Junior International Relations Officer

Ready to launch your career with Europe’s meteorological satellite agency? At EUMETSAT, we are not just monitoring the weather and climate from space—we are shaping the future of weather and climate science, 24/7, 365 days a year.

Be part of a small dynamic team in the Strategy, Communication and International Relations division.

You will contribute to the fulfilment of EUMETSAT’s strategy in bringing more value to its member states through multilateral and international cooperation.

The Strategy, Communication and International Relations (SCIR) Division is responsible for maintaining crucial relations with EUMETSAT member states, international partners and agencies and ensuring communication efforts, internally and to the outside world, are aligned with the organisation’s strategy.

Within SCIR, the International Relations Team is in charge of cooperation with weather and climate space agencies, of providing the Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites (CGMS) Secretariat, and of interactions with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), as well as cooperation with Africa, Western Balkans, Eastern European, Caucasian and Central Asian countries. It also coordinates EUMETSAT's involvement in the Committee on Earth Observation Systems (CEOS) and the Group on Earth Observation (GEO).

In addition to EUMETSAT’s mandatory satellite programmes, EUMETSAT cooperates with European and international partners to implement its own and third-party satellite programmes.

With EUMETSAT, your work isn't just a job—it's a mission to empower decision-makers, protect communities, and safeguard our planet.

What you’ll be doing

• Assist in managing the day-to-day CGMS Secretariat interacting with CGMS members. This entails among other contribution to the annual cycle of CGMS plenary and associated working groups; coordination and optimisation of the overall EUMETSAT working paper preparation; organisation and follow-up internal interactions on CGMS; book captain for the annual plenary report, including note taking, editing, and publication; CGMS website content management and contribution (cgms-info.org); management and monitoring of the CGMS Secretariat e-mail account; optimisation and management of lists of actions and document sharing facilities;
• Assist with internal coordination of EUMETSAT support to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), oversee EUMETSAT contributions to WMO activities, follow up on the various expert team meetings and compile annual output summaries for management information, and update of the associated expert database;
• Support activities, such as user fora, workshops and/or information days related to EUMETSAT cooperation with user communities and institutions in Africa, Western Balkans, Eastern Europe and Central Asia;
• Support the coordination of interactions with international bilateral and multilateral partners as described further above;
• Support and contribute to EUMETSAT third party activities as necessary;
• Draft correspondence, presentations, documents, reports and articles;
• Organise meetings (preparing and coordinating meetings/visits/events with international partners, including drafting agendas, minutes, and managing follow-up actions);
• These above duties will also involve national and international travel.

What we offer

• The initial contract will be under the EUMETSAT Early Career Employee Programme (ECEP), for two (2) years with grade A1 on the EUMETSAT salary scale. Subject to successful performance, a further contract of 5 years’ duration will be awarded in a post graded A2-A4. Additional contracts may be awarded thereafter, subject to individual performance and organisational requirements. In addition, the successful candidate will receive:
• Flexible working time including additional flexi-leave
• Full medical coverage for employee and family
• 30 days of annual leave + 14.5 days public holidays
• Training and development support
• Relocation allowance and support (if applicable)

Requirements

Qualifications

Candidates shall hold a university degree in a relevant discipline, such as climate or environmental sciences, environmental engineering, geography, political sciences or international relations.

Holding a double degree in a scientific or engineering discipline together with one in political sciences or international relations would be an advantage.

Skills and Experience required

• Outstanding motivation to develop towards full professionalism in an intergovernmental organisation in the area of international relations;
• Excellent interpersonal skills and a sense of diplomacy, including sensitivity toward cultural aspects, differences and protocols, including the ability to communicate at different levels;
• Excellent writing and drafting skills, with proven ability to synthesise and transform complex scientific and political topics into clearly and concisely written reports and texts for wider audiences;
• Experience in organising meetings would be advantageous;
• Proven ability to work in a team, and proven experience building relationships and networking internally and externally;
• Readiness to learning and growing expertise in this field.

Languages

Candidates must be able to work effectively in both English and French and have an excellent level of written English. Basic knowledge of other languages would be advantageous, in particular non-European languages such as Arabic or Chinese.

APPLICATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED IN ENGLISH. WE WILL BE UNABLE TO CONSIDER APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED IN OTHER LANGUAGES.

EUMETSAT is an international organisation employing staff from across all 30 member states and this role is being advertised on multiple international job boards, but please note that this role would be based in Darmstadt, Germany and would require international applicants to relocate if successful.

More about us

EUMETSAT’s role is to establish and operate meteorological satellites to monitor the weather and climate from space - 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This information is supplied to the National Meteorological Services of the organisation's Member and Cooperating States in Europe, as well as other users worldwide.

EUMETSAT also operates several Copernicus missions on behalf of the European Union and provide data services to the Copernicus marine and atmospheric services and their users.

As an intergovernmental European Organisation, EUMETSAT can recruit nationals only from the 30 Member States (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom).