Personal Assistant to the Director of Programme Preparation and Development Department

EUMETSAT is an intergovernmental organisation based in Darmstadt, Germany. Our vision is to be the leading user-driven operational agency in Europe and a trusted global partner for weather and Earth system monitoring from space. All data provided by our state-of-the-art satellites systems are making a tangible difference in people’s lives and contribute to the thriving European economy. 

The Personal Assistant gives secretarial and administrative support to the Director of Programme Preparation and Development Department (D/PRD), coordinates secretarial support throughout the Department and is responsible for the organisation of EUMETSAT Delegate Body meetings and other international meetings.

The Programme Preparation and Development Department (PRD) manages current and next-generation mandatory programmes in various phases of development in addition to other activities. This include the EUMETSAT Polar System Second Generation (EPS-SG), Meteosat Third Generation (MTG), current and future Ocean Altimetry and Copernicus Sentinel Missions and a constellation of small satellites, EPS-Sterna.

What you’ll be doing

• Manage the Office of the Director of Programme Preparation and Development(D/PRD) and coordinate shared and temporary secretarial support arrangements across the department;
• Provide personal assistance to D/PRD and the coordination with the rest of the Management Board in liaison with the offices of the Director-General and other Directors, including: Filtering external and internal solicitations; Managing his/her schedule and appointments; Monitoring and supporting the fulfilment of his/her actions; Preparation of missions.
• Support the Project Management Office (PMO) and selected functions of New Programmes and Services (NPS);
• Conduct and manage assigned activities in support of D/PRD;
• Manage the documentation utilising the EUMETSAT information management tools;
• Monitor and control of relevant budgetary commitments and contributing as necessary to future budget planning, as well as initiating and managing relevant procurements;
• Coordinate departmental inputs to the Management Board Meetings, report on Organisational and PRD objectives, Director-General’s reports to Delegate Bodies;
• Organise international meetings and conferences as required, in particular Scientific & Technical Group (STG) and Joint Scientific & Technical Group / Administration & Finance Group (STG/AFG) meetings, including: Provision of timely documentation in both official languages; Procurement of interpretation services; Organising travel and practical arrangements for chairpersons and translators, and social events; Coordination of List of Decisions and Minutes;

Liaising with Delegations and Group Chairs between meetings regarding procedural and administrative matters;

• Review the management of the office on a regular basis and proposing improvements as appropriate, updating the Working Practices for the PRD Secretariat and the Preparation of STG and Joint STG-AFG Meetings.

What we offer

• Excellent salary, of up to Euro 6000 NET (after income tax) based on skills and experience
• Flexible working time including additional flexi-leave
• Full medical coverage for employee and family
• Attractive pension
• 30 days of annual leave + 14.5 days public holidays
• Training and development support
• Relocation allowance and support (if applicable)

Requirements

Qualifications

A full secondary education and/or secretarial education or equivalent professional qualification is required.

Skills and Experience

• Proven secretarial and administrative experience in a senior executive office in a multi-lingual and complex environment, including drafting of correspondence and minutes of meetings in English;
• Experience in organising large or complex meetings or other events with senior international participants;
• Experience of managing budgets and conducting procurements for the office;
• Autonomy and proven ability to plan and self-organize and to deliver high quality outputs within deadlines, even in stressful situations, while maintaining a service-orientation;
• Experience of people management and/or task coordination would be advantageous;
• Strong analytical and synthesis skills;
• Proficient practice of office software suites (i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook), and experience of a document/information management system and an ERP, preferably SAP, with ability to adapt to new tools;
• Very good communication and team-working skills with ability to interact effectively at all levels of the organisation with tact and diplomacy.

Languages

Candidates must be able to work effectively in English. Knowledge of German is an advantage.

APPLICATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED IN ENGLISH. WE WILL BE UNABLE TO CONSIDER APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED IN OTHER LANGUAGES.

EUMETSAT is an international organisation employing staff from across all 30 member states and this role is being advertised on multiple international job boards, but please note that this role would be based in Darmstadt, Germany and would require international applicants to relocate if successful.

More about us

EUMETSAT’s role is to establish and operate meteorological satellites to monitor the weather and climate from space – 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This information is supplied to the National Meteorological Services of the organisation’s Member and Cooperating States in Europe, as well as other users worldwide. 

EUMETSAT also operates several Copernicus missions on behalf of the European Union and provide data services to the Copernicus marine and atmospheric services and their users. 

As an intergovernmental European Organisation, EUMETSAT can recruit nationals only from the 30 Member States (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom).