Contract Management Administrator

The Role

We are opening a new position and are seeking to hire a Contract Management Administrator (B5) to join our team in Bonn, Germany.  You will be based in the Programme Contract Management Team which is part of the Administration Department of ECMWF. You will report directly to the Head of Programmes Contract Management.   

In the context of the Destination Earth (DestinE) initiative and as a member of the team, you will play a central role in facilitating the smooth collaboration and effective interface between our contract management and procurement functions, and with other internal stakeholders. You will also support the implementation, use and administration of our new Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) tool. 

ECMWF is issuing competitive calls to procure key elements of the infrastructure we require to reach the ambitious goals of the DestinE initiative as well as most elements of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) and the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) operational services. To support these activities we are in the process of developing and implementing a CLM. It will automate our contract lifecycle management with the objective of achieving efficiencies and a decrease in the cost of contracting. The CLM tool will also enable us to decommission manual workflows and introduce streamlined and agile processes to manage the outsourced activities of ECMWF. 

The Team

The Programme Contract Management Team is responsible for the negotiations of new contracts and compliance with the contractual arrangements. The team also coordinates ECMWF’s regular reporting to the European Commission on the status of the implementation of programmes. 

The team manages roughly 150 contracts, which are focused on IT development services, data and information services delivery, studies and use cases, and communication and training activities. Contracts involve private and public sector entities from around 30 countries. The Programme Contract Management Team is in daily contact with the contractors and works closely with technical experts and scientists across ECMWF.  

About ECMWF

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) is a world-leader in weather and environmental forecasting. As an international organisation we serve our members and the wider community with global weather predictions and data that is critical for understanding and solving the climate crisis. We function as a 24/7 research and operational centre with a focus on medium and long-range predictions, holding one of the largest meteorological data archives in the world. The success of our activities builds on the talent of our scientists and experts, strong partnerships with 35 Member and Co-operating States and the international community, some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, and the use of innovative technologies and machine learning across our operations. 

ECMWF has also developed a strong partnership with the European Union and has been entrusted with the implementation and operation of the Destination Earth Initiative and the Climate Change and Atmosphere Monitoring Services of the Copernicus Programme. Other areas of work include High Performance Computing and the development of digital tools that enable ECMWF to extend provision of data and products covering weather, climate, air quality, fire and flood prediction and monitoring. 

ECMWF is a multi-site organisation, with a main office in Reading, UK, a data centre/ supercomputer in Bologna, Italy, and a large presence in Bonn, Germany. We appreciate the need for flexibility in the way our staff work. We have  adopted a hybrid work model that allows flexibility to staff to mix office working and teleworking, including away from the duty station for up to 10 days/month (within the area of our member states and co-operating states).

ECMWF has recently decided to explore grants as a mechanism to disburse funding and support specific initiatives, and as a result developed a structure to operate with such grants.  

See www.ecmwf.int  for more info about what we do.  

About the Destination Earth (DestinE) Initiative

ECMWF is one of the three entities entrusted to implement the Destination Earth (DestinE) initiative of the European Commission, alongside ESA and EUMETSAT as partners. DestinE aims to deploy several highly accurate thematic digital replicas of the Earth, called Digital Twins. The Digital Twins will help monitor and predict environmental change and human impact, in order to develop and test scenarios that would support sustainable development and corresponding European policies for the Green Deal.  ECMWF is responsible for the delivery of these digital twins and of the Digital Twin engine, the software infrastructure needed to power them of some of Europe’s largest supercomputers, those of the European HPC Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC). 

The second phase of DestinE covers the period June 2024 – May 2026, and future phases are foreseen (subject to funding). Phase 2 will focus on early operations with consolidation, maintenance, and continuous evolution of the DestinE system components developed in the first phase.

The DestinE developments take forward the long-term investments of the ECMWF Member States in building a unique European prediction capability and will support the further advancement of member states services and Copernicus Services. 

For more information on DestinE, see https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/destination-earth-destine and https://www.ecmwf.int/en/about/what-we-do/environmental-services/destination-earth 

Main duties and responsibilities

• Perform administrative tasks in close collaboration with the other Contract Administrators in the team
• Support the interactions with the Procurement and Finance sections and other internal stakeholders
• Draft documents required primarily for DestinE procurement and contract life cycle
• Arrange meetings and coordinate communication with internal stakeholders
• Gather, input and process data required for procurement and contracting activities
• Organise training sessions and create guidance materials on the CLM tool for internal and external stakeholders
• Support the implementation, transition and administration of the CLM tool
• Maintain records for audit purposes and migrate content to the CLM tool
• Support the implementation and administration of grants’ processes
• Participate in continuous improvement and efficiency initiatives in the team

What we are looking for

We encourage you to apply even if you don’t feel you meet precisely all these criteria.

• A keen interest in administrative support within the contract management/procurement field
• Attention to detail and accuracy
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with a proactive and constructive approach
• Flexibility, with the ability to adapt to changing priorities
• Ability to work autonomously and collaboratively as part of multidisciplinary and geographically distributed teams
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Highly organised with the capacity to work on a diverse range of tasks to tight deadlines
• Client oriented mindset
• Willingness to learn and adapt to new processes and technologies
• Genuine interest in the Destination Earth Initiative

Education

• Higher standard of education (European Qualifications Framework EQF level 6) (higher national diploma or bachelor)

Experience

• Demonstrated relevant professional experience, ideally in project administration, database and document management
• Experience in project management is highly desirable
• Prior experience with Contract Management / Procurement software, CLM tools or ERP systems would be an advantage
• Experience in public sector procurement would be an advantage
• Experience in working in diverse teams within an international environment or with an intergovernmental organisation or the European Commission and its Agencies, would be highly desirable

Knowledge and Skills

• Understanding of Contract Management and Procurement principles and processes
• Exceptional attention to detail and precision in all tasks
• Ability to create and maintain systematic processes, workflows and documentation
• Proficiency in MS Office applications, in particular Microsoft Word and Excel, are essential

Candidates must be able to work effectively in English and interviews will be conducted in English. A good knowledge of one of the Centre’s other working languages (French or German) is an advantage but not required.

Other information

Grade remuneration:  The successful candidates will be recruited at the B5 grade, according to the scales of the Co-ordinated Organisations. The position is assigned to the employment category STF-PL as defined in the ECMWF Staff Regulations. Full details of salary scales and allowances available on the ECMWF website at www.ecmwf.int/en/about/jobs.

Starting date:    as soon as possible

Length of contract:    approximately 22 months up until 31 May 2026

Candidates are expected to relocate to the duty station. 

Interviews will be held by videoconference (MS Team).  If you require any special accommodations in order to participate fully in our recruitment process, please .

Successful applicants and members of their family forming part of their households will be exempt from immigration restrictions.

Who can apply

Applicants are invited to complete the online application form by clicking on the apply button below.

At ECMWF, we consider an inclusive environment as key for our success. We are dedicated to ensuring a workplace that embraces diversity and provides equal opportunities for all, without distinction as to race, gender, age, marital status, social status, disability, sexual orientation, religion, personality, ethnicity and culture. We value the benefits derived from a diverse workforce and are committed to having staff that reflect the diversity of the countries that are part of our community, in an environment that nurtures equality and inclusion.

Applications are invited from nationals from ECMWF Member States and Co-operating States, as well as from all EU Member States.  In these exceptional times, we also welcome applications from Ukrainian nationals for this vacancy.   Applications from nationals from other countries may be considered in exceptional cases. 

ECMWF Member States and Co-operating States are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, North Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United Kingdom.