SGAC is looking for a full time paid intern to work remotely under the supervision of the Executive Director. The internship will have a duration of 4 months from 1st September 2021 – 31st December 2021. 

Deadline for applications: 25 July 2021

About SGAC

SGAC is an internationally recognised global non-governmental, non-profit (US 501(c)3) organisation with more than 15 000 members, which aims to represent university students and young space professionals to the United Nations, space agencies, industry, and academia. The organisation was born out of the UNISPACE III recommendations in 1999, and has strong relationships with the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs, and the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

Role Description

The SGAC Intern will be accountable for supporting the management of SGAC operations. This includes project planning, scheduling and managing, capacity and utilisation management, delegating work to meet deliverables.

The selected candidate will support different SGAC Executive Office Teams to ensure that communication and workflow is streamlined. The SGAC Intern is responsible for identifying process improvement opportunities that will lead to year-over-year enhanced operations, reduced workload, and make sure that all ongoing work is delivered timely meeting SGAC quality standards.

The SGAC Intern will work with the Executive teams and report to the SGAC Executive Director.

This is a paid, full-time temporary position. The SGAC Intern will work remotely in their usual country of residence and will not be based in Vienna, Austria. The SGAC Intern will be required to undertake all necessary steps relating to any taxes and/or other duties by himself/herself. No VAT is applicable and fiscal obligations will be dealt with by the SGAC Intern following their resident Country fiscal regulations.

Responsibilities

The Remote Intern components of this role have an emphasis on the operations of our organisation and communications management, including working closely with the Executive Office on enabling and facilitating opportunities for SGAC members in the space sector. The latter includes supporting the development of the SGAC administrative and technology infrastructure, branding, web and printed content, and supporting public relations and communication efforts. The Intern will produce improvements to SGAC that ensure the quality of operations and improve communication between the Executive Committee (including RCs, EC Teams)

Tasks include:

  • Support the Co-Chairs, Executive Director and Operations Manager on strategic issues
  • Support the day-to-day activities of the SGAC office
  • Website optimisation
    • Performing preventive and necessary maintenance on our website
    • Restructuring the main menu to make it more user friendly
    • Optimise the website pages to improve load speed for web & mobile  
    • Web accessibility updates
    • WordPress theme updates (Avada)
  • Creation of automated processes for:
    • HR Onboarding and Offboarding tools
    • Google Workspace
    • Ninja Forms optimisation
    • GDPR compliance requirements
  • Creation/Optimisation of database for:
    • Scholarships winners
    • Active members
  • Mailchimp optimisation
    • Maintain the list of contacts up-to-date
    • Introduce tags, if needed
    • Supporting 
  • Jobs Board implementation

Necessary Qualifications

Minimal Requirements:

  • SGAC membership: registration on the SGAC website and being 18-35 years of age for the duration of the appointment
  • Citizenship of a UN member or observer state located in the region (as listed in the SGAC bylaws)
  • Be a motivated young professional or students
  • Must be able to work remotely.
  • Experience and familiarity with the space sector
  • Experience and familiarity with SGAC is preferred
  • Strong working knowledge and experience of computer and cloud applications, such as Microsoft Office, WordPress, Ninja Forms, Zapier, Mailchimp and G-Suite, are required
  • Computer programming skills or experience are expected

Communication skills:

  • Awareness of international cooperation principles, concepts and techniques
  • Cross Cultural and Communication Awareness: ability to establish and maintain professional working relationships with people from various international and cultural backgrounds
  • Professional Fluency (Speaking, Listening, Reading, and Writing) in English. Other language(s) spoken is a plus 
  • Ability to be responsive to communication, with fast response times in email and other forms of communication

Operations and Management skills:

  • Project Management experience is expected
  • Experience with MailChimp is a plus
  • Experience in strategic thinking and problem solving is preferred
  • Proven success in meeting deadlines and be able to work independently and with teams under pressure during fast-turnaround needs
  • Strong Attention to Detail – Eye for Improvement of Processes
  • Excellent multi-tasking skills

This position reports to the SGAC Executive Director. The SGAC Intern acts through a remote work contractor for SGAC, not as an employee. Deliverables and milestones for the role are determined in the contract for this position.  

Time Commitment

This is a full-time remote paid position requiring flexibility and some availability outside of local office hours. As the organisation is volunteer-run and our volunteers are based across time zones all over the world, sometimes it will be required to adjust the working hours to meet organisational needs, and also to contribute more than a typical “9-to-5” office environment and 40 hour work week to meet task deadlines. Passion for what SGAC does is key to the organisation’s success!

  • Opportunities to network closely with current, high-level international space sector
  • Unequalled leadership opportunity and chance to support a team from around the globe
  • A chance to shape the organisation with respect to SGAC’s short-medium term strategic plans
  • Opportunities to support large teams and head important projects
  • Working with the next generation of international space sector leaders in the world’s largest youth space network
  • Access to relevant space policy materials, documents, magazines, etc.

Benefits

  • Remuneration will be negotiated as part of the selection process once the SGAC Intern is selected including potential travel budget for SGAC related events.
  • Meeting and working with young space sector leaders from around the world.
  • Unequalled leadership opportunity to support teams from around the globe, building leadership and management skills that are directly translatable to your career.
  • Having a significant impact on SGAC’s brand and image on the international stage.
  • Contributing to the growth and sustainability of the organisation.

How to apply

To apply for this position, please complete our Vacancy Application by 25 July 2021 with the following documents:

  • A Letter of Intent (maximum 1 page)
  • Your CV (maximum 3 pages)
  • List of three past experiences and how they have prepared you for this role (maximum 1 page)
  • Contact information of 2 references 

Only complete applications will be considered.

Selection Process

A selection committee comprised of the following members will be involved in the selection of candidates for the interview:

  • The SGAC Co-Chairs
  • The SGAC Executive Director
  • The SGAC Operations Manager
  • Two SGAC Executive Committee and/or Operational team Members

The recommendation of the committee will be taken into account by the SGAC Chairs, Executive Director and Operations Manager to determine the next SGAC Intern.

Application Timeline

Application Open: 1 July 2021
Application Close: 25 July 2021
Review of Applications: 26 July 2021 – 8 August 2021
Interview of selected applicants: 9 – 22 August 2021
Announcement of Results: 30 August 2021
Expected starting date: 1 September 2021