EUMETSAT is a key player in the European Space Sector, responsible for operating Europe’s weather and climate monitoring satellites. Our core duties encompass the collection, distribution, and long-term preservation of invaluable Earth Observation data. The satellites we operate serve multiple essential functions, from supplying environmental data critical for European weather forecasting agencies to providing vital indicators for climate change and supporting emergency rescue beacon responses.

The EUMETSAT Long-Term Archive (LTA) is the facility responsible for the preservation of the satellite data. It currently contains over 10 PB of data, and is expected to surpass 50 PB by 2025. The LTA securely stores data sets produced since the Meteosat satellite launched in 1977. It is a critical asset of more than 45 years of Earth Observation Data enabling the international scientific and metrological communities to study climate change and develop new weather forecast models.

Within the IT and Data Infrastructures division, the Data Preservation System Engineer collaborates with fellow engineers to deliver the EUMETSAT LTA service fulfilling the data preservation requirements defined to answer the needs of new missions as well as missions already in operation.

The successful candidate will be a motivated IT professional with a strong foundation in programming, an in-depth understanding of distributed systems, and hands-on experience in all facets of the software lifecycle. They will be responsible for the maintenance, enhancement, and seamless delivery of the LTA services, playing an instrumental role in ensuring the preservation and accessibility of crucial satellite data, vital for improving weather forecasting and monitoring climate change.

Duties

• Provide second line support to the Operations and Services to Users department, ensuring the continuity of the LTA service in-line with established Service Level Agreements (SLAs), EUMETSATs processes and quality standards;
• Analyse user requirements from the Operations and Services to Users and Programme Preparation and Development departments to develop comprehensive and SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely) system requirements;
• Prepare, plan and manage software development work-packages with industry partners, ensuring adherence to EUMETSAT processes;

• Provide support in the integration, testing and release of software minimising service disruption, and ensuring that changes to the system are reflected in the relevant documentation;
• Stay updated with the latest industry standards, suggesting and prototyping potential technological improvements to the long-term archive systems;
• Contribute to the development road map of the LTA service, ensuring it meets the requirements of both OPS and PRD while aligning with wider organizational objectives.

Skills and Experience

Minimum five years of experience working in a team maintaining medium to large scale distributed systems used in an operational, high-availability (24/7) environment, are required.

Knowledge and experience in the following are mandatory:

• Strong experience in the full software lifecycle, from requirements analysis to implementation, and maintenance using object-oriented languages (e.g., Java, C++), with a solid understanding of object-oriented/functional design and programming principles;
• Working knowledge of database systems and familiarity with popular database management systems like PostgreSQL, Oracle, or NoSQL databases;
• Hands-on experience and deep understanding of Linux operating systems, including common utilities, scripting, and maintenance in distributed computing environments;
• Demonstrated keen enthusiasm for staying updated with emerging technologies, best practices, and methodologies in data preservation and software engineering;
• Proven experience in working collaboratively within multi-disciplinary teams, ensuring smooth project progression and timely issue resolution;
• Demonstrated strong analytical and troubleshooting skills, with a proven ability to quickly diagnose and remedy issues in real-time;
• Excellent verbal and written communication to effectively present technical information to diverse audiences with varying technical backgrounds.

The following are not mandatory but would be an advantage:

• Hands-on project management experience;
• Open Archive Information System (OAIS) standard;
• Experience using the Spring Boot framework;
• Knowledge of tape library infrastructure;
• Knowledge of network architectures.