Operations Officer

Are you an enthusiastic and organised administrator with an eye for detail and a passion for international collaboration? Una Europa is recruiting for a Junior Operations Officer to strengthen the alliance’s central office based in Brussels and contribute to effective collaboration across the eleven partner universities. Through the Seed Funding initiative and other alliance activities, the successful candidate will contribute to building and strengthening collaborations among researchers, professional services staff and students across the Una Europa universities.
This is an entry-level role ideal for someone looking to gain experience across a range of activities in a leading European Universities alliance.

Responsibilities

This role has been designed to support alliance-wide coordination, administration, community-building activities, and events, with a particular focus on the administrative implementation, monitoring and reporting of the Una Europa Seed Funding initiative.
Key tasks:

• Hands-on implementation of Una Europa Seed Funding in collaboration with experienced colleagues, including support for call design, tasks related to project implementation, and acting as the first point of contact for the initiative.
• Overseeing administrative reporting of Una Europa Seed Funding initiative with a focus on monitoring project outcomes, finances and capturing impact on engagement of Una Europa academic community, in collaboration with partner universities.
• Liaison with operational and administrative colleagues across the Una Europa partner universities, including on coordination of meetings.
• Support for the organisation of virtual, in-person and hybrid meetings, notably calendar coordination, minute-writing, and logistical assistance such as booking travel, room reservations, and liaison with external suppliers.
• Administrative support for Una.Connect, Una Europa's virtual community-building platform hosted on Microsoft Teams.
• Administrative support for projects of strategic impact at the level of the alliance, and at European level.
• Operational support for Secretary General and other members of the Brussels team on administrative tasks.
• Other tasks in line with the position.

Skills and competences

• Preferably 2 years of relevant work experience. Relevant internships, student jobs, and/or university association experience are highly valued.
• Relevant professional experience in administration, project support or programme coordination.
• Excellent digital skills, including command of MS Office 365 (Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, OneNote, Excel, Word and PowerPoint).
• Spoken and written language proficiency in English; ability to work in Dutch an advantage.
• A proactive attitude, ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment, as part of an international team.
• Intercultural competences and skills, at ease working across different cultures.
• Excellent organisational skills, problem solving skills and an eye for detail.
• Interest in and affinity for higher education and European university collaboration.
• Flexibility, enthusiasm, eagerness to learn and confidence to work across a variety of tasks.

What we offer

• Full-time contract for a duration of 2 years under Belgian law and attractive salary package in line with experience and skills. Openness to discuss flexible working arrangements.
• Additional benefits, including extralegal holidays, meal vouchers, group insurance and hospitalisation insurance policies.
• Collaborative work environment within an international team based at an office in the centre of Brussels, easily reachable by public transport. Remote working arrangements possible.
• Opportunity for occasional travel within Europe (approximately 2 times per year).
• Access to professional development and training opportunities.

Una Europa is committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse environment where everyone feels valued and respected. We welcome applications from individuals with diverse abilities, of any gender, linguistic and cultural background, or minority group. We encourage applications from candidates who meet most, but not necessarily all, of the listed requirements.

How to apply

Candidates who wish to apply for the position should submit the following information:

• Application letter, explaining why you are interested in the position and your strengths as a candidate (maximum 2 pages).
• A current CV detailing relevant experience (maximum 2 pages).

Please submit your application via email with the subject line ‘Una Europa Junior Operations Officer’ to [email protected].

Application deadline: Friday 20 November, 17.00 CET.

Key dates

Interview dates:

• First round interviews foreseen to take place virtually on either Monday 30 November or Tuesday 1 December.
• Second round interviews foreseen to take place in person in Brussels on Tuesday 8 December (afternoon).

Anticipated start date: Mid-January 2027.

About Una Europa

Eleven leading European research universities have come together to create a unique alliance – Una Europa. The Una Europa partners are Freie Universität Berlin, Alma Master Studiorum Università di Bologna, University College Dublin / An Coláiste Ollscoile Baile Átha Cliath, University of Edinburgh, University of Helsinki / Helsingfors universitet, Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie, Universiteit Leiden, KU Leuven, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, and Universität Zürich. Una Europa aims to draw on our collective strengths to create a truly European inter-university environment: a University of the Future.

Una Europa has been formally established as a non-profit association under Belgian law (asbl/vzw) to ensure the sustainability of the alliance. Our central office is based in Brussels. The objectives of the association are inter alia to promote cooperation between the university partners, to create a culture of excellence in education and research, and to contribute to the development of the European Education Area and the European Research Area.

In June 2019, Una Europa was selected by the European Commission to be among the first ‘European Universities’ pilots. The pilot was extended in July 2022 through the Una.Futura project, which is supported by the European Commission through the Erasmus+ Programme’s European Universities initiative. Serving a community of more than 500,000 students, the alliance co-develops pilots and innovative formats for interdisciplinary, transnational and inclusive education, aimed at supporting future European citizens. We are co-designing challenge-based curricula, problem-oriented and interactive modules, thereby highlighting the inherent link between education, research, and innovation.