Junior Professional in Business Process Automation and Optimisation
Noordwijk, NL Paris, FR
This post is part of ESA’s Junior Professional Programme. We are looking for enthusiastic candidates with up to 3 years of relevant professional experience after their Master's degree to join ESA for a four-year assignment. During this time, you will be actively working and learning on the job and will benefit from valuable mobility and developmental opportunities that will prepare you for a successful career at ESA. Subject to performance, it is therefore the intention to offer you an indefinite contract which will start at the end of the four years.
Recruitment will take place at the A1 grade on the Coordinated Organisations’ salary scale. At the end of the fourth year and if you are offered an indefinite contract at the end of your Junior Professional assignment, you will be upgraded to the A2 grade.
Location
ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands or other site, as required.
Developmental assignments form an integral part of the Junior Professional Programme and may entail a temporary relocation to another ESA establishment or other location.
Description
The CFO Directorate plays a central role in the implementation of the projects subscribed at the ESA Ministerial Council in November 2025 and it will drive a more integrated and responsive approach to financial planning and controlling, budget monitoring, procurement and industrial policy.
The CFO Strategy and Coordination Office is responsible for supporting cross-functional coordination and process review activities across the Directorate, promoting efficiency, modernisation and coherent approaches to data, performance monitoring and business processes. By working across finance, controlling, procurement and industrial policy functions, the office contributes to strengthening collaboration and supporting continuous improvement initiatives across ESA operations.
Within this context, the role will contribute to assessing existing business processes and identifying opportunities for optimisation and simplification. Particular focus will be placed on reducing manual activities and exploring the use of emerging technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, automation tools and digital solutions to support process streamlining and improve decision-making. The role will work closely with business stakeholders and technical teams to help identify, prototype and support innovative solutions contributing to a more efficient and data-driven way of working.
Duties
Your tasks and responsibilities will include:
- Investigating use cases for AI in the CFO Directorate (in the areas of procurement, finance, controlling and industrial policy), both in retrospective reporting (i.e. what has happened) as well as predictive control (i.e. what is likely to happen), and supporting the implementation of potential solutions.
- Contribute to exploratory projects involving machine learning models, Artificial Intelligence and automation tools, supporting use cases such as predictive analytics, data classification, process automation and AI-assisted decision support, as needed:
- Support the assessment and analysis of existing business processes across CFO areas and identify opportunities for simplification, automation and efficiency gains.
- Help gather, analyse and document requirements from business stakeholders and contribute to translating business needs into potential technical solutions.
- Analyse structured and unstructured data to extract actionable insights and support process improvement initiatives.
- Contribute to the design, prototyping and testing of AI-enabled solutions and digital assistants (e.g. AI agents, workflow automation tools, predictive, classification or optimisation models).
- Explore and evaluate emerging AI technologies and identify potential applications within CFO business areas.
- Collaborate with domain experts, data engineers and software developers to support the implementation and adoption of innovative solutions.
- Perform data analysis activities to validate data accuracy, identify trends and support business process improvement initiatives.
- Assist in troubleshooting technical issues, resolving data discrepancies and addressing process or data flow bottlenecks.
- Support the assessment of opportunities arising from ongoing corporate evolutions and transformation initiatives (e.g. S/4HANA migration and ongoing developments in finance and procurement areas), ensuring alignment with future business processes and systems.
- Assist in the identification and resolution of data quality and process-related issues.
- Contribute to ensuring that AI-enabled solutions follow good practices related to security, explainability and responsible use principles.
- Stay up to date with the latest advances in AI, machine learning and automation technologies.
- Contribute to the automation and optimisation of reporting and business processes:
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- Support the integration of data from multiple sources to create cohesive and insightful reports supporting business decision-making.
- Assist in the optimisation of existing reports, dashboards and analytical tools to improve performance, usability and accuracy.
- Contribute to identifying opportunities to automate recurring reporting activities and reduce manual effort through digital workflows and automation solutions.
- Support the development of reporting and analytical solutions enabling improved monitoring, transparency and decision support across CFO activities.
- Participate in strategic discussions and contribute to initiatives ensuring that digital solutions, process improvements and AI-enabled capabilities are aligned with business objectives.
Development programme
In addition to your daily work, you will take part in an extensive learning and development programme. From day one, you will learn on the job and benefit from tailored development opportunities, including participation in technical and key skills training courses.
Furthermore, there is a mobility component to the Junior Professional Programme that can be either an internal rotation to another team within ESA, an external secondment outside of ESA or a combination of both. Internal rotations aim to boost your professional experience and knowledge of the European Space Agency, whereas external secondments aim to boost your professional experience and knowledge of the European space sector.
This programme represents a significant investment by ESA in your personal and professional development and is designed to provide you with the required knowledge and skills for a career at ESA. You can expect to be given many opportunities to develop your professional experience and competencies, to learn from ESA experts and to contribute to ESA activities.
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 engineering, particularly in data science, computer science or business analytics is required for this post with up to three years of professional experience.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness
ESA is an equal opportunity employer, committed to achieving diversity within the workforce and creating an inclusive working environment. We therefore welcome applications from all qualified candidates irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religious beliefs, age, disability or other characteristics.
At the Agency we value diversity, and we welcome people with disabilities. Whenever possible, we seek to accommodate individuals with disabilities by providing the necessary support at the workplace. The Human Resources Department can also provide assistance during the recruitment process. If you would like to discuss this further, please contact us via email at contact.human.resources@esa.int.
Important Information and Disclaimer
During the recruitment process, the Agency may request applicants to undergo selection tests. Additionally, successful candidates will need to undergo basic screening before appointment, which will be conducted by an external background screening service, in compliance with the European Space Agency's security procedures.
The information published on ESA’s careers website regarding working conditions is correct at the time of publication. It is not intended to be exhaustive and may not address all questions you would have.
Nationality and Languages
Please note that applications are only considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Canada, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia.
According to the ESA Convention, staff shall be recruited on the basis of their qualifications, taking into account an adequate distribution of posts among nationals of the Member States.
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.