Pay system, contracts & programmes

How pay and appointments work at ESA.

Co-ordinated Organizations system

European and Co-ordinated Organizations operate their own harmonized salary and benefits system, separate from the UN common system. How Co-ordinated Organisation pay works ›

All contract types

Salary & benefits at ESA

ESA publishes what a grade actually pays after deductions, not before: every figure below is the net monthly salary once internal tax, social security and pension have come off, for someone at the first step of the grade. ESA salaries are exempt from national income tax in member states. Most ESA vacancies advertise a band rather than a single grade — A2 to A4 is the common one — and where a candidate lands inside it follows years of relevant experience after a master's degree.

ESA grades 17 grades · 8 countries · published net, per month · effective 1 Jan 2026 · source

Salary estimator What does a grade actually pay? Pick a grade and duty station in the estimator, or jump straight to a grade below.

Open the ESA salary estimator

G2 G3 G4 G5 G6 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7

ESA employs no G-grade staff in the United States, so those cells are empty rather than filled from another country. Staff receive twelve months' salary a year — there is no thirteenth month — so the annual figure is simply twelve times the number shown.

What comes with the salary

A published figure at ESA is neither take-home nor total package. These are the terms that sit around it.

Added on top of salary Paid in addition to the published figure, where the conditions are met.

Expatriation allowance conditional Paid to staff recruited from outside the host country, assessed at recruitment and reviewed as personal circumstances change. Conditions and rates are set by each organisation.
Family and dependants' allowances conditional Household and dependent-child allowances, paid per month and per dependant irrespective of grade.
Education allowance conditional Towards the schooling of dependent children, up to ceilings the Co-ordinated Organisations review jointly on a three-year cycle.

Taken off the salary Deducted before anything reaches an account — the reason a published figure is not take-home.

Internal tax Deducted before the published figure — ESA's tables are already net of internal tax, social security and pension. Salaries are exempt from national income tax in member states under Annex 1 of the ESA Convention.
Pension contribution A percentage of salary, deducted at source, under the pension scheme rules the Co-ordinated Organisations agree jointly and administer through the ISRP.
Social security contribution Towards the organisation's own scheme rather than the host country's.

Pension & protection What accrues, and what covers a staff member and their family.

Pension scheme A defined-benefit scheme under jointly agreed rules. Several of the six now run more than one scheme in parallel, with newer staff on later terms.
Health and social cover Health insurance for staff and generally their family, through the organisation's own social security arrangements.
Post adjustment not provided There is none. Location is handled by publishing a different scale for each country, not by a multiplier on a single global base — the opposite of the UN common system.
Thirteenth-month payment not provided There is none: ESA staff receive twelve months' salary per calendar year, so the annual figure is simply twelve times the monthly one.

Terms are the employer’s own and can change; the governing staff regulations prevail over anything summarised here. Amounts quoted are the figures in the published document at the time of writing and are reviewed periodically.

Everything above is drawn from published documents. Is this your organization? Add your own benefits and what you offer — it appears on this page under your name.

About ESA

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1,001-5,000 employees employees
Founded 1975
European and Co-ordinated Organizations

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