Life at ESA
What is it like to work at ESA and what can you expect as a new staff member once arriving on site? When you join ESA, you join an international and friendly environment that offers a range of benefits and services provided on site. These may vary from establishment to establishment.
Accepting a job at ESA means not only adjusting to a new work environment but, in some cases, also adjusting to a new country, a new culture and a new language. ESA offers a number of services to help you settle into your new environment more easily. The support that ESA provides does not stop there, however. We are committed to ensuring that our staff members have the best possible experience throughout the duration of their employment at the Agency. To this end, numerous services and policies are in place at all ESA establishments to help you to reach your full potential in both your professional and personal life. We endeavour to accommodate your individual needs and personal circumstances at every stage of your career at ESA.
Read on to find out more about the many advantages of having ESA as your employer. More detailed information on each section can be obtained from the local Human Resources team once a contract has been offered.
Moving to ESA
When you start working at ESA as a staff member, your principal residence will need to be within 100km of your workplace. If, as a result, you need to move to a new location, you will be entitled to receive a relocation support package. This includes support to help you find accommodation as well as the reimbursement of your removal expenses, plus an installation allowance to assist with the costs associated with settling into your new home.
This relocation support is provided at the time of joining ESA or when moving to another ESA establishment during your career. Removal expenses are reimbursed at the end of your contract as applicable.
Facilities
We offer a range of facilities and services at all ESA Establishments to improve the quality of your working life and work-life balance:
- subsidised canteen/coffee bar
- medical centre
- travel agency
- free car parking, as well as electric car charging facilities on most sites
- sports facilities including gym, tennis court, five-a-side football pitch, basketball court and exercise classes (depending on the ESA establishment)
- social clubs ranging from photography and gastronomy to sailing, scuba diving and tango dancing (depending on the ESA establishment)
- staff discounts on local services
- after-school childcare (depending on the ESA establishment)
Working hours and flexible working arrangements
ESA is a family-friendly environment offering flexible working arrangements and multiple benefits to its employees for greater work-life balance.
ESA’s standard working pattern is an eight-hour working day and 40-hour week. To help you balance your professional and personal life, we offer a flexible working scheme together with the option to telework from your principal residence and, with some limitations, also from another country plus a part-time scheme (50, 60 or 80%). Some of these benefits, such as part-time working, can be requested once you have been working at ESA for a certain period of time.
Learn more about what we offer.
Leave
ESA staff are entitled to 12 public holidays and 32.5 days of annual leave each year (30 days for Young Graduate Trainees and Internal Research Fellows). Expatriate staff can benefit from an additional eight days home leave every two years, under certain conditions. Home leave also entails payment of a return trip to your home country for you and your family. And, of course, ESA also makes provision for maternity, paternity, parental/family care and sick leave, and can grant special leave for personal and family-related reasons.
Find out more about what we offer.
Childcare
At ESTEC and ESRIN, childcare facilities are available on site. A childcare network agreement has been set up for HQ. For ESOC, a contingent of off-site childcare services is available through the ESOC Childcare Centre.
Language training
ESA supports the integration of new staff and their families by offering language courses. Details will be provided on the kinds of training available and on the financial contribution ESA can offer.
Learn more about Learning and Development Opportunities.
Social clubs
ESA's main establishments offer a wide variety of subsidised social, cultural and sports clubs for staff members and their families. Activities organised by these clubs take place outside working hours. Some will be on site and some will be close by, but whatever your interests, you are sure to find a club that caters for them.
Social engagement: the ESA Humanitarian Relief Fund
Run by ESA employees on a voluntary basis, the ESA HRF works to support small communities around the world by encouraging self-sufficiency, long-term sustainability, educational programmes, clean water and sanitation, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. With the help of all volunteers across the different ESA sites, the HRF committee reviews support requests and grants donations. The projects it supports are smaller-scale, with local management and with minimum overheads. The HRF is accountable to its members and donors and liaises directly with the funded organisations, which report back to the committee on a regular basis and explain how the money was used.
Some establishments offer access to sports facilities on site. Find out more about ESA Establishments.
Medical services
Every main establishment has an in-house medical advisor. It is their job to provide emergency medical care and conduct an annual medical examination of staff. They can also give advice on finding a family doctor, dentist and other local medical services.
Some establishments also have a welfare officer/social worker who can provide support and assistance to staff and their partners and spouses on issues such as stress management, personal problems, childcare facilities and supporting children with a disability.
More information about medical cover can be found in what we offer.
Networks
Partner and spouse support network
ESA has a number of initiatives to help the partners and spouses of staff members settle in and to help those looking for work to find employment. Some establishments have a partner and spouse network, partially run by spouses and partners of staff, to help newcomers adjust to living in the local community. ESA also works with private networks specialising in support for expatriates and exchanges job vacancies with other international organisations that may be present in the locality.
Expat network
There are a number of external sites with useful information for expatriates, including information such as local transportation, international schools, telephone directories, housing, itinerary planning and much more. These sites can provide additional information for prospective candidates. As they are external to ESA's Portal, ESA is not responsible for their content.
Expatica - link to sites for expats in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany
Expatriates - links per country, classifieds and other ads, for and by expats
Expat Focus - general expat site ‘Expat news, community and advice’
British Expats - for British nationals
European Council of International Schools – searchable database of international schools
Jobs in Europe - database of agencies and organisations that deal with multilingual recruitment
More information
Learn more about ways to join us and our recruitment process. You can also browse our current vacancies here.
Meet your future colleagues and find out more about ESA from the people who make it the great place that it is.
More questions? Check out our FAQ page.
