VN 25/56 Secretary / Administrative Assistant
It is an exciting time to be working at EUMETSAT. As an organisation we are operating a fleet of satellites delivering weather and climate-related satellite data and images to our users worldwide, helping protect lives, property and industries. However, you do not need to be an engineer or a scientist to make a positive contribution. Our colleagues in administrative roles play an equally important role in the success of the EUMESAT programmes and are valued members of the EUMETSAT family.
The mission of the Programme Preparation and Development Department (PRD) is to design and establish cost effective operational end-to-end satellite systems meeting agreed user requirements, taking into account existing assets and relevant evolutions of technologies and technical concepts. The holder of this post provides administrative and secretarial support within the Secretariat of the Director of Programme Preparation and Development (D/PRD) and reports to the Personal Assistant to the Director of the Department.
Duties
- Dealing with administrative enquiries from EUMETSAT staff regarding departmental activities;
- Supporting the preparation of team events, internal, external and international meetings, involving administrative arrangements, booking of locations / rooms, preparation and distribution of documents, arranging catering for in-house meetings;
- Carrying out standard secretarial tasks such as copying, typing, filing, registering incoming and outgoing correspondence in the EUMETSAT Documentation Management System, dealing with incoming and outgoing e-mails, scheduling appointments and following up on actions;
- Preparing international and routine correspondence, i.e. letters, memos and documents;
- Acting as departmental Document Management Responsible (DMR) for document preparation and handling (e.g. in the context of Delegate Body Meetings);
- Dealing with travel arrangements for staff members of the PRD Department;
- Setting up new starter IT accounts and supporting the on-boarding process;
- Dealing with internal and external telephone enquiries and with administrative enquiries from other Divisions/Departments;
- Supporting the monitoring of PRD related budget articles (e.g. mission costs, etc.) as required;
- Updating information and improving the quality of the PRD departmental Atlassian Confluence and intranet pages;
- Act as deputy for D/PRD PA during absence.
LOCATION Darmstadt, Germany
QUALIFICATIONS
A full secondary education is required, preferably with a secretarial or office administration qualification.
LANGUAGES
The official languages of EUMETSAT are English and French. Candidates must be able to work effectively in English and have some knowledge of French.
DEADLINE
22 October 2025
Duties
- Dealing with administrative enquiries from EUMETSAT staff regarding departmental activities;
- Supporting the preparation of team events, internal, external and international meetings, involving administrative arrangements, booking of locations / rooms, preparation and distribution of documents, arranging catering for in-house meetings;
- Carrying out standard secretarial tasks such as copying, typing, filing, registering incoming and outgoing correspondence in the EUMETSAT Documentation Management System, dealing with incoming and outgoing e-mails, scheduling appointments and following up on actions;
- Preparing international and routine correspondence, i.e. letters, memos and documents;
- Acting as departmental Document Management Responsible (DMR) for document preparation and handling (e.g. in the context of Delegate Body Meetings);
- Dealing with travel arrangements for staff members of the PRD Department;
- Setting up new starter IT accounts and supporting the on-boarding process;
- Dealing with internal and external telephone enquiries and with administrative enquiries from other Divisions/Departments;
- Supporting the monitoring of PRD related budget articles (e.g. mission costs, etc.) as required;
- Updating information and improving the quality of the PRD departmental Atlassian Confluence and intranet pages;
- Act as deputy for D/PRD PA during absence.
Skills and Experience
- Proven secretarial and administrative experience in a multi-lingual environment;
- Proven ability to work autonomously, to plan, self-organise and deliver high quality outputs within deadlines, even in stressful situations;
- Proficient practice of office software suites (i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook), and experience of a document management system, a collaboration tool (such as Atlassian Confluence or similar) and an ERP system, preferably SAP, with ability to adapt to new tools;
- Excellent typing and PC skills;
- Excellent interpersonal, communication and team-working skills with a strong customer-oriented mindset and ability to interact effectively at all levels with tact and diplomacy.
Employment Conditions
The initial contract will be of 4 yearsโ duration, with subsequent 5 year contracts being awarded thereafter, subject to individual performance and organisation requirements. There is no limit to the amount of follow-up contracts a staff member can receive up to the EUMETSAT retirement age of 63 and there are certainly opportunities to establish a long career perspective at EUMETSAT.
This post is graded B2/B4 on the EUMETSAT salary scales. The minimum basic salary for this post is EURO 4301 per month (net of internal tax but excluding pension contribution and insurances) which may be negotiable on the basis of skills and experience. The salary scale provides for increments on the anniversary of taking up employment, and scales are reviewed by the EUMETSAT Council with effect from 1 January each year. In addition to basic salary, EUMETSAT offers attractive benefits. Further information, including salary details, is available on the EUMETSAT web site.
EUMETSAT is committed to providing an equal opportunities work environment for men and women.
Please note that only nationals of EUMETSAT Member States may apply. The EUMETSAT Convention requires that Staff shall be recruited on the basis of their qualifications, account being taken of the international character of EUMETSAT.About EUMETSAT
EUMETSAT is Europeโs meteorological satellite agency. Its 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 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 has 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.)