About this job

Serco is a leading Space Services Provider with thousands of skilled resources that has supported over 50 space missions on behalf of more than 10 Space or Government agencies around the globe, including the ESA and NASA. Serco offers space capability across the full space lifecycle from satellite testing to Launch services, LEOP to spacecraft operations, space surveillance to data management, and supporting downstream application development. With over 55 years history in the space sector Serco is well placed to contribute to National strategies and New Space ventures who want to scale their businesses/organizations with skilled talent.

On behalf of our customer EUMETSAT, we are looking for Mission Planning Operations Engineers. You would be working on-site at EUMETSAT’s site in Darmstadt, with a generous distribution of working hours into the hybrid model.

As part of a Service, you would have a chance to work on many missions, including mission planning support to operational missions (EPS, Sentinel-3, Sentinel- 6, MSG, MTG), and developing missions (EPS-SG, CO2M, EPS-Sterna, EPS-Aeolus).

Responsibilities

• Performing routine, on-call, and contingency scheduling tasks using the mission planning facilities
• Liaising with external entities in order to fulfil joint operations requirements and maintaining relevant documentation
• Responding to mission planning related anomalies and operational contingencies
• Performing the monitoring of the mission planning systems, generally by running system checks to spot system anomalies or errors
• Raising, monitoring and steering the lifecycle of mission planning related anomaly reports (ARs) and non-conformance reports (NCRs)
• Supplying context and analysis to support the investigation of anomalies
• Participation in meetings and reviews (long-term scheduling, schedule consolidation, anomaly review boards, etc.)
• Defining the mission planning operational implementation (rules, database configuration, etc.)
• Maintaining a detailed understanding of the space and ground segment operational needs that are met through mission planning
• Updating and rolling out of new versions of the mission planning operational implementation following approved configuration management procedures
• Maintaining mission planning documentation such as user guide, operational implementation document, joint operations document, ICDs and other operational documentation
• Supporting the Operations Preparation Integrated Team (OPTT) in the development and procurement of the mission planning application software and any related tools (developing missions only)
• Participating in reviews concerning the mission planning system, interfacing facilities and associated tools, throughout the procurement lifecycle (developing missions only)
• Contributing to the definition of any changes to the supplied mission planning application software, or to in-house supporting software that could lead to performance and/or ergonomics improvements
• Contributing to the process of implementing the above-mentioned changes by raising of engineering change proposals and change requests internally within EUMETSAT
• Participating in the installation of the mission planning application software and related tools at EUMETSAT if required, as well as verifying the installation
• Training of personnel in mission planning, on-call and routing scheduling tasks
• Performing routine scheduling tasks at the BUCC in support of periodic or emergency activations

Profile

• University degree or equivalent in a relevant discipline
• Knowledge of the principles of satellite monitoring and control
• Experience in the field of mission planning, gained during the operations and/or development of GEO and/or LEO satellite systems
• Experience of LEO and/or GEO spacecraft operations, preferably gained in an operational control room environment
• Experience programming with Java, Python or similar
• Experience working in LINUX/UNIX and MS Windows environment
• Ability to detail and synthesise complex technical concepts in formal documents and verbal presentations
• Evidence of personal initiative and action orientation in professional experience
• Ability to work in a clear, structured manner, calmly and correctly under stress, with a minimal supervision
• Experience of working proactively within a small team
• Shown personal initiative and action orientation in professional experience

Nice to have:

• Experience in managing small teams in a technical environment
• Experience in production and maintenance of mission planning operational rules using a Java-like Business Rules Management System (Jboss Drools or ILOG Rules)
• Experience of LEO or GEO mission planning system specification, development and procurement
• Experience of AIV related activities (test procedure generation, requirements verification and validation, etc), preferably in the field of space mission planning systems
• Practical experience with Software Version Control Systems (e.g. CVS, SVN or Git) and Software Configuration Management Systems (e.g. Serena Dimensions)
• Knowledge of CCSDS standards applicable to Mission Planning scheduling operations (e.g. Simple Schedule File Format Specification) and applicable Cross-Support standards
• Practical experience with the Linux/Unix operating system (user command level)
• Working experience with relational databases and SQL, preferably involving Oracle
• Experience of working with files in XML format, including XML file edition, schema validation and related tools (Oxygen and/or XMLSpy)
• All candidates must be eligible to work in the EU

What we offer:

Within Serco we believe there is a place here for everyone. Diversity & Inclusion at Serco is based on a culture where every voice is heard, and every employee feels valued. Working together as one team, we can enhance the experience of our people and teams, improve the value of our solutions to better serve the missions of our customers, and make a difference in our world. We are enthusiastic and passionate about our work which is infectious. We allow our employees to take responsibility for their work and promote a positive working culture.

• An exciting, inspiring, international, and ambitious working environment
• Training and development opportunities
• Career progression
• Paid holiday
• Highly competitive salaries considering your skills and personal value to the company
• Pension schemes
• Summer and Christmas parties

We will give you the platform and guidance to progress your career quickly whilst rewarding you at the same time.