Description

Media Relations Officer for the ESA Director General, ESA HQ, France, Belgium and Luxembourg, Corporate and Institutional Communication Office, Communication Department, Director General’s Services.

Under the direct authority of the Head of the Corporate and Institutional Communication Office, you will be responsible for the development and implementation of the media relations activities directly related to the ESA Director General.

You will therefore oversee the development of media relations activities for ESA HQ, as the establishment where the Director General is based, as well as for the Member States of France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Duties

Your tasks and responsibilities will include the following:

• Performing all of the media relations activities of the ESA Director General by:
  • building strong relationships and networks within the media community, and fostering and managing engagement in the community of space journalists by facilitating their access to the Director General and answering their queries in a timely manner;
  • organising interviews and briefings for individual journalists, as well as preparing, sending and updating press releases and news releases when the Director General’s involvement is appropriate;
  • coordinating, with corporate media relations activities, the involvement of the Director General in an updated and consolidated agenda based on an analysis and prioritisation of all existing ESA communication interests, as well as the resulting communication opportunities and threats for ESA in terms of media activities, in particular in a potential crisis or contingency situation;
  • coordinating, with the Director General and Corporate Social Media Officer, the workflow based on an integrated planning to ensure fast, strategic publication across all ESA corporate social media channels.

• Ensuring that the media relations and newsroom processes are properly implemented at ESA HQ – as the home of the ESA Director General – and across France, Belgium and Luxembourg by:
  • developing, in close coordination with the relevant Head of Establishment office, the media relations activities at ESA HQ by organising media events when appropriate;
  • implementing the media relations activities related to France, Belgium and Luxembourg by fostering and managing engagement in the community of space journalists and facilitating their access to ESA experts and ESA programmes, while ensuring the necessary level of messaging consistency and that journalists’ queries are answered in a timely manner;
  • maintaining and updating relevant journalist databases, the ESA HQ spokespersons list, a log file for all media requests and media insight analysis;
  • organising interviews and briefings for individual journalists, as well as preparing, sending and updating press releases and news releases when appropriate.

Technical competencies

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking

Education

A master’s degree in a relevant domain is required for this post.

Additional requirements

The capacity to work well under pressure with tight deadlines, the flexibility to adapt to new and unforeseen demands and the ability to manage challenging situations proactively and to be customer focused, plus the availability to be on standby in emergencies.
Strong problem-solving skills to deal with day-to-day operational challenges, together with demonstrated planning and organisational skills and strong result orientation. 
Experience in media relations is required as well as excellent knowledge of the French language and in-depth knowledge of the media landscape in France.