Vacancy in the Directorate of Operations.
ESA is an equal opportunity employer, committed to achieving diversity within the workforce and creating an inclusive working environment. We therefore welcome applications from all qualified candidates irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, beliefs, age, disability or other characteristics. Applications from women are encouraged.
This post is classified A2-A4 on the Coordinated Organisationsโ salary scale.
Location
ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany
Description
Aurora and VISDOMS are missions of the COSMIC segment of the Space Safety Programme targeted for launch in 2027. The two small satellite missions are demonstration missions, each with a total satellite mass of about 200 kg. The Aurora-D demonstrator mission will pave the way for an operational small satellite constellation (Aurora-C), that will carry two wide field auroral imagers and a combined magnetometer and radiation monitor to continuously observe the aurora from a medium Earth orbit at around 7000 km altitude. VISDOMS, which stands for \"Verification of In Situ Debris Optical Monitoring from Space\" will demonstrate how our knowledge of space debris statistics can be enhanced by performing observations with a dedicated optical telescope in low Earth orbit.
You will report to the Head of the Space Weather Office. The Office is part of the Space Safety Programme Office within the Directorate of Operations.
Duties
Your tasks and responsibilities will include:
- supporting the Project Manager in establishing and maintaining the system requirements and in designing the missions to meet the agreed observational performance;
- ensuring the coherence and compliance of the system performance with the mission requirements and the proper flow-down of the requirements to the system definition and specifications;
- monitoring the system definition, design, development and verification at all levels (platform, instruments, satellite, launcher, ground segment, operations);
- ensuring that all project segments with their technical and programmatic interfaces are correctly defined, implemented and verified;
- ensuring system end-to-end performance by actively monitoring mission performance analyses and the development of related tools;
- monitoring the work of the mission prime contractors and actively supporting the progress in development;
- monitoring and ensuring proper interface definitions and control between the platform and the instruments and between the Mission Operation Centre and the Payload Data Centre;
- monitoring the satellite development and its assembly, integration and verification;
- monitoring the implementation of the mission operations and data processing chain up to level 1, including data distribution for higher level processing;
- supporting the preparation of the development of the Aurora constellation;
- supporting the organisation and execution of project reviews;
- coordinating system-related engineering functional and service support;
- participating in other development tasks of the Space Safety offices where your experience is relevant.
Technical competencies Broad knowledge of space system engineering and related elements (satellites, instrumentation, ground and operations)Experience with space system design, development and techniques in all development phasesSystem thinking with solid knowledge and understanding of interrelations, requirements engineering, maintenance and verificationEstablishment of system requirements and their management (e.g. with DOORS)Establishment of interface requirements, as well as management and controlExperience with Space Engineering Standards, tailoring and their application in the development
Behavioural competencies
Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward ThinkingEducation
A Master's degree in engineering or physics is required for this post.
Additional requirements
Proven experience in the area of space systems development and engineering.
In addition, you should have experience in:
- the planning and distribution of system engineering support activities and providing the related guidance;
- the development of satellite systems, with a good understanding of mission-related instrumentation and spacecraft requirements for imaging applications;
- satellite development, satellite sub-systems, project reviews, satellite AIT and launch.
Knowledge of the following technical domains would be an asset:
- spacecraft and instrument engineering under severe space weather conditions;
- model-based systems engineering methodologies and tools;
- electrical engineering, communication systems and data handling architectures.
Other information
For behavioural competencies expected from ESA staff in general, please refer to the ESA Competency Framework.
For further information please visit: Professionals, What we offer and FAQ
The working languages of the Agency are English and French. A good knowledge of one of these is required. Knowledge of another Member State language would be an asset.
The Agency may require applicants to undergo selection tests.
At the Agency we value diversity and we welcome people with disabilities. Whenever possible, we seek to accommodate individuals with disabilities by providing the necessary support at the workplace. The Human Resources Department can also provide assistance during the recruitment process. If you would like to discuss this further please contact us email contact.human.resources@esa.int.
Please note that applications are only considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
According to the ESA Convention, the recruitment of staff must take into account an adequate distribution of posts among nationals of the ESA Member States*. When short-listing for an interview, priority will first be given to internal candidates and secondly to external candidates from under-represented Member States*.
In accordance with the European Space Agencyโs security procedures and as part of the selection process, successful candidates will be required to undergo basic screening before appointment conducted by an external background screening service.
In principle, recruitment will be within the advertised grade band (A2-A4). However, if the selected candidate has less than four years of relevant professional experience following the completion of the masterโs degree, the position may be filled at A1 level.
*Member States, Associate Members or Cooperating States.