Head of the European Commercial Launcher Support Office - European Space Agency (Paris)

About this position

The summary below is published by European Space Agency on the official vacancy notice. Our own analysis — salary realism, comparable openings, career trajectory, language profile — follows further down the page.

Key responsibilities

According to the vacancy notice, the role centres on the following duties:

• Developing and motivating the members of the Department by assessing performance, encouraging learning and development, delegating responsibilities and providing regular and constructive feedback
• Ensuring the implementation of the activities related to the European Launcher Challenge and Boost! programmes within the agreed budgets and schedules
• Leading the commercial and technical evaluation of industrial proposals, while overseeing the processes for their submission and assessment, as well as the technical and programmatic discussions with Member States
• Establishing the long-term strategic view for the programmes and proposing continuous programmatic improvements
• Monitoring the technical and financial aspects of new commercial space transportation services in Europe
• Cooperating closely with the Space Transportation Directorate and its Future Space Transportation Department on developing future space transportation scenarios
• Identifying, assessing, managing and reporting the health and safety risks in your area of responsibility

Are you eligible?

Check these requirements from the notice before investing time in an application:

• Education: Master's degree in business administration, engineering or economics
• Experience: 15 years of relevant professional experience
• Key skills: Strong knowledge of European launcher sector, Experience in interaction with European space industry, especially newcomer companies developing future launchers, as well as with institutional and private investors, Experience in project and/or team management, including for processes developed by NewSpace companies, Creative thinking, Openness to innovative processes, Adaptability and understanding of innovation and/or change management in a large organisation, Proven experience of leading, motivating and developing a team, Ability to provide strategic direction to individuals and teams, Ability to drive performance and foster cooperation within and across teams, Excellent leadership, relationship management and communication skills, both oral and written

Contract and working arrangements

Hiring unit: Directorate of Commercialisation and Industry Partnerships.

Position details

Reference

1425074633

Last Verified

11 August 2026

Position overview

This is the official EU Careers listing for Head of the European Commercial Launcher Support Office at ESA based in Paris (Other). The vacancy reference is 1425074633.

Job Requisition ID:20688

Date Posted:11 August 2026

Closing Date:8 September 2026 23:59 CET/CEST

Publication:Internal & External

Directorate:Commercialisation and Industry Partnership

Location

ESA Headquarters, Paris, France

Description

Head of the European Commercial Launcher Support Office, Directorate of Commercialisation and Industry Partnerships.

Reporting directly to the Director of Commercialisation and Industry Partnerships, you, as Head of the European Commercial Launcher Support Office, will be a member of the Directorate’s management team and will participate in decision-making for all major activities covered by the Directorate.

You will be responsible for the end-to-end management of the European Launcher Challenge and Boost! programmes. The European Launcher Challenge is the European Space Agency’s (ESA) initiative focused on expanding European launch service supply and therefore ensuring greater robustness in Europe’s access to space. Through the European Launcher Challenge, ESA will become a customer of newly developed commercial launch services, encouraging competition in the European space sector. With its Boost! programme, ESA is boosting commercial initiatives that offer transportation services to space, in space, and returning from space. The programme also supports Member States implementing national objectives for spaceports, testing facilities and more.

Duties

- Developing and motivating the members of the Department by assessing performance, encouraging learning and development, delegating responsibilities and providing regular and constructive feedback; - Ensuring the implementation of the activities related to the European Launcher Challenge and Boost! programmes within the agreed budgets and schedules; - Leading the commercial and technical evaluation of industrial proposals, while overseeing the processes for their submission and assessment, as well as the technical and programmatic discussions with Member States; - Establishing the long-term strategic view for the programmes and proposing continuous programmatic improvements; - Monitoring the technical and financial aspects of new commercial space transportation services in Europe; - Cooperating closely with the Space Transportation Directorate and its Future Space Transportation Department on developing future space transportation scenarios, taking into account the emergence of commercial systems, with the goal of developing synergies; - Developing and motivating the members of the Office by assessing performance, encouraging learning and development, delegating responsibilities and providing regular and constructive feedback.

You will be assisted by project managers, as well as by the Project Control and Management Support and System Support functions.

In carrying out your duties, you will liaise closely with other departments and offices within the Directorate and draw on the support of other ESA directorates.

You will also be responsible for identifying, assessing, managing and reporting the health and safety risks in your area of responsibility.

Technical competencies

Strong knowledge of European launcher sector

Experience in interaction with European space industry, especially newcomer companies developing future launchers, as well as with institutional and private investors

Experience in project and/or team management, including for processes developed by NewSpace companies

Behavioural competencies

Education and professional experience

A master's degree in business administration, engineering or economics is required for this post together with 15 years of relevant professional experience.

Additional requirements

- Creative thinking; - Openness to innovative processes; - Adaptability and understanding of innovation and/or change management in a large organisation. - Proven experience of leading, motivating and developing a team; - The ability to provide strategic direction to individuals and teams and to relate team objectives to the overall, evolving organisational goals and context; - The ability to drive performance and foster cooperation within and across teams throughout the organisation; - Demonstrated excellent leadership, relationship management and communication skills, both oral and written; - A proven track record of representing the Agency’s interests to external interfaces; - Excellent cognitive, analytical, delegation, planning and organisational skills; - The ability to anticipate problems, solve complex issues and relate situations to their context; - The ability to reach solution-oriented, pragmatic and timely decisions of a high standard and with integrity as well as to support others (team members, upper management, other stakeholders) in this process.

People management experience is required and international experience would be an asset, including outside your home country, as would experience in diverse functional areas relevant to ESA activities.

Mobility is inherent to management functions and this position may be subject to rotation.

Therefore, mobility opportunities may be offered to you as part of your career evolution at ESA, starting after approximately five years in this role.

Application timeline

This vacancy was first listed on 11 August 2026, today.

The application deadline is 8 September 2026, 27 days from today. Late applications are not accepted, so submit through the official EU Careers portal well in advance.

Last verified against the EU Careers feed on 11 August 2026.

Where to learn more

For headcount, mission, and other open vacancies at ESA see the ESA institution page; for the cost of living, correction coefficient, and other postings in Paris see our Paris location page.

New to EU careers? Our beginner's guide walks through entry routes, EPSO competitions, and what to prepare. For application logistics see application tips and EPSO competitions.