Young Graduate Trainee in ISS Operations Support

Young Graduate Opportunity in the Directorate of Human and Robotic Exploration Programmes

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 F1 on the Coordinated Organisations’ salary scale .

Location

ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany 

Our team and mission

The Directorate of Human and Robotic Exploration is the main ESA entity in charge of supporting and coordinating efforts towards the current and the future endeavors of human spaceflight. The exploration activities are part of the strategic plans in securing a central role for Europe with respect to the global initiatives. The European Exploration Envelope Programme (E3P) is integrating the ESA activities in this field to ensure a single exploration process. The strategy includes three destinations where humans will work with robots to gather new knowledge: Low Earth Orbit (LEO), the Moon, and Mars.

The European Astronaut Centre (EAC) is the European centre of excellence for astronaut training, operations and space medicine. Home to ESA’s astronaut corps, it equips Europeans to fly to the International Space Station today, while preparing for an exciting future of space exploration beyond low Earth orbit. 

This team and its subsidiary, the EAC Crew Operations Support (ECOS) team, is responsible for operational preparation and real-time execution support of technology demonstrators in the fields of crew support, medical support and training on the International Space Station.  

You are encouraged to visit the ESA website: http://www.esa.int

Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeship

As Young Graduate Trainee you will gain in depth knowledge of operational preparation of technology demonstration activities onboard ISS. This includes the development of operational products, procedures, telemetry and commanding files and displays. You will support the team in developing an integrated and dynamic mission preparation checklist to support operations preparation and to serve as an integrated repository for all the documentation related to a certain payload.

You will be involved in future developments of operational tool enhancements, among those the data tool (A2D2) of the ANITA-2 payload which is an analysing interferometer for ambient air, currently operating on ISS.

Furthermore, you will be involved in the development of tools and methodologies to streamline the processes for transferring all the payload data from ECOS to the Science Data Center (SDC), with the final goal of supporting the scientific data dissemination.
Finally, you will help increasing the visibility of the work performed by the ESA Operations Teams by establishing an interface to the ESA education/public outreach team to reach out to the young generation and motivate future flight controllers and engineers.

Technical competencies

Knowledge of relevant technical domains

Relevant experience gained during internships/project work

Breadth of exposure coming from past and/or current research/activities

Knowledge of ESA and its programmes/projects

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation

Operational Efficiency

Fostering Cooperation

Relationship Management

Continuous Improvement

Forward Thinking

Education

You should have just completed or be in the final year of your master’s degree in engineering or IT discipline.

Additional requirements

Specific competence in one of the following disciplines shall be considered an asset: Software development and programming experience

You should have good interpersonal and communication skills and should be able to work in a multi-cultural environment, both independently and as part of a team.

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.

During the interview motivation and overall professional perspective/career goals will also be explored.

Other information

For behavioural competencies expected from ESA staff in general, please refer to the ESA Competency Framework .

For further information on the Young Graduate Programme please visit: Young Graduate Programme andFAQ Young Graduate Programme

Applicants must be eligible to access technology and hardware which is subject to European and US export control regulations.

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 [email protected] .

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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, and the United Kingdom. Nationals from Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia, as  Associate Member States, or Canada as a Cooperating State, can apply as well as those from Bulgaria, Croatia and Cyprus as European Cooperating States (ECS).

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 candidates from under-represented Member States *. 

In accordance with the European Space Agency’s 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. 

*Member States, Associate Members or Cooperating States.