Description

The Harmony mission is an Earth Observation research mission selected as the 10th Earth Explorer mission and adopted for implementation at the 2022 ESA Council meeting at ministerial level. The Harmony mission is composed of two satellites orbiting in formation with one of the Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellites to address key scientific questions related to ocean, ice and land dynamics. Each Harmony satellite will carry a receive-only synthetic aperture radar (SAR) as its main instrument that will work together with Sentinel-1’s radar. Both Harmony satellites will also carry a multi-view thermal-infrared instrument (TIR) to measure sea-surface temperature differences and cloud-top motion.

During the mission, the Harmony convoy will switch between two formation configurations to address different science goals. The mission will include the first- and fifth-year cross-track interferometric phase covering land application. In the intervening three years, the mission will be reconfigured to fly in a stereo formation over the ocean.

The Harmony Satellite and Engineering Manager will report to the Harmony Project Manager. You will be in charge of leading and coordinating support from other engineers working on the project and specialised technical support from the Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality (D/TEC).

Duties

The Harmony Satellite and Engineering Manager is in charge of the procurement of the Harmony platform and satellite design, development and verification, including the coordination of all engineering disciplines within the Harmony project.

Your principal tasks and responsibilities will include:

• preparing, evaluating and negotiating the B2CDE1 phase procurement of the complete Harmony satellite for the platform aspects and all engineering disciplines;
• responsibility for completing the B2CDE1 phases (design, development, launch campaign and commissioning) of the platform and satellite, ensuring the timely availability of validated flight hardware for launch;
• responsibility for the design and timely procurement of the spacecraft subsystems, including structure, thermal, propulsion, mechanisms, power generation and storage and avionics (AOCS, data handling and communications);
• ensuring coordination and consistency of approach across major engineering disciplines for the platform, SAR and TIR instruments of the two Harmony satellites, including:
  • structural and mechanical engineering; thermal engineering;
  • mechanisms;
  • the propulsion subsystem;
  • power and harness engineering;
  • electrical design engineering;
  • the data handling subsystem;
  • telecommunications engineering;
  • electromagnetic compatibility and RF compatibility engineering;
• coordinating closely with other sections of the Harmony project to ensure consistency of platform, payload, subsystem and equipment requirements and interfaces;
• coordinating closely with other sections to ensure consistency of the AOCS hardware development at satellite level with the mission needs;
• supervising all aspects of on-board software definition, development and verification, ensuring provision for the required observability, operability and maintainability features for the System and Ops team;
• assessing and reviewing the satellite architecture, design and verification, including identification and analysis of design drivers and options for cost/schedule optimisation;
• ensuring early definition and specification of GSE and test facilities for the two satellites;
• monitoring the platform and satellite procurement industrial work, ensuring the timely resolution of any engineering-related non-conformance or anomaly requiring appropriate expert support;
• monitoring and review of AIT/AIV activities at satellite level to ensure their timely completion for the two Harmony satellites;
• reviewing the schedule critical path, instigating timely corrective and/or recovery actions where necessary;
• supervising the definition and evolution of all engineering budgets and satellite interfaces, ensuring coherence with the payload interface and launcher constraints;
• ensuring coherence and compatibility between the satellite design and the launcher interface definition, coordinating the definition of the launcher interface for the Harmony dual launch and procurement of the launch service, including the launcher adapter
• preparing and managing the launch campaign;
• supporting general project reporting tasks, such as weekly and monthly flash reports and QSRs;
• supporting the establishment of and subsequently leading the Satellite and Engineering team, defining day-to-day tasks and objectives, setting annual performance objectives, conducting assessments and identifying training needs, ensuring staff motivation and commitment to the project’s goal.

You will also be responsible for identifying, assessing, managing and reporting the health and safety risks in your area of responsibility.

Technical competencies

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking

Education

A master’s degree in an engineering discipline is required for this post.

Additional requirements

You should, in addition, have:

• the potential to manage individuals or a team in a project setting;
• the ability to individual and team activities and ensure a motivating work environment;
• strong leadership capabilities, with proven relationship management and communication skills;
• the ability to drive your team’s performance, developing your people by encouraging learning, delegating responsibility and giving regular and constructive feedback;
• strong problem-solving skills to deal with day-to-day operational challenges, together with demonstrated planning and organisational skills;
• a strong result orientation with the ability to set priorities and present practical solutions both orally and in writing;
• the ability to manage challenging situations proactively and constructively and to be customer-focused.

People management experience is an asset, as is international experience, i.e. outside your home country, as well as experience in diverse functional areas relevant to ESA activities.