Events Coordinator

The ESO Supernova is an education facility, based at the ESO Headquarters site in Garching, which attracts approximately 60000 visitors per year. The building hosts a state-of-the-art planetarium and a 2200m2 interactive exhibition, covering a range of topics relating to astronomy. The facility hosts a wide range of events including external company team-building days, scientific workshops, evening receptions, public talks, temporary exhibitions and concerts.

This is a responsible, dynamic, customer service-based position that offers the opportunity to work at an exciting and busy visitor centre of a world-leading international scientific and technical organisation. The primary responsibility of the Events Coordinator is to perform excellent customer service and ensure a superior experience for all.

The position coordinates and oversees planetarium show premieres, concerts, public talks and other events that are open to the public. This position conceptualises detailed event plans for all such events and distributes event plans each week to the team of ESO Supernova.

The Events Coordinator is also responsible for the coordination of the use of the ESO Supernova by external companies and all such event operations, including correspondence with clients. This requires developing a complete understanding of the requirements of each individual event and the possibilities within the facility, in order to be able to develop a concept for each event, fitting to the purpose and needs. The position coordinates with staff across ESO, including, but not limited to, the Facilities and Logistics group and Finance Department.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

• Conceptualise and execute a variety of public and private events, from initial contact with supplier or client, through offer and contract preparation, venue preparation, facilitating technical requirements, security and equipment to post-event billing, under the supervision of the Head of ESO Supernova.
• Coordinate with all event service providers contracted by clients to ensure compliance with ESO policies and restrictions, including adhering to the health and safety procedures.
• Oversee visitor and client experiences from conception through post-event review, ensuring consistent, high-level service throughout all phases.
• Be responsible for the ESO Supernova (including health and safety, preparing building technically for operation, satisfaction of visitors) during events and at least one weekend per month.
• Handle day-to-day administration of events, including order placements, travel planning, registration counts, RSVP tracking, and issues resolution.
• Participate in the weekly ESO Supernova Team meetings, keeping colleagues up-to-date with progress on events.
• Ensure the internal calendar is kept up-to-date with event details, such as room bookings.
• Support the daily administrative operations of the ESO Supernova: placing purchase orders and shipping requests; travel planning for the team; maintaining the ESO Supernova shop; responding to email and telephone inquiries relating to events at the ESO Supernova.

The above responsibilities are not exhaustive and a flexible approach and willingness to adapt to unexpected needs and perform further general administrative tasks is essential.

Reports to:

Head of ESO Supernova.

Key competences, experience and working-time availability:

Essential:

• At least three years of working experience in a customer-service based role.
• Experience in event planning or event coordination.
• Excellent organisational skills, including multitasking, time management and attention to detail.
• Strong interpersonal and verbal communication skills with a friendly and service oriented attitude.
• Clear and effective writing skills and the ability to provide clear, concise and timely oral and written communications.
• Practical, solution-oriented and supportive attitude.
• Ability to research, analyse, summarise and present information in a clear and logical manner.
• Ability to remain calm under pressure, think on your feet and maintain a customer-service mindset.
• Confidence and ability to work unsupervised, both on your own initiative and within teams, in an international and multicultural environment
• Very good knowledge and experience of Microsoft Office (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).
• Technical affinity and a willingness to learn new technologies.
• Openness and flexibility to work evenings (average 4 per month) and at least one weekend per month (mandatory).

Desirable:

• Experience with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications.
• A passion for science and technology, in particular astronomy.

Qualifications:

Candidates must show they have completed their secondary school education successfully. A formal qualification in the hospitality or administrative field is an advantage.

Language skills:

The position requires a very good working knowledge of English and German, both written and oral (C1 level, minimum, both languages). Additional language skills are an advantage.

Remuneration and Contract:

We offer an attractive remuneration package including a competitive salary (tax-free), comprehensive pension scheme and medical, educational and other social benefits, as well as financial help in relocating your family and support to place your child/children in daycare.

Our Salary Structure:

ESO's salary structure is based upon a range of career paths which reflect the nature and level of our jobs. Each career path is made up of two or three grades which are used to further reflect experience. This position is in Career Path: III.

Please follow this attached link for more details https://www.eso.org/public/jobs/conditions/intstaff/salary-structure/

ESO aims to support members of personnel in maintaining a good work-life balance (https://www.eso.org/public/jobs/conditions/intstaff/#work-life-balance) between their professional and private life. ESO is also committed to offering family-friendly support (https://www.eso.org/public/jobs/conditions/intstaff/#family-friendly-support), creating a work environment and policies which allow staff to balance their professional and private responsibilities through flexible working arrangements and financial support for families.

The contract is for a fixed term duration of three years and is subject to successful completion of the probation period. There may be a possibility of extension(s) subject to individual performance and organisational requirements, and as defined in the applicable policies and staff rules and regulations. For any further information, please visit ESO's conditions of employment (https://www.eso.org/public/jobs/conditions/). Please note that the contract policy and in particular the regulations concerning fixed-term and indefinite contracts are currently under review which may lead to changes in the contractual conditions applicable to this position.

Duty Station:

Garching near Munich, Germany.

Application:

If you are motivated, qualified and interested in working in areas of frontline science and technology and in a stimulating international environment, please visit http://www.eso.org for further details.

Applicants are invited to apply online at http://jobs.eso.org/. Applications must be completed in English and should include a motivation letter and CV. Within your CV, please provide the names and contact details of three persons familiar with your work and willing to provide a recommendation letter upon request. Referees will not be contacted without your prior consent.

The closing date for applications is 9 January 2024.

Interviews are expected to start soon after this date.

ESO Values

An important element in any successful employment relationship is harmony in values between an organisation and its people.

The ESO Values are:

ESO strives for excellence through innovation.

ESO provides outstanding services to its communities.

ESO fosters diversity & inclusion.

ESO believes in the key role of sustainability for its future.

Achieving the above are recognized as only possible on the basis of personal values and attitudes that we expect from our employees: respect, integrity, accountability, commitment, collaboration, and clear & open communication.

Applicants to any ESO role are asked to reflect on their affinity with these values and advised they may be asked about them if called for interview.

Diversity

ESO has established diversity as an important value of the Organisation, is committed to providing an equal opportunities environment and is actively seeking to promote a diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce. Please visit https://www.eso.org/public/about-eso/sustainability/dei-at-eso/ for further details.

Nationality

No nationality is in principle excluded from employment at ESO, however, recruitment preference will be given to nationals of our Member States, host states and strategic partners: Australia, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Chile, irrespective of gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity or religion.