Spacecraft Operations Engineer

Job Description

As a member of a team providing services to EUMETSAT, you will have the following responsibilities:

• Ensure proper in-flight operations for the spacecraft and provide 24/7 on-call service. This includes:
  • Performing mission planning checks and monitoring the daily operations in the on- call period as necessary;
  • Check and report at the weekly meeting about health and performance of the assigned subsystems using all available analysis tools (TM Propagator and CHART). Contribute to the resolution of the in-orbit S/C anomaly investigation as required;
• Develop and maintain the operational baseline as needed in reaction to anomalies, to allow execution of new operations, to improve the efficiency and accuracy of operations;
• Participate in the activities related to the spacecraft routine support service provided by the satellite manufacturer for the spacecraft routine operations, as well as to rehearsals;
• Prepare Annual Performance Reports for the respective Spacecraft Subsystem; Raise Anomaly Reports and contribute to Anomaly resolution as relevant;
• Provide assistance on use of APEX procedure configuration tracking and validation tools/software (including FOP tool kit setup);
• Contribute for the technical aspects of the spacecraft simulator development and maintenance;
• Contribute to the finalization and validation of the spacecraft re-orbiting and decommissioning activities and of the Technology Tests including liaison with Flight Dynamics and other Subsystems or facility experts;
• Contribute to the review, production and maintenance of the operational guides and documents (including SOE Guide, COG etc.);
• Production and maintenance of the operational baseline including end to end preparation of new Manual Procedures, Automated Procedures, Special Operation Instructions, TM/TC / Events / display as well related DUs.

The operations preparation phase:

• Contribute to the space segment and system reviews as required by the SOM;
• Ensure proper spacecraft operations preparation, interfacing with other satellite teams (e.g. System, Mission Operations Facility). This includes:
  • Review the Operational deliverables provided by industry (e.g. FOM, FOM procedures, TM/TC MIB Files) and contribute to their acceptance by EUMETSAT;
  • Ensure the production, verification and validation of the operational data units (DUs), including Manual and automated procedures, TM/TC Database and operational documentation in view of spacecraft main operations preparation milestones, including the various System Validation Tests (SSVTs);
  • Contribute to SATSIM tool development and use, in particular related to its use for the Verification & Validation activities at EUM.
• Contribute to the operations preparation at system level as relevant, in particular the preparation and execution of the Operational validation campaign and rehearsals in view of demonstrating the Operational Readiness before Launch;
• Contribute to the SSVT preparation activities, including delivering main documentation (e.g. SSVT Plan, SVT test specifications, SSVT procedures, TRR and TRB data package), as well as to the SSVT execution;
• Contribute to the LEOP preparation and interface aspects with the spacecraft system team;
• Contribute to the definition and follow-up of the development of engineering Off-Line tools including the Spacecraft Analysis and Reporting functions (e.g. CHART);
• Contribute to the production and maintenance of the documentation to support the development, testing and validation of the system;
• Contribute to the definition, production and maintenance of the Procedures Production Rules, Naming Convention, System Operations File, SATCOG, Analyst Operations Guide and Analysis and Reporting Operations Guide;
• Contribute to the design, development and delivery of the Operations training, mainly at Satellite level.

Qualifications

Mandatory skills:

In addition to having a University degree (or equivalent in experience) in a relevant discipline, the full team shall have a well-balanced and distributed experience in all following mandatory skills and each of the key persons shall have experience in at least two of these mandatory skills:

• Experience of Spacecraft Operations, preferably on Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and/or Geostationary orbit (GEO), spinning and/or 3-axis stabilized spacecraft with responsibility for one or more platform subsystems or instruments during operational validation, commissioning or routine operations phases;
• Experience of Spacecraft Operations Preparation preferably on LEO and/or GEO, with responsibility on development and validation of operational baseline (procedures, database etc.) including validation tools (e.g. spacecraft simulator) and ground segment M&C facilities;
• Experience in satellite performance monitoring and reporting aspects including anomaly analysis and solving in liaison with satellite industry, procedure change control and configuration management processes;
• Experience in the operation or development of satellite ground segment facilities, in particular procedure development, monitor and control, mission planning, on-board software management, performance analysis, configuration management and simulator facilities;
• Experience with SCOS 2000 (Mission Control System).

Additional skills (considering as an added value):

• Experience with the use of the APEX operations procedures preparation and execution tool;
• Proven experience in the phases of LEOP and commissioning;
• Specification of space system and operational concepts, facility requirements;
• Familiarity with On-Board Control Procedure concepts;
• Familiarity with the ECSS Packet Utilisation Standard, customisation and usage;
• Familiarity with system change control and configuration management procedures;
• Data analysis software packages and programming skills in other coding languages such as Python / Java etc.;
• Use of VBA for development of ad-hoc tools in MS Office applications;
• Ability to analyze and solve complex technical problems;
• Ability to work effectively in a team and communicate technical information clearly.

Additional Information

This job is located in Darmstadt, Germany, and will be executed on-site at our customer’s premises (EUMETSAT).

If you think you have what it takes for this job, please send your CV in English to Michaela Stevenson by clicking on the button “Apply for this job” quoting job DE-HP-26048.

An exciting and dynamic international working environment awaits you!

Please note: Due to work permit requirements for this position, please apply only if you are citizen of a European Union state or if you are eligible to obtain a work permit for Germany.

Inclusive and committed employer, our company works every day to combat all forms of discrimination and promote a respectful working environment. That's why, committed to gender diversity and overall inclusivity, we encourage all applications and profiles.                      Last apply date: 31/05/2026!