Secure Connectivity Ground Segment Service Engineer
Noordwijk, NL
Location
ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands
Description
Secure Connectivity Ground Segment Service Engineer in the Secure Connectivity Ground Segment and Operations Office, within the Secure Connectivity Programme Department in the Directorate of Connectivity and Secure Communications.
The ESA Programme Related to EU Secure Connectivity, also known as Secure Connectivity or IRIS², is intended to support the effective development and validation of the EU Secure Connectivity governmental infrastructure and the services provided by it, as well as the validation and demonstration of services based on the commercial infrastructure developed by the contractors delivering the EU Secure Connectivity governmental infrastructure.
Reporting to the Head of the Secure Connectivity Ground Segment and Operations Office, you will be responsible for supervising all ground segment service engineering tasks related to the effective design and development of the infrastructure providing services to the end users, operated by the IRIS² service management centre, the GOVSATCOM Hub and commercial operators.
Duties
Your tasks and responsibilities will include:
- supervising the end to end technical requirements lifecycle for the IRIS² service component of the ground segment — including OSS and BSS — covering functional, performance, operational and security requirements, as well as their flow-down to lower levels and the definition of associated interfaces;
- coordinating with domain teams, such as operations, security and service management (ITIL), to ensure consistent requirements, aligned processes and coherent operational workflows across the service infrastructure of the ground segment;
- preparing for, contributing to and supporting project reviews at ground segment level, ensuring technical consistency, completeness of inputs, and alignment with applicable standards and milestone objectives;
- supervising the implementation of the service infrastructure activities, ensuring that delivered components meet defined requirements, interface specifications, and verification and validation plans;
- liaising with the system office to ensure correct implementation, integration and validation of the interfaces between the system, the service component of the ground segment and the external interfaces (GOVSATCOM Hub, commercial operator), including support for interface control activities and cross segment coordination;
- supporting the alignment of OSS/BSS workflows with ITIL processes, including incident, problem, change and configuration management, to ensure operational readiness and a smooth service transition;
- monitoring schedules and delivery progress, identifying risks and issues affecting the service infrastructure of the ground segment, conducting technical impact assessments and proposing mitigation actions;
- monitoring and controlling changes and deviations/anomalies related to the service component of the ground segment, ensuring change requests are analysed for technical impact, documented properly, and implemented in a controlled and traceable manner;
- supporting integration activities involving 5G core–related architectures, including the assessment of service based interfaces, exposure mechanisms and operational workflows where applicable to the IRIS² service infrastructure;
- supporting the service and exploitation team at the European Commission managing the overall service lifecycle management (following ITIL).
Technical competencies
Behavioural competencies
Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking
For more information, please refer to ESA Core Behavioural Competencies guidebook
Education and professional experience
A master’s degree in a relevant engineering discipline is required for this post together with 4 years of relevant professional experience. Alternatively, candidates with a bachelor’s degree, complemented by an additional four (4) years of relevant professional experience can be considered.
Additional requirements
- Strong problem-solving skills to deal with day-to-day operational challenges, together with demonstrated planning and organisational skills.
- Strong results 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.
- Direct experience of working with a commercial telecommunications company and operator would be a distinct advantage.
- Experience in public-private partnership projects would be an asset.
- Public speaking experience and the ability to conceptualise complex ideas would be beneficial.
- Experience of working in projects with a security dimension would be beneficial.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness
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, religious beliefs, age, disability or other characteristics.
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 via email at contact.human.resources@esa.int.
Important Information and Disclaimer
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 master’s degree, the position may be filled at A1 level.
Applicants must be eligible to access information, technology, and hardware which is subject to European or US export control and sanctions regulations & eligible to acquire the security clearance by their national security administrations.
During the recruitment process, the Agency may request applicants to undergo selection tests. Additionally, successful candidates will need to undergo basic screening before appointment, which will be conducted by an external background screening service, in compliance with the European Space Agency's security procedures.
Note that ESA is in the process of transitioning to a Matrix setup, which could lead to organisational changes affecting this position.
The information published on ESA’s careers website regarding working conditions is correct at the time of publication. It is not intended to be exhaustive and may not address all questions you would have.
Nationality and Languages
Please note that applications are only considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Canada, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia.
According to the ESA Convention, staff shall be recruited on the basis of their qualifications, taking into account an adequate distribution of posts among nationals of the Member States.
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.