Introduction

OPERAS is the Research Infrastructure supporting open scholarly communication in the social sciences and humanities (SSH) in the European Research Area. Its mission is to coordinate and federate resources in Europe to efficiently address the scholarly communication needs of European researchers in the field of SSH.

The European landscape of scholarly communication in the SSH is currently patchy, fragmented and not organised enough to be efficient, particularly to address the challenge of transitioning to Open Science. This is due to several factors, such as the small size of resource providers, the variety of technical skills and resources across the community. The nature of the SSH disciplines also adds specific challenges which are not correctly addressed at scale, such as the diversity of publication languages, the entrenchment in diverse cultural backgrounds and the need for specific forms of scholarly communication (monographs, critical editions, and edited bibliographies, amongst others).

By fulfilling its mission, OPERAS provides the research community with the missing brick it needs to find, access, create, edit, disseminate and easily and efficiently validate SSH outputs across Europe. In one word, OPERAS unlocks scholarly communication resources and enables the whole field to reinvent itself in the new Open Science paradigm.

The OPERAS AISBL was established in 2020, and we are now seeking to recruit a Project Manager for this organisation.

OPERAS Project Management Office

The Project Management Office at OPERAS serves as the central hub for the supervision, coordination, and operations related to OPERAS project portfolio, including prospective projects and the full life cycle of funded projects.

Job Summary

The Project Management Officer works under the supervision of the Project Portfolio Manager for the daily implementation and management of OPERAS’ funded projects. The Project Management Officer is involved in both OPERAS’ coordinated projects and OPERAS’ participated projects.

Key responsibilities

The main tasks and responsibilities are centred around the daily administration of the project consortium, monitoring of the resources and the implementation of the quality control management as well as reporting. The tasks and responsibilities are organised around three main aspects, described here below.

Coordinated projects

• Establish newly funded projects by setting up the Grant Agreement and Consortium Agreement in liaison with the Project Portfolio Manager; 
• Organise and maintain project information infrastructure, including Confluence spaces, Google Shared Drives, mailing lists, and other collaborative tools;
• Facilitate project board meetings through logistical organisation and minutes writing;
• Execute quality control and assurance in line with project procedures 
• Contribute to project deliverables and milestones, including technical writing, final quality reviews, etc.;
• Support the preparation and processing of Grant Agreement amendments;
• Implement the continuous reporting via EU funding & tenders portal;
• Organise internal project monitoring through the OPERAS project management tools;
• Support the full lifecycle of technical and financial periodic reporting, from data consolidation to final preparation for review. 

Participated projects

• Get acquainted with new EU regulations and processes;
• Responsible for the preparation of intermediate and periodic reports, including financial statements; 
• Collaborate with the project portfolio manager to analyse the use of resources;
• For prospective projects: collect OPERAS’ budget plans, submit required data on the EU portal.

Information Management System

• Get acquainted with the project management processes as part of the OPERAS Integrated Management System;
• Responsible for maintaining proposals and projects’ information in the OPERAS Integrated Management System.

 Relationships

• Daily with the Project Portfolio Manager;
• With the Secretary General and Finance-Administration and HR team;
• With the OPERAS project representatives;
• With the OPERAS Coordination Team (OCT) of OPERAS AISBL at large;
• With the project partners. 

Job Requirements

• At least 2-3 years of experience in European Commission Framework Programme project finances and associated legal issues, or a diploma in project management with expertise on EU-funded projects.
• Background or experience in Social Sciences and Humanities would be an asset.
• Experience with office management software like MS Office (MS Excel and MS Word, specifically).
• Basic knowledge of the principles of an Integrated Management System is an added value.
• Self-motivated to learn new concepts and participate in new projects.
• Excellent organisational and time management skills with a good attention to detail.
• Ability to communicate clearly, concisely and concretely in writing (project reporting, minutes, official exchanges with externals).
• Ability to manage competing priorities and conflicting deadlines.
• Professionalism and discretion in handling confidential and sensitive situations and matters.
• Natural ability to work effectively in a team, with experience collaborating in a multi-disciplinary, diverse, and dynamic team.
• Fluent in English; speaking another language is an asset.

Offer

• The position is offered for a fixed-term period of up to 3 years, which can potentially be extended.
• This is a full-time position preferably based in Brussels.
• Remote working and/or part-time opportunities can be considered.
• Annual gross salary including bonus: 35k to 50k
  Salary depends on the experience of the successful candidate. Full package may vary depending on the country of living, if working from a different country than Belgium.

Equal opportunities

The OPERAS AISBL is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunities employer.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age or veteran status.

Process and timescale 

This is an open process. Qualified applicants, with the right experience, will be interviewed as their application comes in, on a first-come – first-served basis.

The search will stop as soon as we find the right fit and the successful applicant is expected to start as soon as possible.

Information to apply

Please send a cover letter and your CV to 202607-pmo@operas-eu.org. An assessment may be part of the selection process. Only direct applications from candidates are considered.

OPERAS AISBL does not appreciate any acquisition by third parties regarding this position. For additional information about this position, you may contact OPERAS’ Human Resources team at HR@operas-eu.org.