Description

The European Space Agency maintains a world-leading Science Programme with missions in heliophysics, planetary science, astrophysics and fundamental physics. Its mission is to ‘Empower Europe to lead space science’. 

The Science Operations Department (SCI-S) within ESA’s Directorate of Science hosts the scientists and engineers that oversee the space missions from study to end of operations. It develops the science operation systems for the missions and operates the missions in space, as well as archiving and curating their data during operations and beyond. Its main objective is to maximise the scientific output of the missions for the benefit of humankind.

As Science Operations System Engineer, you will support the design, implementation and testing of the science ground segment system, particularly the Science Operation Centres of our science missions. You will initially be assigned to the EnVision mission and report to the EnVision Science Operations Development Manager in the Science Operations Development Division.

EnVision will be the first mission to investigate Venus from its inner core to its upper atmosphere, characterising the interaction between its different envelopes: its atmosphere, surface/subsurface and interior. It aims to provide a holistic view of Venus, studying the planet’s history, activity and climate. EnVision is targeting a launch in the early 2030s.

Duties

You will be responsible for the science operations system engineering activities of the EnVision mission for the remainder of the development and operations phases in the Science Operation Centre (SOC), the ESA components of the science ground segment (SGS). The SOC, based at ESAC (Madrid, Spain), is responsible for the science planning, data processing and archiving activities of ESA’s contribution to the mission’s science operations. The Mission Operations Centre (MOC), based at ESOC (Darmstadt, Germany), is responsible for all spacecraft operations.

You will work in close collaboration with the Science Operations development team, Project Teams, Project Scientist, Mission Operations Centres at ESOC and Instrument Teams.

Your tasks and responsibilities will include:

• setting up and maintaining the system engineering processes of the EnVision Science Operations Centre (SOC) and supporting in this matter the entire Science Ground Segment (SGS) during the development and operations phases;
• defining, formalising and maintaining the required EnVision SOC interfaces with the Instrument Teams and the Missions Operations Centre;
• leading the SOC system design and requirement definition;
• leading the overall EnVision science operations integration and testing of the uplink and downlink systems, and coordinating the EnVision SGS test campaigns, monitoring the contributions expected from the Instruments Teams and performing jointly the end-to-end validation campaigns;
• contributing to the definition and populations of the operations plan and associated operational procedures within the SOC and across the wider science ground segment elements;
• maintaining and adapting the overall architecture and the system configuration during the cruise and nominal EnVision mission phases;
• keeping abreast of technological developments in software engineering to detect potential applications within the Science Operations Department and to provide inputs on the strategic and technical long-term evolution of software supporting science operations;
• other tasks related to the Department’s activities in science operations.

Your position is expected to evolve to also support multi-mission solutions for science ground segments and potentially other planetary missions in development in the Division.

Technical competencies

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking

Education

A master’s degree in engineering, space science, space applications or equivalent is required for this post.

Additional requirements

One or more of the following would be additional assets for the position:

• Experience in designing scalable and distributed systems, preferably for science operations
• Experience in project management in development activities involving multiple interfaces in the context of space science
• Knowledge of science data processing
• Experience in operations planning
• Strong problem-solving skills to deal with day-to-day operational challenges, together with demonstrated planning and organisational skills
• Strong result orientation with the ability to set priorities and present practical solutions both orally and in writing
• The ability to manage challenging situations proactively and constructively and to be customer focused
  

People management experience would be an asset, as would international experience, i.e. outside your home country, as well as experience in diverse functional areas relevant to ESA activities.