Senior Ground Station Operations Engineer

Spektrum supports apex purchasers (NATO, UN, EU, and National Government and Defence) and their Tier 1 supplier ecosystem with a wide range of specialist services. We provide our clients with professional services, specialised aerospace and defence sales, delivery, and operational subject matter expertise. We are looking for personnel to join our team and support key client projects.

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Who we are supporting

EUMETSAT (the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites) is an intergovernmental organisation established in 1986, which provides its 30 member states with weather and climate-related satellite data, images and products – 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. EUMETSAT's headquarters are in Darmstadt, Germany.

The primary objective of EUMETSAT is to establish, maintain and exploit European systems of operational meteorological satellites, taking into account as far as possible the recommendations of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

The data generated by EUMETSAT’s satellite systems and the derived products are supplied to the National Meteorological Services of the organisation's Member States in Europe, as well as to other users world-wide.

A further objective of EUMETSAT is to contribute to the operational monitoring of the climate and the detection of global climate changes.

 Role Background

The EUMETSAT Operations and Services to Users Department (OPS) is responsible for exploiting EUMETSAT’s operational satellite systems and delivering agreed data, products and support services which fulfil the requirements of European and WMO users.

Currently EUMETSAT operates several missions, including the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG), the EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS), the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG), the EUMETSAT Polar System Second Generation (EPS-SG) and the Copernicus Sentinel-3 and Sentinel-6 space and ground (satellite) systems. In addition, EUMETSAT is contributing to the operations of several other missions, such as JASON, and some other 3rd-party missions. The focus of routine operations at EUMETSAT is the provision, by effective utilisation of all elements of the space and ground systems, of timely and reliable operational services to the users.

Additionally, the OPS Department supports development activities led by the Programme Preparation and Development Department (PRD) – currently these encompass activities related to recurrent satellites of the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) and EUMETSAT Polar System Second Generation (EPS-SG), EPS-Sterna and the Copernicus European CO2 monitoring mission (CO2M). Support to development of new missions like EPS-Aeolus and others.

Within the OPS Department, the Real-Time Services and System Operations (RSO) Division is responsible for the end-to-end system and mission operations, including ground stations, data and product processing, communications, and dissemination of the data and products to users. RSO also supports the Programme Preparation and Development Department (PRD) during the development of new programmes .

Within the RSO Division, the Contractor will provide services to the Operations Ground Stations and External Interfaces (GSEI) Team. This includes ground stations operations, monitoring, reporting and validation.

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About the Team

You will join a wider Ground Stations Operations Engineering team supporting EUMETSAT’s operational and future GEO and LEO satellite missions. Working alongside engineers with complementary levels of experience and technical expertise, you will contribute to ground-station operations, anomaly investigation, system upgrades, operations preparation, verification and validation, commissioning, technical documentation and training.

The team supports programmes and missions including MSG, EPS, MTG, EPS-SG, EPS-Sterna, Sentinel-3, Sentinel-6 and CO2M, with potential future support for EPS-Aeolus.

Role Duties and Responsibilities

• Conduct and coordinate routine, non-routine, special and contingency ground-station operations.
• Monitor ground-station performance and service quality.
• Investigate anomalies, support their correction and recommend operational or technical improvements.
• Create and maintain operational schedules.
• Prepare and maintain operational procedures, working practices and user guides.
• Maintain operational statistics, databases and monitoring systems.
• Provide inputs to operational reports and mission KPIs.
• Contribute to medium- and long-term planning and end-of-life operations.
• Define requirements for ground-station upgrades and evolutions.
• Assess technical requirements and their compliance with ground-segment requirements.
• Review technical documentation and recommend improvements.
• Coordinate the operational validation of upgrades and evolutions.
• Organise validation activities and prepare operational validation reports.
• Define and implement ground-station monitoring procedures and tools.
• Identify system deficiencies and operational risks during technical reviews.
• Provide ground-station expertise during technical workshops.
• Coordinate configuration-item validation and Operational Scenario Validation activities.
• Contribute to operational concepts, operations preparation and commissioning.
• Plan and execute integration, verification and validation test campaigns.
• Contribute to transition planning and operational readiness.
• Produce operational documentation and training materials.
• Participate in technical meetings, reviews, workshops, Anomaly Review Boards and change activities.
• Prepare and deliver training to controllers, analysts, engineers and other operational personnel.
• Coordinate with EUMETSAT teams, other contractors and external engineering partners.
• Apply EUMETSAT document-management and configuration-control processes.

Essential Skills and Experience

• Between five and seven years of relevant experience in an engineering position.
• At least two years of professional engineering experience in the operation of complex ground-station systems.
• Experience with TT&C and Mission Data Acquisition systems supporting multiple GEO and/or LEO spacecraft.
• Participation in verification and validation activities for ground-station systems.
• Experience with major upgrades or evolutions of operational ground stations.
• Experience defining and implementing verification and validation activities for ground-station systems.
• Experience preparing technical and operational documentation, including requirements, design descriptions, interface specifications, test procedures and operational procedures.
• Experience applying document-management and configuration-control processes in an engineering or operational environment.
• Experience defining or improving operational user interfaces such as HMI screens, operator views or operational reports.
• Working knowledge of relevant technical and operational standards, such as ECSS and CCSDS.
• Subject-matter expertise in at least one relevant ground-station area.
• Working knowledge of other relevant areas of specialisation.
• Strong analytical, synthesis and presentation skills.
• Very good interpersonal, communication and reporting skills.
• Ability to acquire and apply new knowledge quickly.
• A systematic and structured approach to planning, prioritisation and parallel activities.
• Ability to work under pressure, manage complex tasks with minimal supervision and maintain high-quality output.
• Strong written and spoken English.
• Strong technical-writing ability.

Desirable Skills and Experience

• Ground-station and ground-segment interface verification and validation, including interfaces with simulators.
• First-line diagnosis and resolution of ground-station hardware and software anomalies.
• Baseband-system configuration and operation.
• DataMiner or comparable monitoring and control tools.
• Space Link Extension services.
• Earth-observation satellite missions.
• French-language skills.

Education

• Master's degree or equivalent in telecommunications, electronics, radio frequency, aerospace or another relevant engineering or scientific discipline.

Working Location

• Darmstadt, Germany

Working Policy

• Full-time On-site

Working Hours and On-Call Requirements

• Monday to Thursday, 08:30–17:15, and Friday, 08:30–16:00 CET/CEST.
• Standby, call-out, weekend, public-holiday, late-night or shift work may be required when agreed and activated.
• During an activated standby period, personnel must be reachable by telephone within 15 minutes and, when required, able to attend the Mission Control Centre within one hour.

Travel

• Occasional business travel to current or future EUMETSAT ground-station locations may be required.

Security Clearance

• No formal security clearance is required. Successful candidates must complete required security-awareness training and comply with EUMETSAT and supplier information-security requirements