Young Graduate Trainee for Earth Observation Political Analysis and Management Engineering

The System Architect Office is charged with establishing and maintaining a reference architecture for European Earth observation systems, encompassing all ESA EO missions (Earth Explorers, Sentinels, meteorological, third party) and taking account of European, national and commercial systems. The Office conducts system-of-systems engineering analyses to assess the scientific, technological, industrial and operational synergies between different EO missions and relevant non-space systems with the goal of maximising the return and increasing the attractiveness of investments in future EO missions. The Office maintains and updates the end-to-end CSC system requirements based on EU and Member States’ user requirements.

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

Europe has acquired worldwide leadership in Earth observation which covers scientific, application and commercial sectors. EO is indispensable for applications where Europe has the ambition to act as a global player such as climate change, UN Sustainable Development Goals, etc. and for services that affect the daily lives of us all.  The EU’s Copernicus Programme and Eumetsat’s Meteorology Programmes – both implemented in collaboration with ESA – together with ESA’s Envelope Programme and national EO initiatives constitute the backbone of the European leadership worldwide, achieved mostly with public investment.

Policy decisions are linked to the technical design of a complex, publicly-funded space system as an external constraint. Governments and the public sector finance the research & development of EO satellites, purchase and operate them and procure services provided by EO space systems. The great level of government involvement coupled with the high technical complexity require the integration of both the technical and the political aspects as the system is conceived.

Namely, policy decisions impact EO system architecture objectives that are successively reflected in the technical requirements of the system. Those requirements in turn drive programme cost, performance, schedule and risk which are parameters of primary importance to policy-makers.

The interactions of policy with the system design cannot be treated as traditional technical constraints and require a new framework in which the political-economic and technical aspects of system design interact.

As a YGT you are expected to support the Office’s endeavours in this field by analysing the interactions between the political, technical and operational domains for EO in Europe and by investigating the potential role private actors can play in this eco system.

This can be accomplished in three steps:

1. analyse the interactions between the political, technical and operational domains for the Copernicus Programme from its inception up to today as a case study
2. extrapolate the Copernicus case to an ideal holistic European EO programme that encompasses Copernicus, ESA EO programmes, Eumetsat and national missions, each of them maintaining their known governance
3. analyse and identify paths for the potential role of European industry in this holistic scenario.

You should have just completed, or be in the final year of a university course at Master's level (or equivalent) in a technical or scientific discipline, e.g. political science with a general scientific/technological or business administration background.

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.

You should demonstrate good interpersonal skills and the capacity to work both independently and as part of a team.

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