Recruitment Process

The key principles of ESA's recruitment philosophy are:

• to employ highly qualified staff to enable ESA to achieve its objectives and deliver outstanding results for the Agency
• to give primary consideration to qualifications, knowledge, skills and personal qualities, including the capacity to adapt and evolve over the longer term
• to ensure that all staffing decisions are fair, equitable and transparent
• to give due weight to diversity
• to consider the short-term need for flexibility and internal mobility without losing sight of possible long-term requirements for organisational change and the development of career potential.

How to apply

As an intergovernmental organisation, ESA recruits on the basis of open competition. This means that you will need to apply for an open vacancy should you wish to work for us. Therefore, all ESA vacancies are posted on our recruiting site.

Once you have found the job that’s right for you, you will need to register and create a candidate profile in order to apply. You will be able to log into this profile to apply for any other ESA positions in the future, too.

Please note that only applications for a specific vacancy that have been completed and submitted through ESA’s recruiting site can be considered. Furthermore, due to the high volume of applications received, ESA is unable to accept open applications.

If you visit our recruiting site and you do not find any vacancies matching your profile, you can set up a job alert so that you are notified when an interesting vacancy is published. To stay up to date on the latest news from ESA Careers, subscribe to our mailing list. 

Eligible nationalities

We accept applications from citizens of the following ESA Member States: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom as well as from Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia, as Associate Members, or Canada as a Cooperating State. Nationals from Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Malta, European Cooperating States, can apply for Young Graduate Traineeships and Internal Research Fellowships.

Selection process

We evaluate all applications that have been completed and submitted for a specific vacancy via our recruiting site. You can track the status of your application throughout the selection process and you will also be personally informed of the outcome of your application by email. So long as you have not received an answer from us, your application remains active.

The selection process for ESA positions is as follows:

Online application 
You will be asked to complete the online application form and attach your motivation letter, CV and highest education certificate. Immediately after submitting your application, you will receive an automated confirmation email at which point you can follow its status in your candidate profile.

Shortlisting
Once the application deadline has passed, the ESA recruitment team will carefully review all applications received and draw up a shortlist of candidates to invite to interview.
If you are shortlisted, you can expect an invitation for either the pre-screening phase or directly for the final online selection interview.
If you are not shortlisted, you will receive an email notifying you accordingly.

Pre-screening
Depending on the vacancy you apply for, you might be invited to complete a virtual on-demand pre-screening interview, to attend a pre-screening telephone interview or to participate in a written test.

Assessment centre (for ESA leadership roles)
For ESA leadership roles, the selection process includes a Leadership Competency Assessment. This is conducted by an external party.

Final interview with ESA selection board
Most of our interviews take place online on Microsoft Teams. The interview will be conducted by a panel of interviewers.

Interview outcome and ESA offer
If you are the selected candidate, you will receive a personal notification which will be followed by our job offer intention email, asking you to provide additional information. Once we have received this information, we will send our final ESA contract offer to you.
All the other interviewed candidates will be notified of the outcome via email.

Medical check
Before our contract offer can be confirmed, you will be asked to complete a basic medical screening and to send the results to the ESA Medical Officer. Once they have given their green light, the ESA contract will be confirmed.

Background check
Before you can start working for ESA, you will be required to undergo a basic background screening. This process is conducted by an external party.

Welcome to ESA!
Once you have accepted our offer and the administrative part is formalised, you will enter the onboarding phase that takes you all the way to your first day at ESA!
We encourage you to visit our FAQs for all the information you need if you are considering applying for a position at ESA.

ESA Security directives

Security has become a central and intrinsic element in every aspect of the Agency’s processes and is embedded within all systems. ESA is committed to taking all appropriate measures to prevent unlawful appropriation or unauthorised disclosure of information owned or obtained in the course of its activities, whilst at the same time aiming for a broad and smooth adequate sharing of information as enshrined in the ESA Convention.

The ESA Security Directives detail the various measures taken by ESA, as well as the roles and responsibilities of everyone involved, including ESA staff.  These Directives also require security screening for all those working at ESA.

In the first instance, a basic screening is carried out as part of the selection process. Therefore, if you are invited for an interview, you will also be asked to provide proof of identity, i.e valid passport or ID card, as well as copies of your educational qualifications and a statement of good conduct. In a second stage, we will contact referees and also verify your diploma.

For some specific jobs at ESA, you will be asked to confirm that you are eligible (and agree) to undergo security clearance from the relevant national authority. Where this is required, it is specified in the vacancy notice.

Diversity and inclusiveness

ESA is an equal opportunity employer, committed to achieving diversity within the workforce and creating an inclusive working environment. For this purpose, we welcome applications from all qualified candidates irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, beliefs, age, disability or other characteristics. Applications from women are encouraged.

Learn more about diversity and inclusiveness at ESA. 

ESA employment conditions

ESA’s employment conditions include a range of attractive benefits, programmes and allowances to promote a multi-cultural, supportive, inclusive and family friendly working environment.

Find out more about what we offer.