Description

Through ESA’s Space Safety cornerstone project ADRIOS (Active Debris Removal [ADR] and In-Orbit Servicing [IOS]), ESA is commited to leading the way in space sustainability.
The goal of the ADRIOS missions is to demonstrate and progressively establish European ADR and IOS, advancing towards a circular economy in space. This forward-thinking approach aims to guarantee the safe use of Earth orbits for future generations, reducing space debris and promoting the reuse and recycling of space assets.

The Clean Space and ADRIOS Office is implementing the first two ADRIOS missions and the ADRIOS Space Segment Lead will be the technical lead for one of them:

• The ClearSpace-1 mission will demonstrate active debris removal of unprepared space objects in LEO. The mission will target the ESA-owned PROBA-1 spacecraft, which orbits below 550 km, with a dedicated launch. ClearSpace-1 will inspect the target spacecraft, synchronise its motion and capture autonomously the non-cooperative target using a claw-based caging approach. ClearSpace-1 will then lower its orbit with the goal of an uncontrolled stack re-entry.

• The RISE mission is an ambitious project with a lifetime of several years, designed to push the boundaries of in-orbit servicing. RISE will demonstrate AOCS takeover of an active geostationary satellite. RISE will launch into Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) before raising its orbit to the Geostationary Graveyard Orbit (GGO). There, it will rendezvous with and capture a customer satellite, demonstrate attitude control take-over of the customer satellite and finally release it. After this initial demonstration, ESA’s involvement in the mission will end and it is expected that RISE will go on to service its first paying customer, highlighting the practical and commercial application of this capability in space.

Duties

As ADRIOS Space Segment Lead, you will report to the Project Manager. You will be in charge of leading and coordinating the Project Core Team and other technical experts from the Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality and from the Directorate of Operations.

Your main responsibilities will include:

Management:

• Contribute in a proactive manner to the management of the industrial activities by monitoring and steering the implementation of the mission (Phase B2/C/D/E), including verification and acceptance of spacecraft/platform/ payload/equipment up to operations, within agreed schedule and budget;
• Assess and contribute to the control of the schedule and propose schedule risk mitigation actions and schedule recovery actions when needed;
• Contribute to the control of the budget;
• Support the preparation and implementation of project reviews;
• Identify and prioritise points for attention; report regularly to management, identifying in particular the technical risks at ESA level and contributing to the overall risk management approach; implement risk mitigation measures and provide recommendations on the acceptable level of risk when issues arise;
• Apply pragmatic decision-making processes to balance ideal solutions with project constraints;
• Support the Project Manager to ensure the continuity and adequacy of the engineering support provided by the Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality;
• In the longer term, contribute to the set-up and procurement of new ADRIOS missions.

Technical execution:

• Bring to maturity and control the requirements, particularly the safety and debris mitigation requirements, while guaranteeing the mission objectives;
• Drive derisking activities of critical functions/subsystems/equipment/technologies during Phase B2;
• Critically analyse and maintain the spacecraft engineering budgets and investigate corrective actions where necessary in a timely manner;
• Coordinate the project engineering domains to ensure that the engineering activities proceed in line with the programmatic needs, including the timely resolution of non-conformance investigations as well as assessment of requests for deviations and waivers;
• Ensure that the payload design, development, assembly, verification and operations are consistent and meet the requirements;
• Coordinate the industrial verification activities to ensure the requirement verification process progresses according to schedule;
• Support interface coordination and the programmatic needs of the commercial customer, if applicable;
• Support the Project Manager for the selection and negotiations with the launch service provider, if required; monitor and coordinate interface compatibility activities;
• Monitor and coordinate the industrial preparations for the launch campaign and manage it as applicable;
• Support operations planning and execution.

Coordination and knowledge-sharing:

• Capture the lessons-learned and pass them on to the other ADRIOS missions;
• Support interactions with delegations and relevant partners as required;
• Coordinate the support of engineering experts allocated from the Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality;
• Share experience and knowledge with industry in a constructive and result-oriented manner;
• Support the prioritisation, definition and planning of future activities of the Office;
• Support early phases of new missions and technology developments in an ad hoc manner.

Technical competencies

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking

For more information, please refer to the ESA Core Behavioural Competencies guidebook

Education

A master's degree in a relevant engineering discipline is required for this post.

Additional requirements

A background in robotics, avionics and/or software would be an asset.

You should also:

• have an interest in working with companies that are relatively new in the space field;
• be capable of working autonomously and taking initiative;
• demonstrate good interpersonal skills and strong communications skills to lead a team of technical experts and provide constructive feedback;
• demonstrate flexibility in dealing with day-to-day operational challenges, as well as strong planning and organisational skills;
• be able to anticipate problems, resolve complex issues and relate situations to their context;
• be flexible to seek solutions and reach pragmatic and timely decisions of a high standard and with integrity.