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.

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.

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

• Contribute to routine, non-routine, special and contingency ground-station operations.
• Monitor ground-station performance and service quality.
• Report and support the investigation and correction of operational anomalies.
• Create and maintain operational schedules.
• Prepare and maintain operational procedures, working practices and user guides.
• Maintain relevant statistics, databases and monitoring information.
• Provide inputs to operational reports and mission KPIs.
• Contribute to medium- and long-term operations planning.
• Support operations preparation and end-of-life activities.
• Contribute to the definition and development of ground-station upgrades and evolutions.
• Assess technical requirements against relevant ground-segment requirements.
• Review technical documentation and identify potential improvements.
• Contribute to the operational validation of upgrades and evolutions.
• Support the definition and implementation of ground-station monitoring procedures and tools.
• Contribute to technical reviews and workshops for future GEO and LEO missions.
• Support the identification of system deficiencies and operational risks.
• Support configuration-item validation and Operational Scenario Validation activities.
• Contribute to operational concepts, operations preparation and commissioning.
• Participate in integration, verification and validation test campaigns.
• Contribute to transition plans, operational documentation and training materials.
• Participate in technical meetings, team meetings, workshops and reviews.
• Support training for controllers, analysts, engineers and other operational personnel.
• Coordinate appropriately with EUMETSAT teams, contractors and external partners.
• Follow EUMETSAT document-management and configuration-control processes.

Essential Skills and Experience

• Between two and four 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.
• Strong analytical, synthesis and presentation skills.
• Very good interpersonal, communication and reporting skills.
• Ability to acquire and apply new technical and operational knowledge quickly.
• A systematic and structured approach to planning, prioritisation and parallel activities.
• Ability to work effectively under pressure with appropriate support and supervision.
• Strong written and spoken English.
• Strong technical-writing ability.

Desirable Skills and Experience

• Experience with verification and validation of interfaces between ground stations and ground-segment systems, including simulators.
• First-line diagnosis and resolution of ground-station hardware and software anomalies.
• Practical experience configuring and operating baseband systems.
• Experience using, configuring or optimising monitoring and control tools such as DataMiner.
• Experience configuring or operating Space Link Extension services.
• Experience supporting Earth-observation satellite missions.
• Knowledge of French.

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 Employee
• Full-time On-site (some remote work is possible)

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