Head of the Space Debris Office

Location

ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany

Description

The Space Safety Programme Department is responsible for the implementation of European capabilities and services in the domains of Planetary Defence, Space Weather, Space Debris and CleanSpace. Significant parts of the Programme, related to space debris monitoring, space traffic coordination, and mitigation and risk assessment technologies, rely on implementation via the Space Debris Office. At the same time, the Office is also responsible for providing other customer programmes and third parties with the Agency’s technical expertise and services in the domain. It also represents ESA’s position with respect to international partners. Moreover, the Office provides domain expertise to support the Agency’s policy evolution and implementation, and assumes a coordination role for related technology developments.

Duties

Reporting to the Head of Space Safety Programme Department, you will have the following responsibilities:

• Implementing projects related to the COSMIC element of the ESA Space Safety Programme when they are entrusted by the COSMIC Project Management team to the Office, with delegated responsibility for the cost at completion;
• Implementing space debris projects entrusted to the Directorate of Operations by third-party customers (such as the Spanish Space Agency, Greece, or the European Commission) trough delegated responsibility for the cost at completion;
• Reporting to COSMIC Project Management on project risks, schedule and costs;
• Liaising with support functions, such as controlling, quality, procurement, space segment expertise, radar and optical instrumentation, technology programmes, and launcher experts to ensure successful project implementation;
• Ensuring routine operational collision avoidance support as well as contingency support for ESA and third-party missions, including the procurement and maintenance of the necessary infrastructure, services and data;
• Ensuring the development, maintenance and availability of tools for risk analysis and compliance and contributing to related standards, policies and project reviews;
• Supporting customer programmes with expertise on space debris mitigation and related tools in liaison with the CleanSpace Office and the Sustainability Engineering Office;
• Leading ESA’s representation at the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC);
• Supporting ESA’s outreach activities on the sustainable utilisation of space.

Technical competencies

Space debris observation, modelling, protection and shielding, mitigation, risk assessment, and environment remediation

Implementing ESA projects in the context of an optional programme with georeturn constraints

Procurement and management of complex industrial activities

Procurement and management of services

Understanding of system requirements and interfaces

Knowledge of cost, risk, and schedule aspects related to area of responsibility

Knowledge of ESA technology programmes and the organisation of R&D activities

Knowledge of the industrial landscape

Ability to define technology development roadmaps identifying future trends in technology requirements

Demonstrated project management

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation

Operational Efficiency

Fostering Cooperation

Relationship Management

Continuous Improvement

Forward Thinking

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

Education and professional experience

A master's degree in engineering or a related field is required for this post, together with more than eight years of relevant professional experience in the domain.

Additional requirements

• More than eight years of hands-on experience in space debris technologies and projects;
• Managing individuals and a team, organising activities with limited resources while ensuring a motivating work environment;
• The ability to drive your team’s performance, developing team members by encouraging learning, delegating responsibility and giving regular and constructive feedback;
• Strong problem-solving skills to deal with day-to-day operational challenges, together with demonstrated planning and organisational skills;
• Strong results orientation with the ability to set priorities and present practical solutions both orally and in writing;
• Demonstrated customer-focused thinking;
• Providing functional support to a large and evolving customer base;
• Previous people management experience would be an asset.

You should also

• have an interest in working with companies that are relatively new to the space field;
• be capable of working autonomously, taking initiative and being hands-on;
• show strong leadership capabilities, with proven relationship management and communication skills;
• be able to adapt your hierarchical and functional reporting skills to the situation;
• be able to anticipate problems, be sufficiently flexible to seek solutions, and be capable of taking pragmatic and timely decisions;
• take a results-oriented approach with the ability to set priorities;
• have an interest in outreach and communicating on space safety topics to a wide-ranging audience.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness

ESA is an equal opportunity employer, committed to achieving diversity within the workforce and creating an inclusive working environment. We therefore welcome applications from all qualified candidates irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religious beliefs, age, disability or other characteristics.

At the Agency we value diversity, and we welcome people with disabilities. Whenever possible, we seek to accommodate individuals with disabilities by providing the necessary support at the workplace. The Human Resources Department can also provide assistance during the recruitment process. If you would like to discuss this further, please contact us via email at contact.human.resources@esa.int .

Important Information and Disclaimer

Applicants must be eligible to access information, technology, and hardware which is subject to European or US export control and sanctions regulations.

During the recruitment process, the Agency may request applicants to undergo selection tests. Additionally, successful candidates will need to undergo basic screening before appointment, which will be conducted by an external background screening service, in compliance with the European Space Agency's security procedures.

Note that ESA is in the process of transitioning to a Matrix setup, which could lead to organisational changes affecting this position.

The information published on ESA’s careers website regarding working conditions is correct at the time of publication. It is not intended to be exhaustive and may not address all questions you would have.

Nationality and Languages

Please note that applications are only considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Canada, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia.

According to the ESA Convention, staff shall be recruited on the basis of their qualifications, taking into account an adequate distribution of posts among nationals of the Member States.

The working languages of the Agency are English and French. A good knowledge of one of these is required. Knowledge of another Member State language would be an asset.