Our team and mission

This position is based at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) – Darmstadt, Germany

The Contracts Department is part of the Directorate of Commercialisation, Industry and Competitiveness. It is responsible for defining contracting (procurement and partnership) policies, supporting the implementation of the Agency’s industrial policy through ESA’s contractual activities and the execution of all procurement actions in accordance with the applicable ESA framework, in close cooperation with the initiators/project managers.

In particular, the Department is in charge of:

• defining and ensuring the coherent implementation of the Agency’s contracting policies, methods and procedures in coordination with the Legal Department, including the designing of contractual tools towards accelerated procurement process and commercialisation
• defining and maintaining the necessary processes including defining IT system requirements in support of the optimal implementation of the Agency’s contracting activities, in coordination with the Information Technology Department preparing and implementing the contractual aspects of all contracting activities for ESA and Third Parties (in particular EU delegated programmes) including contract negotiations and management
• implementing the Agency’s industrial policy through its contracting activities in close coordination with the Industrial Policy and Audits Department and initiating Directorates
• acting as the focal point for contacts with the ESA Industrial Ombudsperson
• coordinating procurement policies with Member States and external bodies
• defining, establishing and implementing a coherent contractual approach for manpower support contracts for all ESA establishments, in cooperation with the Human Resources Department and user Directorates
• implementing in close cooperation with the relevant Directorates, proposal preparation and contractual aspects of third-party activities concerning the sale or loan of equipment, satellite systems, products and services to third parties.

The internship will be in the Mission Operations & Ground Segment Engineering Contracts Service (CIC-COM) that is part of the Operations and Ground Segment Contracts Division (CIC-CO).

Candidates interested are encouraged to visit the ESA website: http://www.esa.int

Field(s) of activity for the internship

Topic of the internship: Support to Contracts Preparation and Management for Space Safety, Ground Segment and Space Operations

You will have the chance to familiarise yourself with the ESA legal Framework, the ESA procurement rules and procedures as well as the ESA contract conditions.

In addition, the internship will allow you to get “hands on” practical experience in the day-to-day work of an ESA Contracts Officer. The intern will be involved in Space Procurements and will be assigned tasks as for example:

• legal research related to specific procurement and contract related issues and development of solutions within the applicable rules;
• assistance in the elaboration of Procurement Strategies as well as assistance in the drafting of Invitation to Tenders/ Requests for Quotations, Calls for Proposals etc;
• preparation of contracts negotiations as well as assistance in the finalization of said contracts;
• support in the management of contracts execution (including contractual amendments).

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

Applicants should be in their final or second-to-last year of a university or equivalent institution course in law at Masters level (or equivalent), and need to remain enrolled at the university/institution for the entire duration of the internship.

Additional requirements

The working languages of the Agency are English and French. A good knowledge of one of these is required. Knowledge of another Member State language would be an asset.