Accounting, Finance & Project Control Traineeship

The trainee will contribute to the daily operations of the team they will be assigned to as specified below. Candidates are invited to indicate their preference in the motivation letter.

The Finance trainee will be expected to carry out under supervision the following duties:

• Assist the Head of Finance and her assignees in the financial implementation of grants;
• Provide support in the collection, assessment and follow up of the financial part of grant project reports;
• Assist in the provision of guidelines to EUSPA staff on financial issues;
• Assist in the setting up of quality processes as well as monitor and provide regular reports on the achievement of Key Performance Indicators;
• Contribute to the collection and/or preparation of the necessary information for audits, as well as assist in the arrangement of meetings;
• Assist in administrative tasks (e.g. filing, archiving, registration of invoices);
• Other relevant finance tasks, as required.

The Accounting trainee will be expected to carry out under supervision the following duties:

• Perform financial viability checks for external parties bidding in the Agency’s procurement and grant procedures, as well as assist in the follow-up of such calls for tenders/proposals;
• Assist with regular controls on the accounting environment and regularly reconcile specific accounts as requested;
• Participate in the elaboration of mechanisms/reports to automatize the accounting treatment of financial data;
• Assist in the provision of guidelines to EUSPA staff on accounting issues;
• Assist in administrative tasks (e.g. filing, archiving);
• Other relevant accounting tasks, as required.

The Project Control trainee will be expected to carry out under supervision the following duties:

• Support the project control activities for the programme managed by the Agency with specific reference to the area of budget, cost, risk, schedule, assets and reporting;
• Assist the review of payment applications and verification of compliance to contractual baseline and other contract management actions;
• Support the maintenance of the Agency’s budget and procurement planning platform (Anaplan) and contribute to the evolution of the tool and its deployments into new business cases;
• Implement and improve the process to compile quarterly and internal reports, documents and presentations;
• Provide administrative support (e.g. archiving, document management, data entry and processing, organising meetings);
• Support ad-hoc tasks as required.

Eligibility Criteria

The traineeship is open to applicants who have not previously undertaken a regular (paid) traineeship at EUSPA and who meet the following requirements:

1. Have a nationality of any Member State of the European Union, Iceland or Norway;
2. A recognised higher education degree (university education or equivalent), evidencing completion of a full cycle of study, or in the case of candidates who are at the end of their studies, an official certification confirming that students are currently in their final year of academic studies;
3. Have interest or knowledge about one or more areas of work of the Agency obtained during their studies/research projects/traineeships or through previous professional experience;
4. Possess a thorough knowledge of one official language of the European Union and a satisfactory knowledge of another language of the European Union; one of these languages must be the working language of the Agency (English);
5. Have a clean criminal record.

Selection Criteria

1. University studies in Economics, Accounting, Business Administration/Management, or another relevant field (e.g. Mathematics, Science, Engineering);
2. Knowledge (by training or experience) of finance, project control tasks, cost engineering tasks and/or project management (for the Project Control profile);
3. Good knowledge of IT applications, e.g. Microsoft Excel, Text transformers (BERT, GPT), Anaplan and/or Doors; knowledge of other applications (e.g. Microsoft Project, database management system/s, PowerPoint) is an advantage;
4. Ability to work autonomously and to adjust to new tasks in a demanding work environment;
5. Transversal collaboration and working in teams;
6. Effective communication;
7. Excellent command of both written and spoken English;
8. Motivation for the post.

The European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) provides safe and secure European satellite navigation services, advances the commercialization of Galileo, the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), and Copernicus data and services, engages in secure SATCOM (GOVSATCOM & IRIS2), and operates the Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) Front Desk. Through these projects, EUSPA enhances European autonomy in space technologies, fosters innovation and creativity, supports European transport net and agriculture, all while contributing to the economic growth and health of the European Union.

EUSPA offers a diverse multicultural workplace that welcomes all applicants without distinction on any grounds of gender, race, ethnic or social origin, nationality, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, birth, gender identity, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital status or other family situation. EUSPA wishes to employ competent talents and be representative of the diversity of the EU citizens we serve and is committed to provide the best working conditions and benefits to its staff. For more information on the EUSPA and the EU Space Programme, click here.

The selected trainee can be placed in the Finance Department, the Accounting team or the Project Control team in the Project Management Office and Quality Department.

The Finance Department supports the Agency in achieving its goals, particularly regarding all matters related to budgeting and financial management and reporting. The Finance Department is part of the EUSPA’s administration platform, under the steering and supervision of the Head of Administration.

The Accounting team is independent from the Finance Department and reports to the Executive Director. The team ensures the proper management of and reporting of the Agency’s accounts resulting in the compilation of the annual financial statements.

The Project Management Office and Quality (PMQ) Department is part of the functional matrix organization of the Agency and provides the standards, methodologies and tools for the implementation of all EUSPA operational programs and development activities.

The position requires relocation to the Agency’s headquarters in the heart of Europe – Prague – a location with excellent connections to numerous major European cities. The capital of the Czech Republic, in the banks of the Vltava River, is famous for its cultural life, renowned musical life, historic buildings, magical bridges, and recognised museums and monuments.