Human Resources Officer (Maternity Cover)

Your role

Joining us as HR Officer (B5) you will be part of the HR Operations team and work closely with the HR Business Partner to support the Centre’s staff in Bonn. You serve as the first point of contact for routine staff inquiries regarding working conditions, contractual matters, and other employment-related issues. You will also be responsible for all aspects of HR administration, including the maintenance and organisation of staff records and data in our ERP system. As part of our HR team you collaborate closely with the organisation to address both day-to-day demands of the organisation and our staff. Our HR Operations team is central to ensuring that core HR processes are executed efficiently and reliably.

Your responsibilities

• Act as first point of contact for routine staff questions on employment conditions, the ECMWF staff regulations and procedures, contractual matters, entitlements, benefits, escalating issues when necessary
• Prepare statutory correspondence and letters to staff
• Liaise with the relevant German authorities as required
• Manage the Protocol ID card application process for new staff and process change of circumstances for existing staff
• Coordinate contractual changes requested by departments
• Prepare employment offers, contracts of employment and related documents
• Support the offer management process by liaising with successful candidates on all matters relating to their appointment prior to their commencement of employment
• Coordinate the onboarding and induction process for newly recruited staff
• Assist staff with applications related to visas, local registrations etc.
• Carry out data input to the ERP, including payroll entries, in cooperation with the Payroll Manager
• Monitor sick leave and absences records
• Contribute to other HR projects as required

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 and staff have the option to mix office work and teleworking (up to 10 days/month).

See  for more info about what we do. 

About the Copernicus Programme

Copernicus is the earth observation component of the European Union (EU) space programme. Based on the exploitation of spaced based and in situ (earth-based) observations and scientific models, Copernicus provides information services for land, marine, atmospheric and climate monitoring, as well as emergency management and security. These services, and their free, open and quality assured data and tools, support a range of environmental and security applications across sectors and policy domains. For details, see

The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) service provides consistent and quality-controlled information related to air pollution and health, solar energy, greenhouse gases and climate forcing, everywhere in the world. For details, see

The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) service provides authoritative information about the past, present and future climate, as well as tools to enable climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies by policy makers and businesses. For details, see

About Destination Earth (DestinE)

ECMWF is one of the three entities entrusted to implement the DestinE initiative of the European Commission, alongside with 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. There will also be an enhanced focus on ML activities, including the deployment of workflows of components of a ML model for the Earth system, optimisation of the Digital Twin Engine to enable efficient model training and simulations, and other activities.

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

What we're looking for

• Excellent relationship management skills, including the ability to quickly build trust and credibility with staff in the allocated client groups, with discretion and the ability to maintain the strictest confidentiality
• Capacity to handle multiple issues concurrently and to deliver reliably to tight deadlines
• Attention to detail and diligence
• Initiative and ability to work with minimal supervision
• Strong IT skills, desire to use ERP system to its fullest potential
• Ability to work well as part of a team, taking the lead on some topics, contributing to others
• Solution-oriented, pragmatic approach with the desire to continuously improve processes

Education

• Candidates should have a higher standard of education (EQF Level 4)

Experience, Knowledge, Skills

• Strong experience of working in an HR administrative capacity, ideally in an international environment
• Experience of providing HR support to line managers and individuals
• Excellent working knowledge of Microsoft Office (Word and Excel) is required
• Strong written communication skills to draft and respond to correspondence and enquiries
• Excellent time management skills to meet deadlines
• Candidates must be able to work effectively in English
• Fluency in German (spoken and written) is required given the required interactions with German authorities

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

Other information

Grade remuneration The successful candidate will be recruited according to the scales of the Co-ordinated Organisations. ECMWF offers a generous benefits package - full details of salary scales, allowances and conditions of employment are available on the ECMWF website at www.ecmwf.int/en/about/jobs.

Starting date: 15 August 2025

Location: Bonn, Germany. Candidates are expected to relocate to the duty station.

Interviews will take place via videoconference (MS Team). If you require any special accommodations in order to participate fully in our recruitment process, please contact us via email: jobs@ecmwf.int

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 Cooperating States, listed below, 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, Hungary, Germany, Georgia, Greece, 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.