Director of Operations
Description
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 for 2025 is 7.7 billion Euro with a workforce of about 6449 comprising staff and contractors.
You will report to the Director General and will be responsible for contributing to ESA-wide management as a member of the ESA Executive Board, supporting the Director General in his responsibilities in the pursuit of ESA’s overall objectives, fostering efficiency, and ensuring compliance with the applicable regulatory framework.
Furthermore, as Head of Establishment at ESOC, you will be responsible for relations with the administrative authorities of the host country, for on-site health, safety, environmental, and security provisions.
The Directorate of Operations has a workforce of around 600 staff and contractors spread across various sites in Europe, and an annual budget of about €400m.
Duties
In the framework of the ESA matrix organisation comprising programme directorates and support directorates, and under delegation from the Director General, you will be responsible for both a programme component and a support component. The support component entails the preparation and conduct of flight operations for the Agency’s missions and other missions assigned to the Directorate, and the management, engineering and operations of the corresponding ground segment elements during the complete mission life cycle.
In addition, the Directorate drives technology, innovation and standardisation in operations. You will be tasked with the implementation of an ESA-wide coherent approach to operations and ensure that the Agency and the related industrial ecosystem are at the forefront of space operations both within Europe and globally. Cost efficiency and the use of the latest technologies shall be key drivers in pursuit of these goals.
The programme component encompasses activities related to space safety and associated operational services. In this capacity, you will be ESA’s representative in the Space Situational Awareness Programme Board. You will also be responsible for the ESA-wide radio frequency management and coordination.
You will actively work to ensure the well-being, motivation, training and career progression of your Directorate workforce, incentivising a spirit of initiative, transparency, information flow and coordination with other directorates.
You will also be responsible for identifying, assessing, managing and reporting the health and safety risks in your area of responsibility.
Technical competencies
- In-depth knowledge of and experience in the space operations field, including close cooperation with partner organisations and industry
- More than 10 years’ experience in senior management positions at executive level and in the management of teams and programmes of significant size in terms of budget and human resources, preferably in an international context
- Proven experience in business management, e.g. ability to develop innovative strategies to increase operational efficiency, being open to disruptive innovation and new concepts and strategies
- Building strong relationships with key stakeholders to drive successful business outcomes
Behavioural competencies
- Forward Thinking
- Result Orientation
- Operational Efficiency
- Fostering Cooperation
- Relationship Management
- Continuous Improvement
For more information, please refer to theESA Core Behavioural Competencies guidebook
Education
Applicants for this post should have at least a master’s, preferably in a technical or scientific domain.
Additional requirements
Key qualities required for the post are an innovative spirit and a strategically oriented mind, a proven capacity to lead change and manage people and teams, excellent relationship management, negotiation skills and the ability to influence high-level decisions.
In addition, you should have:
- an excellent understanding of state-of-the-art operations concepts and their future evolution, including disruptive technologies, processes and tools;
- the ambition to reduce costs and increase efficiency while delivering top quality services;
- demonstrated excellent leadership, relationship management and communication skills;
- the ability to reach solution-oriented, pragmatic, timely decisions of a high standard and with integrity as well as to support others (team members, upper management, other stakeholders) in this process.
Technical competencies
- Experience in the design, development and testing of communication satellites and platforms
- Experience in managing and monitoring industrial work
- Experience in multi-agency cooperative projects
- Experience in risk management processes
- Knowledge of ESA Space system development and PA standards
Behavioural competencies
- Result Orientation
- Operational Efficiency
- Fostering Cooperation
- Relationship Management
- Continuous Improvement
- Forward Thinking
For more information, please refer toESA Core Behavioural Competencies guidebook
Education
A master’s degree in engineering or physics.
Additional requirements
- Strong problem-solving skills to deal with day-to-day operational challenges, together with demonstrated planning and organisational skills.
- Strong results orientation with the ability to set priorities and present practical solutions both orally and in writing.
- The ability to manage challenging situations proactively and constructively and to be customer focused.
- Direct experience of working with a commercial telecommunications company and operator will be a distinct advantage.
- Experience in public-private partnership projects would be an asset.
- Public speaking experience and the ability to conceptualise complex ideas would be beneficial.
- Experience working in projects with a security dimension would be beneficial.
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 atcontact.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.
Applicants must be eligible to access information, technology, and hardware which is subject to European or US export control and sanctions regulations & eligible to acquire the security clearance by their national security administrations.
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 are only considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Canada, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia.
According to theESA 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 fromunder-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.
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