Head of the Financial Operations Division

Lead the Financial Operations Division at the European Space Agency

The European Space Agency (ESA) is an international organisation dedicated to space exploration and scientific advancement. Our mission is to pioneer groundbreaking research, foster international collaboration, and unlock the mysteries of the universe.

Under the direct authority and supervision of the Head of the Finance, Planning and Controlling Department, you, as the Head of the Financial Operations Division, will be responsible for managing all ESA payments to suppliers, the Agency's accounts payable and related accounting processes, ensuring the IPSAS-compliance of all procurement actions, and the settlement of all staff and non-staff missions. In partnership with key counterparts, you will lead the development of related structures, policies, procedures, methods and supporting IT tools to ensure effective and efficient business performance aligned with Agency and Directorate goals.

Duties

Your tasks and responsibilities will include:

• analysing, validating and approving all Agency payments to suppliers; carrying-out related financial operations and related interactions with suppliers as needed; acting as focal point for all questions from industry regarding ESA payments (e.g. some 40,000 payment-related transactions for a total value of €7.2bn in 2024);
• ensuring that contracts/purchase orders are compliant with IPSAS and other financial requirements, interfacing with project controllers and contract officers as necessary (e.g. 5,000 procurement actions approved in 2024 for a total value of €8bn); coordinating contract closure campaigns;
• operating the accounts payable sub-system and its interfaces with the other elements of the financial applications, in compliance with the Agency's accounting policies, including maintaining related risk registers;
• managing the settlement of staff and non-staff travel claims in compliance with the ESA rules and travel policy (e.g. 25,000 travel claims settled in 2024 for a total cost of €35m);
• maintaining vendor master data;
• managing the Division’s teams across the four main sites of ESA (ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands, ESRIN, Frascati, Italy, ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany, and HQ, Paris, France), including managing outsourced services and ensuring the delivery of agreed KPls;
• contributing to the closure of the Agency's accounts as regards accounts payable by ensuring accounts clearing and reconciliation, as well as preparing notes to the Financial Statements; ensuring responses to all requests from auditors regarding accounts payable;
• leading, jointly with the Contracts Department, the evolution and operational implementation of the Agency's procure-to-pay policy and processes while identifying continuous improvement measures, including for the optimisation of payments and related approval processes;
• monitoring the overall performance of divisional services via KPls per area of activity;
• with the objective of improving overall business performance in alignment with Agency and Directorate goals, including digitalisation, proposing rules, procedures, methods and IT requirements; acting as focal point for all IT projects in the area of financial operations.

You will also be responsible for identifying, assessing, managing and reporting the health and safety risks in your area of responsibility.

Technical competencies

• Proven expertise in and excellent knowledge of financial accounting, accounts payable and related accounting standards (including IPSAS), as well as service management
• Current professional accounting certification (e.g. CIMA)
• Extensive experience of finance and controlling in industry or the international public sector (industrial, technical, scientific or international organisations)

Behavioural competencies

• Result Orientation
• Operational Efficiency
• Fostering Cooperation
• Relationship Management
• Continuous Improvement
• Forward Thinking

Education

A master's degree in finance, accounting or a related discipline is required for this post.

Additional requirements

• Proven experience in leading, motivating and developing a team of finance professionals in accounts payable, travel expense settlement and SAP tools is required, as is international experience, i.e. outside your home country, as well as experience in diverse functional areas relevant to ESA activities;
• The ability to provide strategic direction to the individuals and teams within the Division and to relate team objectives to the overall, evolving organisational goals and context;
• The ability to drive performance and foster cooperation within and across teams throughout the organisation;
• Demonstrated excellent leadership, stakeholder and relationship management, and communication skills, both oral and written;
• A proven track record of representing the Agency's interests to external interfaces;
• Excellent cognitive, analytical, delegation, planning and organisational skills;
• The ability to anticipate problems, solve complex issues and relate situations to their context;
• The ability to reach solution-oriented, pragmatic and timely decisions of a high standard and with integrity as well as to support others (team members, upper management and other stakeholders) in this process.
• Knowledge of the programmatic and legal framework of ESA would be an asset, as would expert-level knowledge of SAP platform and applications - including SAP4HANA and Concur.

In view of possible mobility or related opportunities, senior-level operational experience in other financial accounting domains (general accounting, cost accounting, asset accounting) would be an asset.

Mobility is inherent to management functions and this position may be subject to rotation. Therefore, mobility opportunities may be offered to you as part of your career evolution at ESA, starting after approximately five years in this role.

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

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, the United Kingdom and Canada, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia.

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 first be given to internal candidates and secondly 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.

*Member States, Associate Members or Cooperating States.