Administrative Assistant Office for Science Garching

Location and Salary

Garching, BY, Germany – salary €3,000 to €6,000 per month.

Reports To

Head of Office for Science, Garching.

Main Duties & 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 Quarterly 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.
• 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.

Essential – Key Competences and Experience

• 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

Fluency in English, written and oral; basic knowledge of German and Spanish would be an advantage.

Remuneration and Contract

We offer an attractive remuneration package including a competitive salary (free of income tax for applicants from ESO member states), a comprehensive pension scheme and medical, educational and other social benefits, as well as financial help in relocating your family and support to place your child/children in daycare.

Our salary structure is based upon a range of career paths which reflect the nature and level of our jobs. Each career path is made up of two or three grades which are used to further reflect experience. Please follow this attached link for more details

ESO aims to support members of personnel in maintaining a good work‑life balance between their professional and private life. ESO is also committed to offering family‑friendly support creating a work environment and policies which allow staff to balance their professional and private responsibilities through flexible working arrangements and financial support for families.

The contract is for a fixed‑term duration of three years and is subject to successful completion of the probation period. There may be a possibility of extension(s) subject to individual performance and organisational requirements, and as defined in the applicable policies and staff rules and regulations. For any further information, please visit ESO's conditions of employment Please note that the contract policy and in particular the regulations concerning fixed‑term and indefinite contracts are currently under review which may lead to changes in the contractual conditions applicable to this position.

Duty Station

Garching near Munich, Germany.

Career Path

II