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VN 25/01 Mission Control Applications and Tools Competence Area Manager

The Mission Control Applications and Tools (MCAT) Competence Area ensures, in a matrixed set-up, engineering activities, technical authority and expertise for the development, maintenance and evolution of Mission Control functions for LEO and GEO satellites operated by EUMETSAT such as MTG, EPS-SG, Sentinel 3 and 6, and future programmes.

 Within the Satellite System Ground Segment Division, this international team (20 staff members) is responsible for the engineering of Mission Control, Mission Planning, Flight Dynamics systems, Satellite Simulator, OpsPrep and Monitoring and Performance tools.

 Close coordination and cooperation with mission operations end-users (e.g. operational system and flight control teams) will be essential towards definition and implementation of maintenance plans in support to any phases of mission operations taking into account priorities and contingencies as needed.

 Reporting to the Head of Division, the post-holder will play a key role in leading the MCAT team towards new challenges such as new space missions and further development of SW product lines and multi-mission approaches.

Duties

  • Promote, design, develop and deliver coherent multi-mission Mission Control solutions to ensure timely delivery and very high operational availability whilst containing risks and costs through enhanced product Line management;
  • With your counterpart in Operation and Programmes Preparation and Development, propose and then implement the midterm roadmap for the Mission Control Functional Area;
  • Ensure leadership and guidance to the team while delegating tasks and activities and foster professional development of each staff members;
  • Secure long-term availability of the critical skills and develop technical expertise required to design, develop and maintain Mission Operation Control Systems in a cost effective manner;
  • Ensure budget management and optimized renewal and management of industrial contracts for engineering support and SW development/upgrades;
  • Implement and tailor engineering processes, design methodologies and supporting framework in collaboration with the Software Engineering Coordinator and System Engineering teams;
  • Represent EUMETSAT in the relevant area of responsibility at technical and standardisation bodies.
 

LOCATION

Darmstadt, Germany

QUALIFICATIONS

A university degree (or equivalent) in a relevant engineering discipline.

LANGUAGES

The official languages of EUMETSAT are English and French. Candidates must be able to work effectively in English and have some knowledge of French.

DEADLINE

24 February 2025

Duties

  • Promote, design, develop and deliver coherent multi-mission Mission Control solutions to ensure timely delivery and very high operational availability whilst containing risks and costs through enhanced product Line management;
  • With your counterpart in Operation and Programmes Preparation and Development, propose and then implement the midterm roadmap for the Mission Control Functional Area;
  • Ensure leadership and guidance to the team while delegating tasks and activities and foster professional development of each staff members;
  • Secure long-term availability of the critical skills and develop technical expertise required to design, develop and maintain Mission Operation Control Systems in a cost effective manner;
  • Ensure budget management and optimized renewal and management of industrial contracts for engineering support and SW development/upgrades;
  • Implement and tailor engineering processes, design methodologies and supporting framework in collaboration with the Software Engineering Coordinator and System Engineering teams;
  • Represent EUMETSAT in the relevant area of responsibility at technical and standardisation bodies.

Skills and Experience

Knowledge and experience required:

  •  Minimum 10 years’ experience developing and maintaining critical software applications for satellite ground segments;
  • Demonstrated ability to lead and coordinate large engineering teams, including project management and development of key competences;
  • Experience in change management process in an operational environment;
  • Proven experience in the procurement and management of industrial contracts for SW application development and engineering support services;
  • Excellent interpersonal, communication skills (both written and verbal) including demonstrated experience in writing technical documents and to present to management and/or non-experts;
  • Experience liaising with international space-industry partners, space agencies and user communities for satellite Mission Operation Control systems would be advantageous.

 Knowledge and experience in the following areas/systems would be a distinct advantage:

  •  Mission control functions within a typical space mission flight operations sub-segment;
  • Engineering support to flight control teams for LEO and/or GEO mission operations.

Employment Conditions

The initial contract will be of 4 years’ duration, with subsequent 5 year contracts being awarded thereafter, subject to individual performance and organisation requirements. There is no limit to the amount of follow-up contracts a staff member can receive up to the EUMETSAT retirement age of 63 and there are certainly opportunities to establish a long career perspective at EUMETSAT.
This post is graded A4/A5 on the EUMETSAT salary scales. The minimum basic salary for this post is EURO 10,524 per month (net of internal tax but excluding pension contribution and insurances) which may be negotiable on the basis of skills and experience. The salary scale provides for increments on the anniversary of taking up employment, and scales are reviewed by the EUMETSAT Council with effect from 1 January each year. In addition to basic salary, EUMETSAT offers attractive benefits. Further information, including salary details, is available on the EUMETSAT web site.

EUMETSAT is committed to providing an equal opportunities work environment for men and women.
Please note that only nationals of EUMETSAT Member States may apply. The EUMETSAT Convention requires that Staff shall be recruited on the basis of their qualifications, account being taken of the international character of EUMETSAT. Applicants are required to disclose
all nationalities they have held and currently hold in order to determine whether they can
exercise the role as advertised in compliance with applicable export control regulations.

About EUMETSAT

EUMETSAT is Europe’s meteorological satellite agency. Its role is to establish and operate meteorological satellites to monitor the weather and climate from space - 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This information is supplied to the National Meteorological Services of the organisation's Member States in Europe, as well as other users worldwide.

EUMETSAT also operates several Copernicus missions on behalf of the European Union and provide data services to the Copernicus marine and atmospheric services and their users.

As an intergovernmental European Organisation, EUMETSAT has 30 Member States (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.)

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