In support of ESA’s Science, Robotics and Exploration Directorate at ESAC we are looking for : BepiColombo Science Ground Segment Engineering and Management Support

BepiColombo is a joint ESA-JAXA mission to Mercury. The mission comprises two
spacecraft, ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and JAXA’s Mercury
Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO). The two spacecraft will be launched in the third
quarter of 2014 with arrival at Mercury in the 4th quarter of 2020.

The activities of the MPO Science Ground Segment (SGS) include Science Operations
Planning of the MPO payload, science data processing and data distribution to the
instrument teams, quicklook data analysis of science data and archiving of data in
the BepiColombo science archive.

The MPO SGS has interfaces with the Operational Ground Segment (OGS) at ESOC,
the MMO JAXA Sagamihara Space Operations Centre (SSOC), the MPO Instrument
Teams and the Scientific Community. The SGS is based at the European Space
Astronomy Centre (ESAC) in Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain

The selected candidate will work within the engineering team of the SGS. The
engineering team is responsible for the definition, design, development and
maintenance of the SGS systems and the SGS system interfaces.

Main tasks and responsibilities:

- Engineering Support

Within the SGS Engineering Team, the selected candidate will work on requirements
definition and design of SGS subsystems. In particular, he/she shall work on the
definition of the BepiColombo science data archive and SGS systems covering data
processing, data visualisation and data analysis functionalities. Specific tasks
include:

• System and SW Requirement Definition,
• System and SW Architectural Design,
• Verification and Validation activities,
• Supporting the definition of data-sharing and data-processing interfaces with Instrument Teams and the SSOC,
• Generation of subsystem documentation including Subsystem Requirements Specifications, Subsystem Design documents, etc,
• Supporting the System Engineer with the definition of interface agreements,
• Generation of SW development guidelines for external entities.

- Management Support

Within the SGS Engineering Team, the candidate will support the System Engineer
and Development Manager in the preparation and organisation of system reviews
and progress meetings. Specific tasks include:

• Supporting the Development Manager in the preparation and organisation of SGS reviews and progress meetings,
• Participation in SGS reviews and SGS Progress Meetings,
• Configuration Management activities,
• Contribution to SGS management documentation (Project Management Plan, Risk Register, Progress Reports etc),
• Risk Capture, Analysis and Reporting.

Skills and Experience:

• University Degree;
• Good understanding of the BepiColombo mission and, in particular, the SGS.
• Knowledge of MPO scientific payload on a practical level is highly desirable;
• At least 5 years of proven experience in the development and/or maintenance of ground segment systems. The candidate should be open minded and be able to understand the different subsystems as a whole (integrated systems);
• Experience with relational databases (definition/design/implementation) and data definition;
• Experience with XML-technologies;
• Experience in object oriented software design and development (using version control systems);
• Software development processes and tools (configuration management, code generation, continuous integration, automated testing, metrics, coding styles and rules);
• Experience and proficiency in UNIX and Windows systems;
• Experience in Hardware definition for Ground Segments;
• Experience in modelling technologies and methodologies (UML, Eclipse, ...);
• Experience in managing technical processes;
• Good knowledge of product assurance processes and techniques;
• Proficiency working with ESA Standards, Frameworks and Tools (e.g. ECSS);
• Experience in preparation and planning of formal reviews and meetings;
• Experience in elaboration of management and technical documentation;
• Experience in risk capturing, analysis and reporting;
• Good communication skills and willingness to operate in international team;
• Fluent in English; knowledge of another ESA Member State language is an asset.

Starting date: May 2011 or as soon as possible thereafter

An exciting international working environment in a highly innovative and motivated team awaits you!

HE Space Operations is an international human resources company specialised in the space market. We have been providing consultancy services in space engineering and business administration for over 25 years. We generally work directly on-site with our principal customers such as the European Space Agency and EADS Astrium.