Head of the Analysis Centre Control & Support Services Unit

Description

Head of the Analysis Centre Control and Support Services Unit in the Business Control and Programme Management Support Office in the Directorate of Connectivity and Secure Communications.

The Directorate of Connectivity and Secure Communications (CSC) is responsible for coordinating, shaping and supporting innovation in satellite telecommunications, and for promoting applications that involve the combined use of space-based systems. By facilitating research and development activities and by forging industrial partnerships, the Directorate contributes to the development of the European and Canadian satellite communications industries by helping them produce advanced technologies and concepts to develop world-class products and services. The Directorate also plays an investment role by supporting public-private partnerships contributing to the development and deployment of new satellite systems that enable the demonstration and validation of future services.
You will report to the Head of the Business Control and Programme Management Support Office. This Office is responsible for the running of the overall controlling function within the Directorate and provides overall support to the Director in managing the Directorate and its departments to ensure the coherent and effective implementation of its core activities.

Duties

Your responsibilities will include:

• preparing, consolidating, implementing and controlling the Directorate’s cost centre, ensuring cost-efficient implementation with a stable in-year workforce rate versus the plan;
• preparing, consolidating, implementing and controlling the Directorate’s workforce plan for staff and contractors, including Service Level Agreements with workforce matrix providers, ensuring the staff complement is adhered to;
• providing the Head of Office with everything required to ensure that informed management decisions can be taken and efficiently implemented;
• coordinating and controlling the Directorate's workforce timesheets and facilities utilisation data;
• managing the Directorate’s Service Level Agreement with Corporate Services for IT and FM services;
• defining and maintaining the Directorate’s cost and fund centre structures and the related business data in ESA’s corporate tools, in particular SAP, and in any supporting Directorate tools;
• taking appropriate preventive and corrective measures, in coordination with the Head of Office, to ensure the integrity of the Directorate’s resource plans and financial/cost accounting statements, in accordance with ESA policies and IPSAS rules;
• acting as Technical Officer for the procurement of contractor manpower and services at ESTEC and ECSAT;
• coordinating, controlling and reporting on the cost resulting from the external workforce, making an active contribution to identifying improvements in the current cost allocation;
• supporting, as point of contact for the Directorate, the deployment, utilisation and evolution of corporate information systems, representing the Directorate at ESA-relevant forums and working groups;
• providing and maintaining state-of-the-art proprietary and Directorate-specific management information systems and supporting the implementation of and the data interface with corporate systems, as applicable;
• managing, in the most efficient manner, the technical and cost evolution of any Directorate-specific IT tools;
• coordinating interim and year-end closure activities, and managing and developing specific esa-p support within the Directorate;
• coordinating the deployment of ESA risk management tools in the Directorate and supporting the Directorate’s risk management process, the related risk reporting and the monitoring of mitigation actions;
• consolidating the Directorate’s input for corporate risk reporting;
• ensuring efficient use of EROS data to provide internal and external reporting in a coherent and configured manner, ensuring that a consistent and streamlined methodology is applied in the Directorate, that trends and deviations can be monitored, and that action can be taken as required;
• acting as the focal point and assuming responsibility for office allocation for the accommodation of the Directorate’s workforce across the various sites;
• contributing to and suggesting improvements to operate an effective and efficient controlling framework in the Directorate and in ESA in general.

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

Technical competencies

Behavioural competencies

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

For more information, please refer to ESA Core Behavioural Competencies guidebook

Education and professional experience

A master’s degree in business administration or engineering is required for this post.

Additional requirements

You should have a good knowledge of the management and controlling-related systems and tools used in the Agency plus a sound knowledge of esa-p. You should have proven experience in the area of controlling, with good knowledge of budgeting and financial processes. A background in IT would be an advantage, as would the demonstration of a good understanding of CSC activities.
You should have:

• the potential to manage individuals or a team functionally or hierarchically;
• the ability to organise their activities and ensure a motivating work environment;
• strong leadership capabilities, with proven relationship management and communication skills;
• the ability to drive your team’s performance, developing your people by encouraging learning, delegating responsibility and giving regular and constructive feedback;
• strong problem-solving skills to deal with day-to-day operational challenges, together with demonstrated planning and organisational skills;
• strong results orientation with the ability to set priorities and present practical solutions both orally and in writing;
• the ability to manage challenging situations proactively and constructively and to be customer-focused.

Previous people management experience would be an asset.