ESA Graduate Trainee in ESA Academy Engagement Programme Coordination

Our team and mission

The ESA Academy is the agency’s overarching programme for university student space projects and training opportunities. Through a tailored transfer of space know-how and interaction with space professionals, the Academy takes students through a learning path that complements their academic education. The ESA Academy programme comprises of three main segments:

• An academic Training programme which offers individuals a portfolio of highly qualifying training sessions covering a wide range of space-related topics offered by professional experts;
• A Projects programme, allowing teams to design, build, test, and operate small satellites and payload experiments on space-related platforms, among others through the ESA Academy Experiments programme;
• An Engagement programme, providing students with funding opportunities, joint learning activities, and networking opportunities. It encompasses mechanisms to offer access to ESA expertise;

Specifically, ESA Academy Engagement is an initiative offering structured collaboration models both within ESA and externally to contribute together to the preparation of the future talents in terms of knowledge, skills, and competences, through joint opportunities for tertiary education students from ESA Member and Associate States.

The ESA Academy, as part of the ESA Education Office, operates in close cooperation with specialists from ESA and industry, academia, and other research organisations. ESA’s ESEC-Galaxia site in Belgium hosts several facilities tailored for the ESA Academy, including the CubeSat Support Facility, a cleanroom hosting integration and test equipment for CubeSats and experiments, and the Training and Learning Facility, a state-of-the-art training room also equipped to support Concurrent Engineering workshops.

Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeship

You will support the ESA Academy Engagement team in the management and coordination of the following opportunities for tertiary education students:

• The Conference Student Sponsorship programme facilitating the access to European conferences offering a space-related thematic by contributing to students' registration fee, travel, and accommodation costs.
• The Short Course Scholarship programme facilitating access to space-related short duration learning opportunities by contributing to students' registration fee, travel, and accommodation costs.
• The Academic Scholarship programme facilitating access to space-related academic programmes of higher education institutions by covering the tuition fees.
• The Collaboration programme offering partnership opportunities to organise joint learning activities like challenges and hackathons.
• The future SME Internship Support programme aiming at providing financial support to SMEs offering 3 to 6 months internships to higher education students and complement the existing ESA’s Student Internship programme.

In addition, you will contribute to the collaboration with ESA’s Human Resources and Communication Departments for:

• The Careers for You initiative, enabling ESA staff to raise space-career awareness and attend events and international conferences.
• The Book a Space Pro Programme helping external entities, like universities and student associations, to get in contact with ESA experts in support of different kinds of educational and inspirational initiatives.

In particular, you will:

• Support the calls for applications, the evaluation, and the selection processes for the different Engagement programmes.
• Liaise with event and course organisers and guide them throughout their participation in the programme.
• Contribute to the promotion of the Engagement activities on social media, the updates of Engagement digital media, and the preparation of web articles.
• Support the validation of the students to be awarded with an ESA Academy financial support and guide them through their participation in the programme.
• Coordinate the shipment of ESA goodies.
• Contribute to the management of the Engagement databases and upgrade of the programme documentation and web pages.
• Liaise with other ESA departments and with partner organisations (academia, industry, institutes) for the preparation, development, and delivery of joint learning activities.
• Assist the expansion of the Book a Space Pro programme and interface with ESA experts and external entities.
• Contribute to the implementation of the future SME Internship Support programme.
• Support the design, development, and delivery of activities and resources to raise space-career awareness and to disseminate career information within Europe.
• Support the development of the ESA Academy representatives’ community.
• Contribute to the ESA Academy outreach activities.

You will also be involved in additional technical and managerial tasks to further develop the programme. As EGT you may also contribute to other activities of the ESA Academy, as required.

Technical competencies

Knowledge of relevant technical/functional domains

Relevant experience gained during internships, project work and/or extracurricular or other activities

General knowledge of the space sector and relevant activities

Knowledge of ESA and its programmes/projects

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation

Operational Efficiency

Fostering Cooperation

Relationship Management

Continuous Improvement

Forward Thinking

Education

You should have just completed, or be in the final year of your master’s degree.

Additional requirements

You should have good interpersonal and communication skills and should be able to work in a multicultural environment, both independently and as part of a team. Previous experience of working in international teams can be considered an asset. Your motivation, overall professional perspective, and career goals will also be explored during the later stages of the selection process.

Applicants should be able to demonstrate excellent organisational skills, the ability to follow multiple concurrent activities, and a proactive approach to programme coordination. Experience in international relations and stakeholders’ management is an asset.

Noting the location of this traineeship, it is recommended that you have access to a car for the duration of the appointment.

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 at contact.human.resources@esa.int.

Important Information and Disclaimer
Applicants must be eligible to access information, technology, and hardware which is subject to European or US export control and sanctions regulations & 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.

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 can only be 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, and the United Kingdom. Nationals from Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia as Associate Member States, or Canada as a Cooperating State, can apply as well as those from Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, and Malta as European Cooperating States (ECS).

According to the ESA 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 be given to external candidates from under-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.