About this job

We are recruiting a ALTIUS Mission Performance Engineer for Sapienza to work on our Customers Site (ESA-ESTEC).

The ALTIUS Project aims at the development of an Earth limb sounder mission based on a small satellite. Its main objective is the monitoring of the distribution stratospheric ozone at high vertical resolution in support of long-term monitoring and operational services. ALTIUS Measurements of concentration profiles of other atmospheric species as well as of aerosol extinction vertical profiles are also envisaged in the frame of monitoring and scientific activities. The holder of this post will contribute to all aspects (project internal activities, monitoring/review of the relevant industrial activities, interaction with Mission Users and Scientists) relevant to the mission performance of the ALTIUS mission up to Level 2. The post holder will report to the ALTIUS System and Engineering Manager

Responsibilities

• Maintenance of mission and system level requirements, monitoring and critically analysing the requirement allocation, their flow down to the relevant contributors, the associated margins, their evolution and their verification, in the following areas:
  • Observation requirements and mission data products requirements;
  • End-to-End simulator and Ground Processor Prototype (GPP);
  • Internal and External characterisation and calibration of the instrument;
• Support the payload team for aspects relevant to instrument performance requirements flow-down and instrument performance verification, including relevant models and tools;
• Follow up the End to End Simulator and GPP procurement, verification/validation and acceptance activities;
• Acquire working knowledge of the tools for test data generation purposes and internal mission level verification activities;
• Develop and maintain additional mission performance mathematical models and tools to support the assessment of the relevant industrial development activities;
• Maintain mission level performance and error budgets, and analyse their compliance with the end-to-end mission performance requirements and propose corrective actions in case of deviation;
• Monitor and review the definition and implementation of the ALTIUS characterisation, calibration and validation plans and follow up the specification, procurement and verification/validation of the relevant equipment and activities;
• Support the preparation, execution and analysis of the relevant in-flight CALVAL operations during the commissioning phase;
• Support Payload Data Ground Segment (PDGS) development for what concern the Ground processor aspects and cross-verification activities of the PDGS operational ground processor against the GPP;
• Support the running of the ALTIUS Mission Advisory Group (MAG) for what concerns mission & instrument performance aspects, including end-to-end mission performance verification and compliance status;
• Interact with the ALTIUS Mission Users Community and Scientific Community for what concerns Mission definition, Products definition and mission & instrument performance aspects.
• Support the System and Engineering Manager and the other ALTIUS project team members in all aspects related to mission performance, as necessary for the effective execution of the ALTIUS project.
• The Mission Performance Engineer will cooperate closely with the ALTIUS Instrument team in the execution of the relevant tasks.
• Contractor will be supported by and is expected to closely cooperate with specialist engineers from the ALTIUS team, from the Earth Observation Projects Department and from the Directorate of Technical and Quality Management (D/TEC) as appropriate.

Profile

• Master’s or equivalent qualification in a relevant physical science or engineering subject.
• At least 4 years of relevant work experience
• Demonstrated experience in performance assessment of optical instrumentation for atmospheric observation including image processing.
• Experience working with Earth limb observation systems as well as knowledge of aerosols and ozone observational data are assets.
• Proficiency with programming languages relevant to the implementation and maintenance of the system performance models (e.g. MATLAB and python).
• Solid analytical skills together with broad, system-oriented thinking, and the ability and motivation to rapidly learn and switch within a wide range of application domains.
• Capability to critically analyse the work performed by industry in the relevant areas, identify problems and propose corrective actions.
• Good communication skills, ability to work both autonomously and as part of a team within the boundaries of assigned tasks and a stringent schedule, and to establish and maintain effective working relationships with the outside world (Industry, MAG and User Community).
• Fluent in English; knowledge of another ESA member-state language is an asset

Contact:

Candidates must be eligible to work in the EU

Please send your CV (in English) as soon as possible, but no later than 9th May 2021 to jobs@sapienzaconsulting.com

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