HR Operations Assistant

The European Southern Observatory; Garching bei München; On-site; EUR 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Hybrid/limited remote work

Job summary

ESO, based in Garching near Munich, requires an HR professional to support relocation, onboarding, payroll backups, and benefits processing in a dynamic international environment. You will ensure accurate HR records and compliance while collaborating with a multi-national team.

The role reports to the Compensation and Benefits Team Leader and requires excellent English and very good German. A fixed-term contract of three years with potential extensions is offered, along with relocation support

Qualifications

• Strong analytical skills with close attention to detail.
• Proficiency in MS Office (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint and Excel) and ERP systems.
• Excellent customer orientation and communication skills.
• Ability to work under pressure and independently.
• Strong team working and collaboration orientation.
• Discretion and integrity with confidentiality.

Responsibilities

• Administer relocation and registration of new staff, liaising with German authorities.
• Assist onboarding of staff.
• Process benefit and allowance claims.
• Monitor staff absences.
• Provide back-up for payroll officer.
• Coordinate and monitor medical examinations.
• Maintain HR records accurately.

Skills

Analytical skills

MS Office

Excel

Customer focus

Team player

Discretion

Education

High school diploma

HR diploma or training

Tools

ERP systems

Job description

The Human Resources Department at ESO is a busy, friendly and dynamic team located both in Chile and Germany, delivering a comprehensive end to end service to staff, covering recruitment, pay and benefits, business partnering, as well as health and welfare services and learning and development. There is plenty of scope to contribute and make a difference in this exciting environment.

Working as part of our dedicated HR Operations area you will undertake a wide-ranging and important role carrying out several duties.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

The selected candidate will have the following main duties and responsibilities:

• administering the relocation and registration of new staff, liaising with the German Foreign Affairs Ministry;
• assisting with the onboarding of staff;
• processing benefit and allowance claims;
• monitoring staff absences;
• providing back-up for our payroll officer during their absence;
• coordinating and monitoring medical examinations;
• dealing with enquiries and ensuring that all individual HR records are kept up to date.

The above responsibilities are not exhaustive and a flexible approach and willingness to adapt to team needs is essential.

Role reports to:

Compensation and Benefits Team Leader.

Competences and Experience:

Proven and recent HR experience, ideally in an international environment or intergovernmental organisation is required.

The successful applicant for this position shall also possess the following:

Essential Competences and Experience

• Strong analytical skills with close attention to detail especially related to figure-work;
• Proficiency in MS Office applications (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint and especially Excel) and ERP systems;
• Excellent customer orientation and communication skills;
• Ability to work under pressure and independently with own areas of accountability;
• Strong team working and collaboration orientation;
• Discretion and integrity with ability to maintain strict confidentiality of sensitive information.

Desirable Competences and Experience

User experience of Oracle Fusion.

Qualifications:

Full secondary education. A diploma in the field of HR or equivalent professional training will be a strong advantage.

Language skills:

Our working language being English, an excellent command of the English language - oral, reading and writing - is essential. Liaison with the German Foreign Affairs Ministry and the need to be able to issue complex certificates locally requires in addition a very good working knowledge of German. Any further ESO Member State language knowledge would be helpful.

Remuneration and Contract:

We offer an attractive remuneration package including a competitive salary (free of income tax for applicants from ESO Member States), comprehensive pension scheme and medical, educational and other social benefits, as well as financial help in relocating your family and support to place your child/children in daycare.

Our Salary Structure

ESO’s salary structure is based upon a range of career paths which reflect the nature and level of our jobs. Each career path is made up of two or three grades which are used to further reflect experience.

Please follow this attached link for more details https://www.eso.org/public/jobs/conditions/intstaff/salary-structure/

ESO aims to support members of personnel in maintaining a good work-life balance (https://www.eso.org/public/jobs/conditions/intstaff/#work-life-balance) between their professional and private life. ESO is also committed to offering family-friendly support (https://www.eso.org/public/jobs/conditions/intstaff/#family-friendly-support), creating a work environment and policies which allow staff to balance their professional and private responsibilities through flexible working arrangements and financial support for families.

The contract is for a fixed term duration of three years and is subject to successful completion of the probation period. There may be a possibility of extension(s) subject to individual performance and organisational requirements, and as defined in the applicable policies and staff rules and regulations. For any further information, please visit ESO’s conditions of employment (https://www.eso.org/public/jobs/conditions/). Please note that the contract policy and in particular the regulations concerning fixed-term and indefinite contracts are currently under review which may lead to changes in the contractual conditions applicable to this position.

Duty Station:

Garching near Munich, Germany.

The role is based on-site at ESO and relocation to the duty station area is required. Staff at ESO benefit from a mobile working policy that allows for limited hybrid working for work-life balance purposes.

Career Path:

II

Application:

Deadline for applications is 25 November 2026.

Interviews are expected to start soon after this date.