Vacancy in the Directorate of Human Spaceflight and Operations

The European Space Agency is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from women

POST Payload Mission Increment Preparation Engineer in the Mission/Increment Preparation and Operations Support Section, Columbus Operation Division, ISS Programme and Exploration Department, Directorate of Human Spaceflight and Operations. This post is classified in the A2/A4 grade band of the Coordinated Organisations' salary scale.

LOCATION ESTEC, Noordwijk (The Netherlands).

DUTIES

The postholder will coordinate the payload increment preparation activities and operations product preparations. Under the direct authority of the Head of the Mission/Increment Preparation and Operations Support Section, the postholder will

be responsible for:

· organisation and follow up of the Feasibility Assessment, assessing the status of readiness of the payloads and their readiness for inclusion in upcoming increments;

· coordination of the inputs of the various entities contributing to the Feasibility Assessment, as User Support Operation Centres (USOC), Payload Developers, System Engineering, Increment Teams;

· follow up of the preparation of the payload operational products and assessing the readiness status, in coordination with the assigned User Support Operation Centers;

· support and assessment of the increment planning;

· support to coordination, review and acceptation of payload/ experiment data products, equipment and flight packages;

· provision for relevant support and participation to Certification of Flight Readiness activities;

· coordination and follow up of Industrial Payload Integration Managers (PIM), and assessment of their performances;

· support in-flight operations, as required;

· follow up and support to the relationships with International Partners and support to the definition and finalisation of agreements; ESA/VN-ESTEC(2011)106, REV. 1 Page 2

· provision for support to the Section Head as requested, including definition of the section objectives and to their achievement.

QUALIFICATIONS Applicants for this post should have a university degree or equivalent qualification in an engineering discipline. Demonstrated extensive experience in aerospace activities management, including development, integration and on-orbit operations activities of complex payloads is required. A proven experience in interfacing with partners in an international environment is an asset.

The candidates should have a strong aptitude for relationship management as well as good communication skills. The post requires a result-oriented approach to work in a highly complex project environment as well as a strong capacity for planning and organising tasks.

The working languages of the Agency are English and French. A good knowledge of one of these two languages is required. Knowledge of another member state language is an asset.

CLOSING DATE The closing date for applications is 01 March 2012.

Applications from external candidates for this post should preferably be made on- line at the ESA Web Site (www.esa.int/careers). Those unable to apply on-line should submit their CV to the Head of the Human Resources Division, ESTEC, Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk ZH (The Netherlands).

ESA staff members wishing to apply for this post should fill in the Internal Application Form and email it to Apply2ESTEC. The Agency may require applicants to undergo selection tests.

Under ESA Regulations, the age limit for recruitment is 55. Please note that applications are only considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Canada.

Priority will be first given to internal candidates and secondly to external candidates from under- represented member states.

In accordance with the European Space Agency's security procedures and as part of the selection process, successful candidates will be required to undergo basic screening before appointment.