Administrative Assistant to the Office for Science Chile

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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 the southern array of the Cherenkov Telescope Array, 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 Vitacura (Santiago, Chile), within the Directorate for Science ESO is advertising a local staff position of

Administrative Assistant to the Office for Science Chile

The Office for Science (OfS) in Chile supports all scientific research performed by ESO-Chile astronomers, together with all associated activities, such as conference/workshop organisation, visitor programmes, talk series, and scientific duty travel. The Science Administrative Assistant undertakes all the required administrative tasks to support the OfS in its management of ESO-Chile astronomers and their research. This includes providing daily support for students, fellows, staff, and science visitors, together with help in the organisation of conferences, colloquia, seminars, and talk series. The Science Assistant generally supports the Head of the OfS Chile and their deputy in the smooth running of the OfS.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

• Support the ESO-Chile Fellowship and Studentship programmes. This includes the support in the arrival and departure of postdoctoral fellows and students in collaboration with Human Resources (HR), and through coordination of their onboarding into the ESO-Vitacura science team. This includes daily support to students and fellows in all required administrative tasks, with significant effort on the organisation of their scientific duty travel;
• Administrative support to the Science Visitor Programmes which evaluates and selects visits from astronomers (students, postdocs, and professors) for visits between one and six months.
• Aid in the organisation of international conferences, 'mini workshops', schools, talk series, training events, held at the ESO-Vitacura premises (or externally). This includes e.g. organising budgetary requests, requesting and organising lunches and coffee breaks;
• Support Staff astronomers in all administrative tasks relating to their scientific research (scientific travel, administration of funds from different budgets, etc);
• Be the interface between the OfS and ESO-Chile Facility and IT department, on all matters relating to fellows, students and visitor office assignments and IT hardware support.
• Coordinate, process and settle travel requests for staff, fellows and students, for their scientific duty travel, in coordination with the in-house travel agencies and the logistics groups at the various sites;
• Provide support to all short-term visitors, and the science contact at ESO;
• Evaluate and control OfS budgets throughout the year, providing updates to the Head of the OfS in their usage;
• Support the Head and the Deputy of the Office for Science with their daily activites.

Reports to:

Head of OfS, Chile

While working within the OfS, the successful applicant is expected to work in close contact with:

• The HR Department;
• The logistics and facilities department
• The Director for Science;

Key Competences and Experience:

• Ability to balance conflicting demands and prioritise workload;
• Excellent organisational skills;
• Ability to provide clear, concise and timely oral and written communications to colleagues at all levels, including external contacts;
• Ability to work both on own initiative and within teams in an international and multicultural environment;
• Willingness to acquire new skills, keep up to date with the tools used in daily work;
• Strong interpersonal skills, discretion and diplomacy;
• Solid knowledge of Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).
• Experience in a similar position providing support to many individuals, preferably in an international scientific working environment;
• Adapt to new procedures and proactively identify and implement ways to optimise current processes and workflows;
• The ability to research, analyse, summarise, and present information in a clear and logical manner;
• Result-oriented, proactive, highly motivated and creative - delivering prompt and efficient service on multiple concurrent projects under tight deadlines.

Qualifications:

The successful candidate must have technical degree with specialization in administration or related field and have at least five years of relevant working experience. Robust IT skills are required, and experience with Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP or equivalent) are strongly desired.

The position requires fluency in both English and Spanish, both written and oral.

Remuneration and Contract:

We offer an attractive remuneration package including a competitive salary (tax free), 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

We offer an attractive remuneration package including a competitive salary and medical, educational and other social benefits, as well as financial help in relocating your family. ESO aims to support members of personnel in maintaining a good work-life balance via its flexible working and mobile working policies For any further information, please visit

The initial contract is for a period of two years with the possibility of an indefinite extension, subject to performance evaluation and operational needs. The title or grade may be subject to change according to qualifications and the number of years of experience of the selected candidate.

Duty Station:

Vitacura, Santiago, Chile

Application:

If you are interested in working in areas of frontline science and technology and in a stimulating international environment, please visit for further details.

Applicants are invited to apply online at . Applications must be completed in English and should include a motivation letter and CV. Within your CV, please provide the names and contact details of three persons familiar with your work and willing to provide a recommendation letter upon request. Referees will not be contacted without your prior consent.

The closing date for applications is 24 April 2026.

Interviews are expected to start soon after this date.

ESO Values

An important element in any successful employment relationship is harmony in values between an organisation and its people.

The ESO Values are:

ESO strives for excellence through innovation.

ESO provides outstanding services to its communities.

ESO fosters diversity & inclusion.

ESO believes in the key role of sustainability for its future.

Achieving the above are recognized as only possible on the basis of personal values and attitudes that we expect from our employees: respect, integrity, accountability, commitment, collaboration, and clear & open communication.

Applicants to any ESO role are asked to reflect on their affinity with these values and advised they may be asked about them if called for interview.

No nationality is excluded, however non-Chilean applicants must have a pertinent working permit, according to Chilean regulations, at the time of the application. The post is equally open to suitably qualified candidates irrespective of gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity or religion.