shared with other assistants with whom you are expected to work as a team ensuring each other’s alternate.

Knowledge of ESA, its activities, programmes and policies

Ability to plan and execute events

Ability to handle high-pressure situations

Ability to draft clear correspondence in English

Knowledge and experience of tools and office software packages, including web-based management systems

Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking

You should have completed first-cycle higher education, such as a bachelor’s degree, in a relevant domain.

Attention to detail, good judgement, tact, discretion and resilience are necessary qualities. It is also essential that you interface well with people at all levels and work effectively in a team environment.

Other information

For behavioural competencies expected from ESA staff in general, please refer to the ESA Competency Framework .

For further information please visit: Professionals ,What we offer  and FAQ

The working languages of the Agency are English and French. A good knowledge of one of these is required.
Knowledge of another Member State language would be an asset.

The Agency may require applicants to undergo selection tests.

 At the Agency we value diversity and we welcome people with disabilities.  Whenever possible, we seek to accommodate individuals with disabilities by providing the necessary support at the workplace.  The Human Resources Department can also provide assistance during the recruitment process. If you would like to discuss this further please contact us email contact.human.resources@esa.int

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please note that applications are only considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

According to the ESA Convention, the recruitment of staff must take into account an adequate distribution of posts among nationals of the ESA Member States*. When short-listing for an interview, priority will first be given to internal candidates and secondly to external candidates from under-represented Member States *.

In accordance with the European Space Agency’s security procedures and as part of the selection process, successful candidates will be required to undergo basic screening before appointment conducted by an external background screening service.

*Member States, Associate Members or Cooperating States.