Policy Officer

Location
ESA Headquarters, Paris, France or ESRIN, Frascati, Italy

Description

Policy Officer in the Council and Subordinate Bodies Support Section, Member States and Council Support Division, Director General’s Cabinet, Director General’s Services.

Duties

Under the direct authority of the Head of the Council and Subordinate Bodies Support Section, your tasks and responsibilities will include:

ensuring the smooth functioning of the ESA Council, in particular by:
- supporting the Council secretariat function, including support to the Council Chair;
- supporting delegations, including composition and accreditation of delegations, communication to delegations and organisation of ad hoc meetings;
- managing the practical organisation and operation of the meetings of the ESA Council at ordinary and ministerial level, including Space Council and Space Summit meetings, and coordinating with all relevant services to ensure that such meetings run smoothly;
- establishing a record of decisions and an internal list of actions following Council meetings;
- establishing the calendar of Council and subordinate body meetings;
- organising interpretation services for English, French and German, as well as for other languages on an ad hoc basis;
- overseeing tasks in support of Council operation.
ensuring coordination of the Council subordinate bodies, in particular by:
- ensuring proper coordination and harmonisation of the working methods of Council and its subordinate bodies, together with their respective chairs and secretaries;
- organising regular training of the respective chairs, secretaries and assistants;
- organising regular coordination meetings of the network of secretaries to the Council subordinate bodies.
overseeing the effective decision-making process, in particular by:
- organising strategic planning of Council actions and the relevant agendas;
- supporting the coordination of strategic planning with the network of secretaries to the Council subordinate bodies.
managing, as business owner, IT-based projects within the Cabinet and the evolution of the Cabinet-owned corporate information systems, for example ESA archives, digitalisation of ESA’s records, and tools for delegate accreditation and official document distribution such as ESA blue-docs and PUMA.
performing ad hoc studies and actions, such as reporting to Member States, as requested.

The aforementioned tasks will be shared with other team members, with whom you are expected to work as a team, serving as an alternate.

Technical competencies

Knowledge of ESA and its activities, programmes and policies

Knowledge of ESA’s institutional framework and of the European and international space sector, encompassing institutional, commercial and/or industrial entities

State-of-the-art knowledge in your area of responsibility at the required level

Behavioural competencies

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

For more information, please refer to ESA Core Behavioural Competencies guidebook

Education

A master’s degree is required for this post, preferably in policy or law.

Additional requirements

Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, as well as a proven ability to interact with various stakeholders. You will also be required to work effectively in a team environment and under pressure. Good judgement, tact and discretion are essential.
Diplomatic experience, preferably within a Cabinet, is an asset.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness
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.

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 via email at contact.human.resources@esa.int.

Important Information and Disclaimer
In principle, recruitment will be within the advertised grade band (A2-A4). However, if the selected candidate has less than four years of relevant professional experience following the completion of the master’s degree, the position may be filled at A1 level.

During the recruitment process, the Agency may request applicants to undergo selection tests. Additionally, successful candidates will need to undergo basic screening before appointment, which will be conducted by an external background screening service, in compliance with the European Space Agency's security procedures.

Note that ESA is in the process of transitioning to a Matrix setup, which could lead to organisational changes affecting this position.

The information published on ESA’s careers website regarding working conditions is correct at the time of publication. It is not intended to be exhaustive and may not address all questions you would have.

Nationality and Languages
Please note that applications can only be 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*.

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.

*Member States, Associate Members or Cooperating States.