Internal Research Fellow (PostDoc) in Solutions for Space System Cyber Security Resilience
Job Requisition ID: 19707
Date Posted: 7 July 2025
Closing Date: 11 August 2025 23:59 CET/CEST
Publication: External Only
Type of Contract: Internal Research Fellow
Directorate: Operations
Workplace:Darmstadt, DE
Grade: F2 - F2

OUR TEAM AND MISSION

You will join the Ground Segment System and Cybersecurity Engineering Section in the System and Applications Engineering Division, Ground Systems Engineering & Innovation Department, Directorate of Operations at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC). The Section is responsible for driving cyber security research and development applied to the ground segment and operations domains, for the procurement and delivery of data systems in support of ESA’s Space Safety Programme, and as a matrix support provider to ESA programmes and mission operations infrastructure for ground segment system security engineering.
You will work closely with other cyber security actors within the Agency, and in particular the ESA Security Office. The Security Office is the Agency’s security authority. It is responsible, among other things, for the procurement and delivery of major resilience programmes, including the Agency’s Space Cyber Security Centre of Excellence (SCCoE) and the Cyber Safety and Security Operations Centre (C-SOC).
The security of space systems is becoming ever more paramount as space assets provide increasingly critical services to society and as the technological and geopolitical landscape leads to a more volatile threat environment. Across the Agency, major initiatives are underway to ensure the cyber resilience of ESA’s corporate and mission operations infrastructures and future programmes. These initiatives include wide-ranging, crucial research and development initiatives to ensure readiness for the future threat landscape.
Within this context, there remain several open challenges, areas of research and opportunities to advance the state-of-the-art in the space system cyber security domain. The European Space Agency is seeking a post-doctoral Internal Research Fellow to perform state-of the-art research in solutions for space system cyber security resilience.
The focus of the activity is to advance the state of the art and develop solutions that can be used to support users throughout ESA and the wider European community.
You are encouraged to visit the ESA website: https://www.esa.int/

EDUCATION

You should have recently completed, or be close to completion of a PhD in cyber security, computer science or engineering. Preference will be given to applications submitted by candidates within five years of receiving their PhD.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

In addition to your CV and your motivation letter, please prepare a research proposal of no more than 5 pages. This proposal should be uploaded to the “additional documents” field of the “application information” section.

You should have:

• proficiency in at least one major programming language, such as Java, C/C++/C#, Python, and preferably in several languages;
• proficiency in the Linux operating system and deployment and configuration of virtualised environments, such as virtual machines, containers and network configurations;
• project-based experience (e.g. EU, ESA, Industry);
• natural curiosity and a passion for new subjects and research areas in space security and technology;
• the ability and interest in conducting prospective interdisciplinary research;
• Aptitude to contextualise specialised areas of research and quickly assess their potential with respect to other domains and applications;
• academic networking skills to add functioning links to universities and research institutes;
• the ability to work in a team, while also being able to work individually and autonomously on your own personal research plans and directions.

Generally applied experience in memory-safe programming languages is considered an asset.

Experience in one or more of the following areas is considered a strong asset, particularly if applied to space systems:

• System and software security engineering;
• Security risk analysis;
• Modern secure development lifecycle processes;
• Cryptography;
• Secure communication protocols.

You should also have good interpersonal and communication skills and should be able to work in a multi-cultural environment. Your motivation, overall professional outlook and career goals will also be explored during the later stages of the selection process.

Please refer the Job description for details