Our team and mission

This position is based at the European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT) – Harwell, UK

IMPORTANT: Due to the location of the ECSAT and current legislation of UK, only UK citizen, students enrolled in a UK university, or those with a pre-settled status (right to study) in the UK are eligible to apply for this internship.

ESA Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) aims is to show that space is open for business and has the power to improve our everyday lives on Earth. This is done by helping companies in ESA’s member states in the development of innovative services and products which utilise data from existing space assets, such as Satellite Communication, Earth Observation, Satellite Navigation and Human Spaceflight technologies, in combination with terrestrial technologies, to deliver sustainable services for the benefit of user communities.

The program helps stakeholders in addressing commercial and technical risks throughout the development lifecycle, transforming commercially promising space‐based applications concepts into operational, profitable and self‐sustaining applications. Working in close cooperation with stakeholders and user communities across a wide variety of markets, BASS enables innovative space-based applications that deliver a positive socio-economic and environmental impact.

Affected by a rapid digital transformation, policies and regulations around climate risk disclosures and targets as well as more extreme hazards to model and insure, finance and insurance present a significant growth opportunity for innovative services which integrate space technologies.

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

Field(s) of activity for the internship

Topic of the internship: Space for finance and insurance applications

You will aim to build a comprehensive understanding of the market opportunities in the financial and insurance sectors for downstream space applications to support the development of sustainable, green and innovative applications.

This will include the following tasks:

• Identifying and characterising commercial opportunities for innovative services and applications in the financial and insurance sectors exploiting space assets such as Satellite Communications, Satellite Navigation, and Earth Observation;
• Supporting the identification and engagement with champion industry stakeholders and public entities who may be the potential customers/users of the services identified;
• Supporting the gathering of user/market requirements from the stakeholders identified as well as the development of new initiatives in cooperation with external partners;
• Identifying the gaps with respect to the existing technology and services and support the identification of new developments both for terrestrial and space-based technologies;
• Identifying technical and commercial risks related to the implementation of such services and proposing mitigation actions

The internship is expected to enable you to gain the following experience

• a comprehensive overview of innovative services based on integrated space-based data and terrestrial technologies;
• an understanding of the future trends in the financial services industry and the emerging role of the space industry in the finance and insurance value chains;
• experience with business development and an understanding of new business models;
• experience with stakeholders’ engagement.

Behavioural competencies

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

For more information, please refer to ESA Core Behavioural Competencies guidebook

Education

You must be a university student, preferably in your final or second-to-last year of a university course at Master’s level and you need to remain enrolled at your University for the entire duration of the internship.

Additional requirements

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.

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

Knowledge and background in finance or actuarial science would be considered a plus.