Personal Assistant/Unit Administrator

European Molecular Biology Laboratory; Heidelberg; On-site; EUR 43,000 - 46,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working arrangements

Private medical insurance

30 days annual leave

Relocation package

Job summary

The European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg seeks a Personal Assistant & Unit Administrator to provide high-level administrative support to the Director of Core Facilities and Scientific Services, heads of facilities and the 80-strong unit. You will manage calendars, prepare materials, coordinate meetings and events, and handle travel and reimbursements.

Ideal candidates have excellent secretarial and organisational skills, fluency in English with good German, strong office software

Qualifications

• Excellent secretarial, administrative and organisational skills with high discretion and confidentiality.
• Attention to detail and ability to manage multiple priorities in an international setting.
• Fluency in English with good German; strong interpersonal and team-working skills.
• Proven ability to work with minimal supervision and to anticipate needs.

Responsibilities

• Manage the Director’s calendar, meetings and appointments with complex scheduling.
• Prepare meeting agendas, briefing materials and minutes; follow up on actions.
• Coordinate internal/external meetings, visits and events; arrange multi-person participation.
• Organise unit-related events and travel; assist with recruitment logistics.
• Oversee unit administration; draft announcements; approve invoices and purchases.

Skills

Secretarial skills

Administrative

Organisational

Discretion

Intercultural competence

Office software

Education

Secretarial training

Tools

MS Office

Job description

Your role

You will work closely with the Director of Scientific Core Facilities and Scientific Services and the Unit's Administrative Assistant to support all organisational and administrative aspects of the department. You will provide administrative support to the Director of Scientific Core Facilities and Scientific Services, all Heads of Core Facilities and Scientific Services and the entire Unit consisting of roughly 80 staff.

The Personal Assistant & Unit Administrator provides high-level administrative and organisational support to the Director of Core Facilities and Scientific Services, as well as broad administrative support to the Unit. As the successful candidate, you will act as a key point of contact for the Director and the Unit, requiring excellent organisational skills, discretion, accuracy and the ability to manage multiple priorities in an international environment.

As assistant to the Director of Scientific Core Facilities and Scientific Services, provide administrative support in the following key responsibilities:

• Managing the Director’s calendar, meetings and appointments, including complex and time-sensitive scheduling,
• preparing meeting agendas, briefing materials and minutes, and following up on actions as required,
• coordinating internal and external meetings, visits and events, and
• acting as a trusted point of contact for internal and external stakeholders.
• Organising multi-participants, Unit-related events such as Heads of Core Facilities and Unit Retreats
• Collating annual users metrics, and creating user statistics for presentations and wider documentation
• Assisting with logistical and scheduling arrangements for new recruitments

In addition, providing administrative support to the Heads of Core Facilities and the Unit:

• Overseeing the Unit Administration
• Drafting and managing of Core Facilities communications announcements to staff
• Approve invoices and purchases for payment/ordering
• Booking and processing Unit-staff travel, shipments and reimbursements

The Unit Administrator acts as the focal point of the Unit and provides secretarial support and assistance wherever required.

You have

The post requires excellent secretarial, administrative and organisational skills, discretion and respect of confidentiality, attention to detail while being able to complete multiple parallel tasks. lntercultural competences and a highly service oriented mindset are a must.

As our ideal candidate, you will have relevant education, training and work experience, preferably in a fast-paced international or scientific environment. In addition to fluency in written and spoken English, a good working knowledge of German is highly desirable. Strong skills in commonly used office software are required. Excellent interpersonal skills are essential, as well as being able to perform under minimal supervision with a demonstrated track record for working well in a team environment. The chosen candidate will be a highly motivated self-starter with outstanding problem-solving skills, able to proactively anticipate needs as they occur.

Contract duration: 3 years (renewable up to 9 in total)

Salary: 4 or 5; Monthly salary from EUR 3.812,27 or EUR 4.147,92 after tax, plus generous benefits and financial allowances based on individual circumstances. Excluding 12.99% personal pension and insurance contributions.

Why join us

EMBL is curiosity-driven, community-oriented and international. As an inclusive, equal opportunity employer, we believe that diversity enables us to collaborate more effectively and be innovative in our approaches. We are, therefore, committed to creating an inclusive and flexible culture - one where everyone can realise their full potential and make a positive contribution to our organisation.

We encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing team – we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and personal experiences reflect the diversity of the populations that our science serves. We actively encourage applications from all genders and cultures, ethnic groups and all demographics to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights at this transformational point in our people strategy.

Enjoy lots of benefits

• Financial incentives: Salary free of income tax, Monthly family, child and non-resident allowances, annual salary review, pension scheme, death benefit, long-term care, accident-at-work and unemployment insurances
• Flexible working arrangements
• Private medical insurance for you and your immediate family (including all prescriptions and generous dental & optical cover)
• Generous time off: 30 days annual leave per year, in addition to public holidays
• Relocation package including installation grant (if applicable)
• Campus life: Free shuttle bus (Heidelberg), library, subsidised on-site cafeteria, casual dress code, extensive sports and social club activities (on campus and remotely)
• Family benefits: Kindergarten (Heidelberg), 10 days of child sick leave, generous paid maternity/parental leave and monthly family & child allowances
• Benefits for international newcomers: Visa exemption, education grant for private schooling, financial support to travel back to your home country every second year and a monthly non-resident allowance.
• For detailed information please visit our employee benefits page here

What else you need to know

• International applicants: We recruit internationally and successful candidates are offered visa exemptions. Visit our International Applicants page, to find out more.
• EMBL is a signatory of DORA. Find out how we apply DORA principles to our recruitment and performance assessment processes here.
• Diversity and inclusion: At EMBL, we believe that diverse teams drive innovation and scientific excellence. We encourage applications from candidates of all genders, identities, nationalities and/or any other diverse backgrounds.

Closing Date

02/11/2026