Junior Professional in AI and Large Language Models Applications for EO Projects
Job Requisition ID: 19529
Date Posted: 15 May 2025
Closing Date: 5 June 2025 23:59 CET/CEST
Publication: Internal & External
Type of Contract: Junior Professional
Directorate: Earth Observation Programmes
Workplace:Noordwijk, NL
Grade Band: A1 - A1
This post is part of ESA’s Junior Professional Programme. We are looking for enthusiastic candidates with up to 2–3 years of relevant professional experience after their Master’s degree to join ESA for a four-year assignment. During this time, you will be actively working and learning on the job and will benefit from valuable mobility and developmental opportunities that will prepare you for a successful career at ESA. Subject to performance, it is therefore the intention to offer you an indefinite contract which will start at the end of the four years.
The selection process for the 2025 cohort of Junior Professionals will take place during Spring 2025, with a projected start date in October or November 2025.
Recruitment will take place at the A1 grade. At the end of the fourth year and if you are offered an indefinite contract at the end of your Junior Professional assignment, you will be upgraded to the A2 grade.

DESCRIPTION

The Directorate of Earth Observation Programmes runs a large number of development projects, ranging from Copernicus, Meteo to EO research missions, for a variety of applications and users. Each mission includes a set of spacecraft or standalone instruments whose implementation is managed via a dedicated project through the so-called Phases A/B1/B2/C/D up to launch and in-orbit commissioning (Phase E1) before being handed over for exploitation (Phase E2).

The use of artificial intelligence, and more specifically large language models, is envisaged as support for the technical management of projects in areas such as:

• support for project review cycles (SRR, PDR, CDR and QAR);
• generation of technical reporting on projects;
• analysis of project data and identification of patterns and outliers;
• support for managing meetings and tracking actions;
• enabling a centralised knowledge base of technical data and solutions;
• automating other repetitive tasks.

You will work as a member of the Earth Observation Projects Department, Directorate of Earth Observation Programmes.
You will be responsible for supporting the development, deployment and validation of a large language model tailored to the project’s technical management needs, starting with the Copernicus Expansion Mission.
You will initially support the CHIME project and report to the CHIME Project Manager as well as the Copernicus Space Segment Technical Coordinator for all technical and programmatic matters.

EDUCATION

A Master’s degree in a relevant scientific/engineering/computer science discipline is required for this post.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

You should have between two and three years of professional experience, preferably in a relevant domain, after completion of your Master’s degree.
You should have the ability to work both autonomously and as part of a team within the boundaries of assigned tasks and a stringent schedule.
You must be proficient in the English language (spoken and written).

Your tasks and responsibilities will include the following:

• generating and maintaining a list of user needs and use case scenarios for the application of the large language model (LLM) to support the technical management of Sentinels Expansion projects;
• supporting the LLM’s implementation, including the infrastructure design, security aspects, model preparation, model deployment and integration;
• coordinating the LLM’s verification and validation;
• coordinating user training;
• supporting the evolution of the LLM’s architecture and infrastructure based on user feedback.

Additionally, you will:

• review the project documentation produced throughout a project’s lifetime;
• participate in project meetings and reviews;
• participate in the launch campaign, LEOP (launch and early operations) and IOC (in-orbit commissioning) activities for Sentinels Expansion missions.