Experienced Project Assistant

Job Posting Organization:
CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is a leading scientific research institution established in 195

• It is located in Geneva, Switzerland, and is known for its groundbreaking work in particle physics. CERN employs over 2,500 staff members and collaborates with thousands of scientists from around the world, representing more than 100 nationalities. The organization operates in multiple countries and is dedicated to pushing the frontiers of science and technology, fostering an environment of innovation and collaboration.

Job Overview:
The position of Project Assistant within the Accelerator and Technology Sector (ATS) at CERN is crucial for supporting large-scale scientific international projects. The ATS comprises four departments: Beams, Engineering, Accelerator Systems, and Technology, all of which are responsible for the sector's main technical activities. The ATS Directorate Office (ATS-DO Unit) houses the Project Office, which is tasked with overseeing various strategic projects, including the HL-LHC Project and European projects. The Project Assistant will play a key role in coordinating and delivering complex projects, ensuring effective planning, stakeholder engagement, and timely completion of project deliverables. This role requires a proactive approach to project governance and performance monitoring, as well as the ability to manage logistics for workshops and events, ensuring successful outcomes for major projects and studies.

Duties and Responsibilities:
The Project Assistant will be responsible for leading the coordination and delivery of complex European and strategic projects. This includes effective planning, stakeholder engagement, milestone tracking, risk management, documentation, reporting, and ensuring timely completion of project deliverables. The role involves managing the end-to-end ATS Specification Committee technical review process, coordinating multidisciplinary stakeholders, overseeing workflows and schedules, ensuring compliance with procurement and audit requirements, and driving the timely execution of actions, deliverables, KPIs, and reporting. Additionally, the Project Assistant will drive project governance and performance monitoring by maintaining project plans, tracking progress against objectives, consolidating status reports, managing documentation and repositories (EDMS, CERNBox, JIRA), and proactively resolving issues that may impact schedules or deliverables. The role also includes planning and coordinating workshops, technical reviews, and large-scale project events, managing logistics, stakeholder engagement, documentation, follow-up actions, and decision tracking to support successful project outcomes. Furthermore, the Project Assistant will coordinate communication and outreach activities for major projects and studies, developing communication plans, aligning stakeholders, supporting change management efforts, and ensuring clear, consistent messaging across CERN departments and external partners.

Required Qualifications:
Candidates must demonstrate experience in the planning, coordination, and delivery of workshops, meetings, reviews, or other large-scale events. They should have experience working in an international and multicultural environment, as well as experience in a scientific, technical, engineering, or project-based environment. The ability to understand and support complex technical activities is essential. Strong organizational and planning skills are required, along with the ability to manage multiple priorities, work autonomously, and contribute effectively within a multidisciplinary team. A proactive, service-oriented, and solution-driven approach is necessary, along with excellent communication skills and the ability to build effective relationships with a wide range of stakeholders. Candidates should also possess the ability to interact effectively with a diverse range of stakeholders and engage with technical topics, rapidly acquiring knowledge of project-related matters to support project leaders, coordinators, and committee Chairs. Attention to detail, flexibility, and adaptability to changing priorities are also important.

Educational Background:
Candidates must hold a professional background in Administration, Event Management, or a related field. They should possess either a Master's degree with 2 to 6 years of post-graduation professional experience or a PhD with no more than 3 years of post-graduation professional experience. It is important that candidates have never held a CERN fellow or graduate contract before.

Experience:
The position requires candidates to have a professional background in Administration, Event Management, or a related field, with specific experience in planning, coordination, and delivery of large-scale events. Candidates should have 2 to 6 years of post-graduation professional experience if they hold a Master's degree, or up to 3 years of experience if they hold a PhD. Experience in an international and multicultural environment is also essential, as well as familiarity with scientific, technical, engineering, or project-based environments.

Languages:
Fluency in spoken and written English is mandatory, and candidates should demonstrate a commitment to learning French. This bilingual capability is important for effective communication within the diverse environment at CERN.

Additional Notes:
The contract duration for this position is 24 months, with a possible extension of up to 36 months. The working hours are set at 40 hours per week, and the position is fully onsite. The target start date for this role is January 1, 202

• The job reference is ATS-DO-2026-162-GRAP. The position offers a monthly net stipend of either 6372 or 7004 Swiss Francs, depending on the candidate's degree. Additional benefits include 30 days of paid leave per year, coverage by CERN’s comprehensive health insurance scheme, family allowances, a relocation package, and opportunities for on-the-job and formal training, including language classes.