Role:

As a member of the Control Centre Division, the Consultant shall provide support to the routine monitoring, development and operation of the EUMETSAT dissemination systems.

The duties range from the support to the operation of the various dissemination components, to the analysis, testing, and implementation of new data streams and monitoring and reporting functions. It also includes the setting-up and implementation of operational procedures, and the co-ordination with external organisations and service providers.

In particular the tasks of the Consultant will include:

• Support to routine operations of the dissemination and encryption functions within the EUMETSAT Ground Segments, including performance monitoring and in the case of anomalies, the identification and application of first-line corrective actions. This task requires the provision of stand-by and call-out support out of normal working hours (see below);

• Maintenance of dissemination related databases and configuration files

• Support to the preparation, validation and maintenance of ground segment operational procedures;

• Support to dissemination services related training of the Control Centre Team;

• Support in the analysis and resolution of user enquiries related to dissemination services;

• Support to the H/W and S/W configuration of EUMETCast Reception Stations;

• Support to the roll-out and validation of new releases of EUMETCast Reception Station S/W packages;

• Investigation into system anomalies that impact on the data dissemination services;

• Generation of Engineering Change Proposals to improve the operational effectiveness of the encryption and dissemination functions;

• Support to design, implementation and verification testing of corrections and improvements;

• Coordination of the operational validation of releases and changes affecting the dissemination system

• Definition and implementation of dissemination service monitoring and reporting tools, and generation of related reports;

• Support to the generation and maintenance of a products database for dissemination administration;

• Participation in meetings and reviews.

Profile:

In addition to having a University degree (or equivalent) in a relevant discipline, the Consultant shall have experience in operations or software maintenance of real-time systems, and be familiar with DVB/satellite communications and/or ground segment operations.

The Consultant shall have significant work experience in the Linux and Windows (2000 and XP) Operating System environments.

For the accomplishment of the listed tasks, knowledge and experience of the following is mandatory:

• Computer literacy, including:

- Configuration, installation and scripting for LINUX and Windows;

- Evaluation/analysis of system/application events and logs;

- Tool based presentation of logs and results (EXCEL etc).

• Monitoring of near real time data flows in large computer networks;

• Satellite based or terrestrial data distribution systems;

• Provision of real-time (24/7) data services;

• First and second level support in data services;

• Configuration control.

Furthermore, it would be a distinct advantage for the Consultant to have experience with the following:

• DVB-S based receive-only earth stations for satellite communications;

• IP multicast data distribution systems, such as \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Tellicast\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" provided by Newtec\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\";

• Dissemination of meteorological and/or environmental products;

• Formalised software testing;

• XML language and tools;

• encryption technologies, USB smart cards;

• Interaction with users.

• conduct all activities in an orderly and disciplined manner,

• work calmly and correctly under stress

• work with a minimum of supervision.

• English (and French).

• Good communication skills