Description

Earth Observation (EO) Future Small Missions End-to-End System Engineer in the Mission and System Studies Section, Future Missions and Instruments Division, Future Systems and Architecture Department, Directorate of Earth Observation Programmes (D/EOP).

Reporting to the Head of the Mission and System Studies Section in the Future Missions and Instruments Division, you will be involved in the end-to-end preparation of EO future missions through appropriate engineering, coordination and management activities, working in close cooperation with staff within your own and other D/EOP Divisions, notably the Earth and Mission Science Division, and interacting with Earth Observation Users (e.g. Science Mission Advisory Groups).

Duties

Your duties and responsibilities will include:

• contributing to the end-to-end preparation of future EO missions and technologies, including: 

• defining, negotiating, initiating and managing industrial activities including pre-Phase A, mission/architecture studies and Phase A for EO future small missions, for example Scout missions, under the responsibility of the Division, including technical coordination of a small team of engineers, and ensuring handover to the EO Projects Department after mission approval for implementation;
• defining, negotiating, initiating and managing industrial activities for the preparation and development, up to the end of the in-orbit commissioning phase, of small satellites under the responsibility of the Division devoted to in-orbit demonstration of innovative EO techniques enabled by disruptive technologies, for example Phi-sats, including technical coordination of a small team of engineers;
• participating in the evaluation of EO small mission proposals in the framework of the InCubed (Investing in Industrial Innovation) Earth Watch Programme Element in collaboration with EOP-S and with other directorates as appropriate; initiating and managing the resulting activities for their de-risking and implementation when involving upstream (space segment) development or ensuring their handover to the team responsible for the implementation if not managed by the Division;
• participating in industrial activities, including pre-Phase A and mission/architecture studies and Phase A for EO future missions not yet approved for implementation, such as Earth Explorers, Missions of Opportunity, Copernicus and meteorological missions, and supporting handover to the EO Projects Department after approval for implementation;
• initiating and performing internal studies to assess the results of industrial activities;
• initiating and performing internal studies to assess the merit of new end-to-end mission concepts;
• defining and updating system specifications throughout the preparatory phases of EO future missions in close cooperation and direct interaction with the Earth and Mission Science Division and with the relevant Science Mission Advisory Groups or similar Groups to establish the mission requirements, and deriving system requirements traceable to mission requirements and user needs;
• ensuring the technical coherence of the end-to-end system design, including end-to-end mission performance, system-level budgets, system performance analyses, definition of spacecraft and payload subsystems and related data processing, as well as interfaces with the Ground Segment and with the launcher;

Your duties and responsibilities will also include:

• defining, negotiating, initiating and managing end-to-end performance simulator studies in support of the end-to-end definition of EO small missions;
• contributing to the evaluation of industrial and scientific proposals, including those for Earth Explorers and Missions of Opportunity;
• supporting the definition, initiation and management of industrial activities for the preparation phase of EO future missions, such as Earth Explorers, Missions of Opportunity, Copernicus and meteorological missions, under the responsibility of the Division;
• contributing to the preparation of scientific and technical dossiers on EO missions;
• contributing to the analysis of EO developments undertaken by other space agencies in Europe and worldwide, as well as commercial EO initiatives, including NewSpace;
• contributing to the specification and development of the mission analysis, mission performance and system-sizing tools used in the Division;
• monitoring the evolution of EO-relevant NewSpace technologies in cooperation with other sections in the Division and proposing relevant developments;
• encouraging and supporting collaboration and exchange of information within the Agency to promote a standardised approach for small satellite mission preparation and development.

Technical competencies

Behavioural competencies

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

Education

You should have a master’s degree or PhD in engineering or physics.

Additional requirements

• At least four years of relevant experience in cubesat space mission preparation and/or development
• Experience in the preparation (Phases 0 and A) of EO missions 
• Experience of working in a team or project environment 

You should have good interpersonal skills and be able to work, coordinate and interact within small teams as well as autonomously.

You should be able to coordinate and iterate with Earth observation scientists and users for the definition of mission needs and requirements.

You will be expected to contribute to a dynamic and creative environment in the preparatory phases of EO missions.

Familiarity with the development of end-to-end performance simulators and system performance evaluation is desirable.