Listed on Orbital Diplomat 7 Jul 2026
ESA's Office of the Inspector General (DG-I) is the Agency's independent oversight and assurance function, mandated to strengthen the performance of ESA programmes and projects through technical and programmatic reviews, inquiry boards, and investigations. It serves as ESA's Independent Project Management Authority (IPMA) and operates across all directorates. This Governance and Business Operations Officer role reports to the Inspector General and the relevant Heads of Office, serving as the primary internal interface for all DG-I policy, process, and governance matters. The postholder will lead and optimise internal processes and policies aligned with ESA's strategic direction, coordinate the setup and delivery of corporate and programmatic reviews, represent DG-I in Agency-wide working groups and committees, and drive digital transformation initiatives including AI-enabled tools, dashboards, and performance monitoring systems. For space governance professionals with backgrounds in institutional management, process governance, or programme oversight at major space or intergovernmental organisations, this is a substantive role at the apex of ESA's internal accountability architecture. The post is 4 years, extendable to indefinite. ESA member state nationality required; 10 years of relevant professional experience required.
Master's degree in a relevant domain plus 10 years of relevant professional experience; or bachelor's degree plus 14 years of relevant experience Experience in business process management, document and configuration management, and facilitating digitalisation processes Proficient use of MS Office suite including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio, Project, Teams, PowerBI, and CoPilot Experience with document management systems including DCCM, blue-docs, and SharePoint/TeamSite Ability to communicate effectively at both managerial and operational level Ability to lead cross-directorate activities requiring collaboration across ESA Nationality of an ESA Member State required Good command of English or French (ESA working languages); additional Member State language an asset