VN 26/40 Contracts Officer

VN 26/40 Contracts Officer

The Contracts Division (COS) is EUMETSAT's centre of expertise for procurement, contractual and commercial matters. Its mission is to ensure that best value for money is achieved through procurements that are compliant, competitive, timely and well managed. The Division is responsible for monitoring the compliant implementation of EUMETSAT's Procurement Procedures and acts as a key partner to all areas of the Organisation throughout the procurement lifecycle.

The Division provides contractual and commercial advice and support, contributes to procurement planning and strategy, participates in evaluations and negotiations, and ensures compliance with EUMETSAT's procurement and financial rules, procedures and quality standards. It negotiates and concludes contracts on behalf of the Organisation and supports the management of contractual matters during contract execution, including amendments, options, performance-related issues, remedies and contract close-out activities.

EUMETSAT's procurements range from contracts valued at approximately EUR 100,000 to multi-million-euro procurements supporting major satellite programmes and operational services. Most procurements are conducted through open competitive tendering procedures and cover a diverse portfolio including launch services, ground segment developments, industrial support services, skills- and product-based service contracts, consultancy services, technical and scientific studies, information technology, general supplies, and site and facility services in support of both EUMETSAT's mandatory and optional programmes.

The Contracts Officer will take contractual responsibility, as part of interdisciplinary procurement and project teams, for the preparation, negotiation and management of contracts and procurements under their assigned responsibility, including competitive tenders and in direct negotiation with single suppliers. The post holder will ensure compliance with EUMETSAT’s contractual, procurement and financial rules, whilst contributing to the achievement of best value for money. The post is currently assigned to the procurement and commercial support of service procurements in the Technical and Scientific Support and Operations and Services departments, supporting a diverse portfolio of operational, technical and engineering activities.

Duties

• Preparation of contractual tender documentation;

• Review of contractual and technical tender documentation;

• Oversight and management of procurement actions, including negotiations;

• Management of contractual matters during the execution phase, including contract amendments and options;

• Supporting and participating in Tender Evaluation Boards;

• Build and maintain trusted and constructive relationships with internal customers, project teams, managers, suppliers and other stakeholders, acting as a trusted procurement partner, and facilitating effective engagement, communication and problem/solving throughout the procurement and contractual lifecycle;

• Contribute to the continuous improvement and transformation of EUMETSAT's procurement and contractual processes, tools and working practices, by supporting process optimisation, standardisation, digitalisation and organisational change initiatives, aimed at enhancing efficiency, compliance and quality;

• Preparation and negotiation of co-operation agreements with national and international partners;

• People management tasks.

LOCATION

Darmstadt, Germany

QUALIFICATIONS

University degree or equivalent qualification in law, economics or business studies or a professional procurement qualification with CIPS or equivalent at degree level.

LANGUAGES

The official languages of EUMETSAT are English and French. For this position, candidates should be fluent in English with proven drafting ability. Fluency in French would be a strong asset.

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DEADLINE

20 October 2026

Skills and Experience

• Demonstrated experience (typically at least 5-10 years) in the procurement of supplies and/or complex services, especially through competitive public tendering, and negotiation and commercial management of contracts, for complex high technology systems, in a satellite, aerospace, or engineering environment and preferably gained in the frame of international or national public procurement;

• Proven experience in independently drafting and negotiating contract terms and conditions, legal provisions and dealing with contractual matters, and the ability to understand complex technical and legal issues and to formulate clear legal texts;

• Excellent stakeholder management, communication and influencing skills, with the demonstrated ability to build consensus, foster collaboration, develop and sustain positive working relationships with a diverse range of technical, operational and managerial stakeholders within multidisciplinary teams, resolving issues through constructive engagement, sound judgement and effective communication;

• Demonstrated experience in business process improvement, organisational change or transformation initiatives, together with the ability to analyse existing processes, identify improvement opportunities, develop practical solutions, establish credibility and build support for change, and contribute to successful implementation in a complex stakeholder environment;

• People management experience;

• Experience of the Materials Management module of an ERP System (ideally SAP);

• Experience of working in a multi-lingual environment is desirable;

• Proven experience in the use of MS Office, particularly MS Word.

Employment Conditions

The initial contract will be of 4 years’ duration, with subsequent 5 year contracts being awarded thereafter, subject to individual performance and organisation requirements. There is no limit to the amount of follow-up contracts a staff member can receive up to the EUMETSAT retirement age of 63 and there are certainly opportunities to establish a long career perspective at EUMETSAT. This post is graded A3/A4 on the EUMETSAT salary scales. The minimum basic salary for this post is EURO 9,320 per month (net of internal tax but excluding pension contribution and insurances) which may be negotiable on the basis of skills and experience. The salary scale provides for increments on the anniversary of taking up employment, and scales are reviewed by the EUMETSAT Council with effect from 1 January each year. In addition to basic salary, EUMETSAT offers attractive benefits. Further information, including salary details, is available on the EUMETSAT web site.

EUMETSAT is committed to providing an equal opportunities work environment for men and women. Please note that only nationals of EUMETSAT Member States may apply. The EUMETSAT Convention requires that Staff shall be recruited on the basis of their qualifications, account being taken of the international character of EUMETSAT.

About EUMETSAT

EUMETSAT is Europe’s meteorological satellite agency. Its 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 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 has 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.)