Experiment System Engineer; Noordwijk, NL

Position: Experiment System Engineer (Noordwijk, NL)
Location: Noordwijk

This is a  fixed-term appointment  with an initial duration of 4 years. Depending upon performance and organisational needs, the appointment may be extended up to a possible maximum duration of 8 years.

Location:

ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands

Description
Experiment System Engineer in the Astrophysics and International Collaboration Missions Section (SCI-FEA) within the Prodex Office (SCI-FE), Future Missions Department (SCI-F), Directorate of Science. Prodex is an optional programme dedicated to the development of scientific instruments and experiments for space science missions. The SCI-FEA section is responsible for implementation and monitoring of activities relating to astrophysics and fundamental physics science missions such as Athena, LISA and Ariel, and to external international partners with export control constraints.

The other section, the Planetary Exploration and Solar System Missions Section (SCI-FEP), addresses activities relating to ESA’s solar and planetary exploration missions, including Envision, Comet Interceptor, the upcoming M7 mission, and the ISS. Developments in other domains may be entrusted to either section to ensure appropriate workforce balancing. Besides the Prodex Programme, the Future Missions Department is responsible for preparing future missions and defining and implementing small/fast missions such as Comet Interceptor and ARRAKIHS, within the Directorate of Science.

Duties
You will be responsible for implementing and monitoring several Prodex activities assigned to you, with an emphasis on scientific space instrumentation development. The developments may involve industry and/or scientific institutes and may cover either a full instrument or instrument subsystem contributions.

Establishing the overall work programme for the development of Prodex experiments within the scientific institutes in line with instructions from the relevant delegations.

Monitoring the technical, schedule and financial status of experiment developments, identifying potential problem areas and proposing remedial actions.

Assisting, in coordination with scientific institutes and project teams, in the preparation of tender documents, participating in proposal evaluations, preparing the information required for contract negotiations and subsequently monitoring the end‑to‑end development of projects/activities contracted to industrial consortiums.

Supporting the review of project implementation proposals and implementing new development activities as assigned.

Liaising between the relevant scientific institutes and industry for the duration of the contracts, interfacing with internal ESA project teams or specialists on technical/programmatic matters and with the relevant financial and procurement experts on financial and contractual matters.

Acting as the focal point for technical and administrative interfaces between the Prodex experiments and your Head of Section.

Regular reporting to your line manager on the status of the activities and any difficulties encountered, including written input as requested.

Technical competencies

Demonstrated experience in system engineering and AIV.

Hands‑on scientific (space) hardware development experience.

Design, development and verification of scientific (space) instrumentation, including optics, detection and electronic subsystems, and mechanical and thermal aspects.

Management of industrial development activities, including reviews of developments by industrial and/or research institute consortiums.

Knowledge of cost and schedule elements of (space) hardware development contracts.

Experience in managing scientific space hardware developments with multiple interfaces, such as scientific investigators, experiment consortiums, space agencies’ project teams and industry.

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation

Operational Efficiency

Fostering Cooperation

Relationship Management

Continuous Improvement

Forward Thinking

Education and professional experience
A master’s degree or equivalent in physics, space engineering or instrumentation engineering is required for this post, together with at least four years of relevant professional experience. A PhD is considered an…