Lead Payroll Officer

Location
ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands, or ESA HQ, Paris, France, or ESRIN, Frascati, Italy.

Description

The HR Support Services Division is an important business enabler that interfaces with ESA staff and management at all sites. Our core values are a fully harmonised “One ESA” service model delivered by an international team, with a people-centric local presence in establishments in six of our Member States. In the Division, organised in two Sections, Recruitment and Staff Administration, we ensure a high degree of digitalisation and the flawless execution of our daily tasks.

The Lead Payroll Officer is responsible for overseeing and managing ESA’s end-to-end payroll processes. This role ensures the accurate and timely payment of salaries, benefits and other compensation, while maintaining compliance with our policies and statutory regulations. The Lead Payroll Officer will provide guidance and support to a team of payroll staff and service providers, resolving issues and streamlining processes to improve efficiency and accuracy.

Duties

You will report to the Head of the Staff Administration Service and your tasks and responsibilities will include:

Payroll and time management

You will oversee, advise on and support all regular payroll activities, covering the payment of salaries, allowances and indemnities over the entire career of ESA staff, i.e. from hire to retire.
You will also perform similar duties in the areas of time and leave management, and you will lead the administration of the organisational structure.

Compliance and reporting

You will conduct systematic verifications of entitlements, along with consistency and quality checks of the work performed. In collaboration with other team members, you will prepare meaningful statistics and reports, and proactively analyse them to allow proper follow-up by the team. Additionally, you will ensure an effective interface with external auditing bodies.

Process improvement and IT systems management

You will identify and drive improvements to processes and the organisation of the work, particularly by making use of current and future digitalisation opportunities. This includes ensuring an effective interface with ESA's IT department, and leading the HR side of the configuration and optimisation of our on-premise and cloud-based IT systems.

Management of outsourced services

You will represent ESA from a technical point of view, and propose, lead and support future outsourcing solutions while establishing robust verification mechanisms to ensure appropriate in-house control. You will also ensure efficient and continuous knowledge transfer to new team members across ESA establishments.
Other ad hoc duties and special projects may be assigned as deemed necessary by the management team of the Division.

Technical competencies

In-depth experience with SAP on-premise Payroll (PY) and Time Management (TM) modules, as well as SAP’s cloud-based SuccessFactors

Proven ability to lead the HR side of the configuration and optimisation of the above-mentioned IT systems

Advanced skills in Excel and Business Intelligence (Bl) tools for querying and managing large (payroll and time management) datasets, as well as for generating customised reports

Possession of, or the ability to acquire, in-depth knowledge of payroll regulations, staff policies and compliance standards

Strong skills in identifying and resolving process inefficiencies

Behavioural competencies

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

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

Education

A master's degree in business or public administration, human resources, finance, engineering or a related field is required for this post.

Additional requirements

The position requires a minimum of eight years of payroll experience, with at least half of that in a supervisory or leading role.
Experience in an international organisation or a similar environment would be an asset.
Experience with SAP S/4 HANA (Cloud) would be an additional asset.

You should, in addition, have:

discretion and problem-solving skills.
excellent attention to detail while being able to see the bigger picture.
strong leadership and team management abilities, in environments with or without formal authority.
excellent verbal and written communication skills in English. Knowledge of French, and other languages of countries where ESA staff are based, would be an additional asset.
strong organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

As the Service operates across multiple sites, you will be asked to travel for meetings with team members and external partners.

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.