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VN 26/26 Junior Data Repositories Operations Engineer (Early Careers Employment Programme)

Ready to launch your career with Europe’s meteorological satellite agency? At EUMETSAT, we go beyond monitoring weather and climate from space, we deliver critical satellite data to our member states and the European Union, supporting weather forecasts, climate services and civil protection 24/7, 365 days a year.

 Within the User Support and Climate Services Division of the EUMETSAT Operations and Services to Users Department, a dynamic and dedicated team of operations engineers, archive operators and user support experts ensures the seamless operation of EUMETSAT’s online data access services and Data Archive. These services provide efficient discovery, search and on‑demand access to satellite data and products, while also guaranteeing their secure, long-term preservation.

 As a junior operations engineer in this team, reporting to the Data Services and Archive Operations Team Leader, you will play an important role in maintaining the reliability and performance of these services for our global user community.  You will work alongside experienced colleagues, gaining hands-on experience with operational systems and modern data technologies.  The role is expected to evolve progressively, with the successful candidate taking on increasing responsibility.

Duties

  • Contribute to the day‑to‑day operations of the Data Services and Archive Operations by monitoring systems, identifying anomalies or trends, and providing relevant input to colleagues to support the coordination of operations and maintenance activities with ground segment teams. Prepare and maintain clear, up‑to‑date operational procedures covering routine tasks and recovery actions, enabling first‑line support to respond consistently and effectively when unexpected events occur in systems and services.
  • Learn how to analyse anomalies when unexpected events occur by following established Quality-Assurance and incident‑management processes. Take responsibility for following all steps through to resolution and engage with users to manage expectations by providing clear, timely updates on progress and impact.
  • Gain hands‑on experience with the services and systems, enabling you over time to propose efficiency improvements for operations, for example through increased automation. Participate in evolution and design discussions to better understand these challenges and contribute ideas to enhance the already established Data Services and Archive.
  • Contribute to the validation testing of the Data Services and Archive Operations by supporting the execution of test cases, while progressively learning how to specify these tests and implement their automation.
  • Train in DevSecOps best practices and enhanced monitoring of system metrics (e.g. CI/CD, automated testing, and the meaningful acquisition and display of system resource usage), and apply this knowledge to support software development, enable more precise troubleshooting, and drive the proactive detection of potential software design flaws.
  • Support users with their enquiries and challenges, engaging with them to gain a deeper understanding of how they use EUMETSAT data and products. Draw on real-world use cases to make informed data management decisions and use these insights to identify and propose enhancements to systems and services that deliver clear, measurable value to the user community.
 

LOCATION

Darmstadt, Germany

QUALIFICATIONS

A university degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Environmental Sciences, or another relevant discipline.

LANGUAGES

Candidates must be able to work effectively in English and have some knowledge of French.

DEADLINE

9 June 2026

Duties

  • Contribute to the day‑to‑day operations of the Data Services and Archive Operations by monitoring systems, identifying anomalies or trends, and providing relevant input to colleagues to support the coordination of operations and maintenance activities with ground segment teams. Prepare and maintain clear, up‑to‑date operational procedures covering routine tasks and recovery actions, enabling first‑line support to respond consistently and effectively when unexpected events occur in systems and services.
  • Learn how to analyse anomalies when unexpected events occur by following established Quality-Assurance and incident‑management processes. Take responsibility for following all steps through to resolution and engage with users to manage expectations by providing clear, timely updates on progress and impact.
  • Gain hands‑on experience with the services and systems, enabling you over time to propose efficiency improvements for operations, for example through increased automation. Participate in evolution and design discussions to better understand these challenges and contribute ideas to enhance the already established Data Services and Archive.
  • Contribute to the validation testing of the Data Services and Archive Operations by supporting the execution of test cases, while progressively learning how to specify these tests and implement their automation.
  • Train in DevSecOps best practices and enhanced monitoring of system metrics (e.g. CI/CD, automated testing, and the meaningful acquisition and display of system resource usage), and apply this knowledge to support software development, enable more precise troubleshooting, and drive the proactive detection of potential software design flaws.
  • Support users with their enquiries and challenges, engaging with them to gain a deeper understanding of how they use EUMETSAT data and products. Draw on real-world use cases to make informed data management decisions and use these insights to identify and propose enhancements to systems and services that deliver clear, measurable value to the user community.

Skills and Experience

  • Strong motivation to develop professionally within an international environment, with a focus on Data Services, Data Management, and Long-Term Archive Operations.
  • Openness to learning and growing expertise, alongside strong teamwork and communication skills.
  • Practical work experience with some of the following topics would be advantageous:
    • Experience in handling or processing Earth observation data or environmental data.
    • Experience in working in an “Operations” environment i.e. monitoring key process, managing resources, dealing with unexpected events and engaging with customers.
    • Experience in software engineering, ideally how to conduct the full software development life cycle.

Employment Conditions

The Early Careers Employment Programme contract will be of 2 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 A1 on the EUMETSAT salary scales. The minimum basic salary for this post is EURO 5,912 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.

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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