About this job

Sapienza Consulting, a tpgroup company, is recruiting an Assistant Programme / Project Controller for Sapienza to work on our Customers Site (ESA-ESTEC).

Sapienza has been a partner of ESA for almost 30 years, and we pride ourselves in supporting a wide range of missions including Galileo, MTG, Copernicus and ExoMars. Our team is international with activities across the U.K., the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Responsibilities

The tasks cover general administrative support to the EO Research Mission area in the Earth Observation Projects Department, responsible for the Earth Explorers (EarthCare, Biomass, Flex, Forum, Harmony), Scout (CubeMap, HydroGNSS) and Earth Watch programmes such as Altius and Truths. The contractor will:

• Support the EO research Mission Programmes Manager in managing the afore-mentioned programmes;
• Prepare and assist in producing programmatic status reporting, as required;
• Support the development and maintenance of integrated planning of the programmes’ resources and calendars;
• Support the preparation and conduct of internal and external audits;
• Prepare minutes of internal management meetings, integrating various inputs, and maintain consolidated action item lists for the programmes, tracking actions so that they are discharged in coherence with the established procedures;
• Pro-actively manage the internal and external information tools (e.g. SharePoint, web pages, etc.) for internal and external communications at Programme level and for the Biomass and Harmony projects, including writing and editing of web pages, letters, etc.;
• Process all incoming and outgoing documentation and correspondence, including use of Documentation Management Systems (DMS), e.g. Eclipse, for registration and distribution;
• support the team for retrieval of documents from local DMS, DMS’s from external partners and/or industry, out of paper archives, other sources like ESTEC library, scanned documents on CD-ROM or via internet, etc.;
• Support the EO research Mission Programmes Manager and project controllers, as needed, in the preparation and administration of procurement actions;
• Support the configuration management processes at Programme level and for the Biomass and Harmony projects;
• Act as the focal point for all documentation / administrative tools (e.g. DMS, RID system, action item database, etc.) used at Programme level and for the Biomass and Harmony projects;
• Organise the calendars for the EO research Mission Programmes Manager, the Biomass and Harmony project managers;
• Coordinate and organise internal and external meetings and reviews, including room and resource booking;
• Prepare documentation and briefings for meetings, as appropriate;
• Manage the procurement of promotional items for the programmes;
• Manage incoming telephone calls and information requests;
• Prepare, coordinate and organise the travel requirements and mission claims for the EO research Mission Programmes Manager, the Biomass and Harmony project managers;
• Manage the timely ordering of office supplies.

Profile

• A university degree (Bachelor) or equivalent qualification with a minimum of 5 – 7 years of experience in administrative support, or other relevant experience, is required.
• Excellent inter-personal skills, e.g. communicating and interacting with individuals at all levels, and the capability of identifying priorities and handling high workload with a proactive approach to problem solving, are required.
• Excellent planning and organisational skills, as well as initiative and motivation to perform to high standards in a demanding environment, are required.
• The ability to work both autonomously and as part of a team within the boundaries of assigned tasks and a stringent schedule is required.
• An open multi-cultural attitude, while caring for accuracy on the job and trustworthiness, is required.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office packages (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc.) and video-conferencing / tele-working tools is also required, with the ability and interest to learn other applications and tools.
• Experience in an international organisation or multi-cultural working environment will be a key asset.
• Knowledge of ESA administrative and financial processes and experience with SAP and with ISO9001 certification projects is an asset.
• Fluent in English; knowledge of another ESA member-state language is an asset
• Candidates must be eligible to work in the EU