On behalf of the Earth Observation (EOP) Projects Department at ESTEC we are looking for: Project Control Support

Tasks and Responsibilities:

The candidate is required to assist the project controllers in a variety of tasks, including :

• Provide support in financial administration as well as assistance on financial and programmatic reporting on departmental and/or project level;
• Provide support with activities related to the Financial Reform – transition to SAP environment;
• Monitoring of assigned contracts with respect to cost, payments, contract changes deviations and trends. Preparation of management reports on these areas;
• Reviewing / checking of ESA internal expenditures such as re-charges, support services and purchases for consistency with Cost at Completion (CAC) of industrial contracts;
• Checking of commitments for consistency with budgets and ESA’s procedures;
• Handling of invoices;
• Administration of Purchase Orders and other internal procurement processes;
• Assist in the preparation of project audits –if/when required;
• Assist in the tracking of Geographical Return data for his/her assigned contracts;
• Support the project controllers in maintaining Financial or Procurement databases;
• Support the project controllers in the introduction of new management or financial procedures / tools.

The candidate is expected to become familiar with the Agency’s rules and regulations for tender actions, placing of contracts and the related monitoring, control and reporting on industrial contracts and ESA internal expenditures. He / she is also expected to become proficient in the use of the Agency’s internal informatics tools needed for the conduct of his/her tasks.

Project Control support contractors will be required to interface, amongst others, with colleagues in ESA’s Finance and Contracts Departments as well as with personnel in the European aerospace industry. Interfacing with staff from international institutions such as the European Union, EUMETSAT, etc may also take place depending on the specific Project to which the contractor will be assigned.

The Project Control Support reports to the Head of Project Control and Management Support Office. He / she will however be delegated to work on specific projects within the Earth Observation Directorate and provide direct support to EOP projects on tasks as assigned by the divisional Project Controllers.

Skills and experience:

• A fluent knowledge of the English language is required. Knowledge of another ESA’s member state language is an asset;
• Qualification in Finance/Accounting;
• Several years of experience of project control ;
• Highly proficient in modern planning and project control tools, budgets, office automation software and databases, such as MS office, Excel;
• Experience with SAP;
• Excellent planning and organisation skills and attention to detail;
• Good communication skills;
• Initiative and motivation to perform high standards in a demanding environment;
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with the outside world;
• Ability to work both autonomously and as part of a team within the boundaries of assigned tasks and a stringent schedule.

Starting date: 1 October 2009 or as soon as possible thereafter

An exciting international working environment in a highly innovative and motivated team awaits you!

HE Space Operations is a growing international human resources company specialised in the space market. We have been providing consultancy services in space engineering and business administration for over 25 years. We generally work directly on-site with our principal customers such as the European Space Agency and EADS Astrium.