Paolo Donzelli ESTEC HR Division Den Haag 27 November 2008 EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY Alternative Career Paths for Technical Specialists Paolo Donzelli ESTEC HR Division Den Haag 27 November 2008

PURPOSE OF ESA “To provide for and promote, for exclusively peaceful purposes, cooperation among European states in space research and technology and their space applications.” Article 2 of ESA Convention

18 MEMBER STATES Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Canada takes part in some projects under a cooperation agreement. Hungary, Romania and Poland are European Cooperating States. Estonia and Slovenia have recently signed cooperation agreements with ESA.

ACTIVITIES Space science Human spaceflight Exploration Earth observation Launchers Navigation Telecommunications Technology Operations ESA is one of the few space agencies in the world to combine responsibility in all areas of space activity.

ESA’S LOCATIONS EAC (Cologne) ESTEC (Noordwijk) Establishments & Centres Brussels ESOC (Darmstadt) ESA HQ (Paris) Offices Toulouse ESRIN (Frascati) ESAC (Villafranca) Moscow Washington Kourou Houston

ESA FACTS AND FIGURES Over 30 years of experience 18 Member States Four establishments, 2043 staff 3 000 million Euros budget (2008) Over 60 satellites designed and tested 14 scientific satellites in operation Five types of launcher developed More than 180 launches made

ESA STAFF FIGURES 2000+ Grade Structure from Coordinated Organisations (like NATO) 20% Administrative (B1 to B6) 10% Management (A5, A6 and Hors Class) 70 % Professionals (A2 to A4): 15% Business Support (HR, Finance, Legal, Procurement, IT,...) 10% Scientists 45% Engineers Contract Policy: 4Y + 6Y + Indefinite

New Career Paths for Technical Specialists: THE A5 AD PERSONAM PROGRAM

TECHNICAL CAREER AT ESA (THE PAST) JUNIOR (ENTRY LEVEL) ASSOCIATED SENIOR MANAGERIAL HEAD OF SECTION HEAD OF DIVISION OF DEPART. FROM A2 TO A4: PROGRESSION BY PROMOTION FROM A4 TO A5, A5 TO A6: PROGRESSION BY VACANCY NOTICE

PROBLEMS ESA success is based on its technical competences but it could not reward and promote its best technical staff Good scientists and engineers were left without career perspectives for their last 10/15 years at ESA Good technical staff are not, by default, good managers (especially when they become managers but they want to keep technical and operational roles)

SOLUTION: A new schema for A5 ad personam TECHNICAL CAREER JUNIOR (ENTRY LEVEL) ASSOCIATED SENIOR ADVISOR (RETAIN CURRENT JOB) MANAGERIAL HEAD OF SECTION HEAD OF DIVISION OF DEPART. FROM A2 TO A4: PROGRESSION BY PROMOTION FROM A4 TO A5: BY APPLYING FOR AN A5 AD PERSONAM FROM A4 TO A5, A5 TO A6: PROGRESSION BY VACANCY NOTICE

OBJECTIVES Extend the career opportunities for high qualified professionals in the ESA core businesses: space science and space engineering Rewards continuous outstanding results Reinforce the technical and scientific culture of ESA Set up a network of experts, visible and recognized through the organization, able to disseminate knowledge and passion for Space

PRINCIPLES The promotion from A4 to the grade A5 ad personam is based on the PERSONAL competences and skills of the staff. When promoted the staff member maintains the current functions. The grade is linked to the staff member. The promotion from A4 to A5 by applying to an open Vacancy Notice is based on the responsibilities of the new job. The grade is linked to the post.

PROCESS Scheme approved in 2001 by ESA Governing Bodies: Max of 30 A5 AP positions for all ESA In 2001 and 2002 selection by the top (directors). It did not work: heterogeneous and wrong profiles selected and no consistency in the selection. Targeting only Technical and Scientific Staff at A4 grade Selection Campaign usually every other year (subject to 30 post cap, replacement of A5 AP retiring) As from 2006 new bottom-up scheme: All A4 staff may apply providing CV, list of publications and references HR and a board of four (kept anonymous) senior reviewers, selected for integrity and competence, evaluate the applicants by objective criteria and rank them The first 15 ranked applicants are short-listed for the final interview with a selection board composed of ESA directors and HR 10 are finally selected and appointed by the ESA Director General Appointed staff retain their present functions but are required to contribute to the exchange of knowledge inside/outside ESA through lectures and courses in their domains of competence

SELECTION CRITERIA Internal recognition Participation to Technical Reviews and Boards External recognition Publication in internationally recognized Technical and Scientific Journals Membership of Professional Associations Past contribution to ESA activities and projects Patents Demonstrated contribution to the solutions to complex technical issues Potential future contribution to ESA activities and projects

DETAILED DATA

LESSONS LEARNED Keep the bottom-up approach: all senior professionals staff may apply and have a chance through open and fair competition Strength the internal recognition criteria over the external ones (scientists publish papers on Nature, engineers write technical notes nobody reads...) Rotate the reviewers in charge of ranking the candidates to maintain variation in the selection process Keep top management away until the final decision has been made (to avoid influence) Don’t be afraid of diversity: experts are good for the organization as they are all different Be fair and transparent through the whole process and debrief applicants at anytime

Questions?