Young Graduate Trainee in ESA Academy Experiments Programme

Overview

Support coordination of student space projects.

You have:

• Master's degree in a scientific or technical discipline, preferably related to space.
• Good understanding of system engineering principles and project management.
• Access to a car for travel during campaigns and training delivery.
• Good knowledge of English or French; knowledge of other languages is a plus.
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment independently and as part of a team.

Young Graduate Opportunity in the Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality

ESA is an equal opportunity employer, committed to achieving diversity within the workforce and creating an inclusive working environment. We therefore welcome applications from all qualified candidates irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, beliefs, age, disability or other characteristics. Applications from women are encouraged.

This post is classified F1 on the Coordinated Organisations’ salary scale.

Location

ESEC, Redu, Belgium

Our team and mission

The ESA Academy is the agency’s overarching programme for university student space projects and training opportunities. Through a tailored transfer of space know-how and interaction with space professionals, the Academy takes students through a learning path that complements their academic education.

The ESA Academy programme comprises of three main segments:

• An academic TRAINING programme which offers individuals a portfolio of highly qualifying training sessions covering a wide range of space-related topics offered by professional experts;
• A PROJECTS programme, allowing teams to design build, test and operate small satellites and payload experiments on space-related platforms, among others through the ESA Academy Experiments programme;
• An ENGAGEMENT pillar, providing students and young professionals with scholarship, conference and networking opportunities.

Specifically, ESA Academy Experiments is a programme geared towards assisting student teams along all the steps of developing a space-related scientific or technological experiment, from concept to design, assembly, testing, operations and data analysis. Throughout the programme teams are guided through industry standard engineering practices, project management and hardware development, testing and operations.

During the projects, a strong emphasis is placed on regular interaction with professional engineers and scientists through engineering documentation, frequent meetings, workshops and technical reviews. The outcome of participation is a unique practical experience and training with ESA and its partners that complements and enhances university students’ academic journey.

The programme offers multiple platforms for teams to conduct their engineering or scientific experiment. These are currently the ZARM Drop Towers, parabolic flights, the ICECubes Facility on board the International Space Station, the Space Rider spaceplane and the Orbital Robotics Lab and Large Diameter Centrifuge at ESTEC.

The ESA Academy, as part of the ESA Education Office, operates in close cooperation with specialists from ESA and industry, from university departments and other research organisations. ESA’s ESEC-Galaxia site in Belgium hosts several facilities tailored for the ESA Academy, including the CubeSat Support Facility, a cleanroom hosting integration and test equipment for CubeSats and experiments, and the Training and Learning Facility, a state-of-the art training room also equipped to support Concurrent Engineering workshops.

Information on the activities of the ESA Academy can be found at https://www.esa.int/Education/ESA_Academy.

You are encouraged to visit the ESA website: http://www.esa.int

Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeship

As a Young Graduate Trainee, you will support the coordination of projects in all platforms that fall under the ESA Academy Experiments programme.

In close coordination with programme partners (commercial and institutional), and in cooperation with the facility operators and other professional specialists, under guidance from your ESA mentor, you will support the selection of new experiments proposed by university student teams, and will follow-up the projects throughout their entire lifecycle (concept, design, development, testing, launch / experiment campaign and data analysis).

In particular, you will:

• Support the call for proposals, evaluation procedure and selection of experiments;
• Undertake periodic reviews of experiment engineering data packages and project management documents;
• Liaise with the project teams and follow-up the experiment projects throughout their design, development and testing;
• Track teams’ technical progress between formal reviews;
• Interface with ESA and partners’ technical experts;
• Support the preparation, coordination and delivery of training workshops;
• Support progress meetings and project reviews to verify the experiments’ readiness;
• Assistance with coordination of logistical arrangements for reviews, integration and test events, launch and experiment campaigns and workshops;
• Contribute towards a successful execution of the campaigns;
• Ensure a proper follow-up of the analysis of the experiment results;
• Assist in identifying new research platforms and integrating them into the programme;
• Provide assistance to the outreach campaigns of the programme via ESA communication routes.

You will also have the opportunity to support students aiming to:

• Perform experiments on-board the International Space Station, using the ICE Cubes facility;
• Perform experiments in the ZARM drop tower facility in Bremen, Germany;
• Perform experiments aboard Novespace’s A310 parabolic flight airplane in Bordeaux, France;
• Perform experiments in the ESA’s Large Diameter Centrifuge at ESTEC, the Netherlands;
• Perform experiments at the Orbital Robotics Laboratory at ESTEC, the Netherlands;
• Perform experiments on-board the Space Rider spaceplane.

You will also be involved in additional technical and managerial tasks to further develop the programme, as well have the opportunity to contribute to other student activities and projects of the ESA Academy, as required.

Technical competencies

Knowledge of relevant technical domains

Relevant experience gained during internships/project work

Breadth of exposure coming from past and/or current research/activities

Knowledge of ESA and its programmes/projects

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation

Operational Efficiency

Fostering Cooperation

Relationship Management

Continuous Improvement

Forward Thinking

Education

You should have just completed, or be in the final year of your Master’ s degree in in a scientific or technical discipline, preferably related to space.

Additional requirements

You should have good interpersonal and communication skills and should be able to work in a multicultural environment, both independently and as part of a team.

Applicants should show a good understanding of both system engineering principles and practices as well as a solid foundation in project management.

Noting the location of this role, and the need to be flexible with daily travel due to participation in campaigns and training Delivery, it is strongly recommended that you have access to a car for the duration of this appointment.

The working languages of the Agency are English and French. A good knowledge of one of these is required. Knowledge of another Member State language would be an asset.

During the interview motivation and overall professional perspective/career goals will also be explored.

Other information

For behavioural competencies expected from ESA staff in general, please refer to the ESA Competency Framework.

For further information on the Young Graduate Programme please visit: Young Graduate Programme and FAQ Young Graduate Programme

At the Agency we value diversity and we welcome people with disabilities. Whenever possible, we seek to accommodate individuals with disabilities by providing the necessary support at the workplace. The Human Resources Department can also provide assistance during the recruitment process. If you would like to discuss this further please contact us email contact.human.resources@esa.int.

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Please note that applications are only considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Nationals from Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia, as Associate Member States, or Canada as a Cooperating State, can apply as well as those from Bulgaria, Croatia and Cyprus as European Cooperating States (ECS).

According to the ESA Convention, the recruitment of staff must take into account an adequate distribution of posts among nationals of the ESA Member States*. When short-listing for an interview, priority will first be given to candidates from under-represented Member States*.

In accordance with the European Space Agency’s security procedures and as part of the selection process, successful candidates will be required to undergo basic screening before appointment conducted by an external background screening service.

*Member States, Associate Members or Cooperating States.

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Potential interview questions

Added 2 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: jobs.esa.int