Position description
The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO) is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive ground-based astronomical observatory. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries.
ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in northern Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor (home to ALMA), and the ESO Headquarters are located in Garching, near Munich, Germany.
At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory, and will host and operate, on behalf of CTAO, the southern array of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO), the world's largest and most sensitive high energy gamma-ray observatory. ESO is a major partner in ALMA. On Cerro Armazones, ESO is building the 39-metre Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky" and whose operations will be fully integrated into the Paranal Observatory.
For its Office for Science in Garching within the Directorate for Science at its Headquarters in Garching, near Munich, Germany, ESO is advertising the position of Administrative Assistant Office for Science Garching.
The Office for Science (OfS) supports all scientists based at ESO Garching. The Administrative Assistant provides essential administrative support to the ESO Astronomy Faculty, Students, Fellows, and Visiting Scientists. Key responsibilities include organising colloquia, seminars, and talk series (including preparing and maintaining related information online) and providing general support to ensure the smooth and efficient operation of the OfS. The role also assists the Head of the Office for Science Garching and their Deputy in day-to-day activities.
Main Duties and Responsibilities:
- Provide administrative support to incoming and outgoing post-doctoral Fellows, Students, Interns, and Science Visitors, acting as their primary contact and coordinating their onboarding in collaboration with Human Resources (e.g., hardware, facilities, and essential information);
- Coordinate and process travel and accommodation arrangements for Fellows, Students, and designated DSC Staff Astronomers, liaising with the in-house travel agencies at headquarters and in Chile, as well as logistics groups across ESO sites;
- Support the Science Visitor Programme by preparing invitation letters, managing office space and hardware, welcoming visitors, maintaining relevant web pages, arranging monthly allowance payments, and overseeing the final settlement of expenses;
- Assist with the organisation and administration of short-term science visits and provide support to the designated science contact at ESO;
- Contribute to the planning and execution of events for Fellows, Students, and Visitors, including the IMPRS workshop, ORIGINS Excellence Cluster activities, and the Summer Research Programme;
- Provide administrative and organisational support for the various science talk series (e.g., Lunch Talks, Informal Discussions, Journal Clubs, Munich Joint Colloquia/JAC series), including coordination with organisers and assistance to invited speakers;
- Prepare budget reports, compile statistics on request, maintain and update a dedicated database of scientific personnel and visitors at ESO, update relevant web pages and documentation, and contribute input for routine reporting such as the Quarterl y Report and STC Report;
- Act as the back-up for the other Administrative Assistant within OfS as well as the Administrative Assistant for the Director for Science. Administrative Assistant;
- Work in close contact with the Human Resources Department, the Office for Science in Chile, the Director for Science office and with, or as part of, a group of Administrative Assistants for general administration across the Organisation.
The above responsibilities are not exhaustive, and a flexible approach and willingness to adapt to operational needs are required.
Reports to:
Head of Office for Science, Garching
Qualifications
Essential:
- Demonstrated professional experience (minimum three years) in a similar role providing structured administrative support to a diverse group and with a strong user-support background and service-oriented mindset;
- Demonstrated ability to effectively manage competing priorities and conflicting demands, applying a structured and proactive approach to workload planning and delivery;
- Apply logical and structured thinking to organise tasks, solve problems, and ensure accuracy and efficiency in administrative processes;
- Communicates information clearly, concisely, and in a timely manner, both orally and in writing, adapting style to a wide range of internal and external stakeholders;
- Demonstrates learning agility through a proactive approach to acquiring new skills and maintaining up-to-date knowledge of tools, systems, and ways of working;
- Proven ability to work autonomously while contributing effectively within a team, particularly in an international and multicultural environment;
- Build effective working relationships through strong interpersonal skills, demonstrating discretion, diplomacy, and the ability to handle sensitive information with confidentiality;
- Demonstrates strong digital literacy, with practical experience using standard office tools (e.g. Microsoft Office suite) to support administrative, organisational, and reporting activities.
Desirable:
- Experience providing administrative support to early-career professionals (e.g. Students, Fellows), preferably within an international, academic, or research environment;
- Demonstrates adaptability to new procedures and actively contributes to process improvements by identifying and implementing more efficient ways of working;
- Ability to research, analyse, synthesise, and present information in a clear, structured, and user-oriented manner;
- Demonstrates a results-oriented and proactive approach, managing multiple concurrent tasks and delivering high-quality outcomes under time constraints;
- Experience working with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems (e.g. Microsoft Dynamics or Oracle) to support administrative and financial processes;
- Experience using web content management systems (e.g. AEM) to maintain and update digital content.
Qualifications:
The successful candidate must have completed secondary school education. An administrative diploma is considered an asset.
Language skills:
The position requires fluency in English, both written and oral. Basic knowledge of German and Spanish would be an advantage.
Application instructions
Please be sure to indicate you saw this position on Globaljobs.org