Lead Quality Technical Authority
Job Requisition ID: 19519
Date Posted: 8 May 2025
Closing Date: 29 May 2025 23:59 CET/CEST
Publication: Internal & External
Type of Contract: Permanent
Directorate: Technology, Engineering and Quality
Workplace:Noordwijk, NL
Grade Band: A5 - A5

DESCRIPTION

Lead Quality Technical Authority, Quality Department (TEC-Q), Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality (D/TEC).
Reporting to the Head of the Quality Department, you will serve as the technical reference for the Directorate in the domain of Quality. You will be responsible for providing strategic technical leadership, coordination and expertise across the technical domains of Quality, Dependability and Safety, Materials and Processes, EEE Components and Quality and Space Debris Mitigation at system level. This includes ensuring a consolidated technical position and alignment among multidomain experts, fostering technical excellence, technology development and innovation, and promoting and overseeing knowledge management while serving as a catalyst for collaboration across domains and stakeholders.

EDUCATION

A master’s degree in an engineering or scientific discipline is required.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

• A minimum of 20 years’ professional experience is required, of which at least 15 years as a recognised technical lead in the domain of Quality PA and in related space applications
• Project support experience in relevant technical domains
• Experience in managing and monitoring industrial activities, including leading reviews
• Experience in leading multidisciplinary technical working groups, expert networks or communities
• A proactive and collaborative approach in supporting colleagues in knowledge-sharing and problem-solving
• Professional curiosity, both at technical and at strategic level

Your main responsibilities will include:

• technical coordination and the provision of consolidated expertise to projects/programmes:
• Acting as a sounding board for the Directorate’s Management, providing recommendations and guidance on complex technical matters in the relevant technical domains;
• Aligning diverging perspectives and providing a consolidated technical position across the relevant technical domains to ensure consistency and alignment with the Directorate’s objectives;
• Providing ad hoc expertise and recommendations for projects and programmes in complex or critical areas of Quality and relevant technical domains to manage and reduce technical risks;
• Overseeing the consistent application of relevant technical standards and best practices across projects by leveraging knowledge of lessons learned from previous projects;
• Providing independent technical assessment capability to project reviews, TEBs and ad hoc boards as required.
• supporting the Head of Department in monitoring and coordinating Quality-related activities:
• Screening the weekly reports of the TEC Team and the MPTB Chair, anomaly reports from the Directorate of Operations, and review board reports with regard to Quality matters and lessons learned and initiating coordination meetings and actions where necessary;
• Attending and contributing to TEC-Q management meetings;
• Monitoring NCRs, IPNs and ESA alerts closely to identify general problems across directorates and to address related strategies and needs in close cooperation with the Heads of the PA and Safety Offices and the Quality and Product Assurance Management Division (TEC-QP);
• Supporting cross-cutting audits and inspections as identified by TEC-Q in close cooperation with TEC departments;
• Participating as required in failure investigations in close cooperation with the ESA Inspector General (DG-I).
• contributing to technology development and innovation:
• In close collaboration with sections, divisions and departments, overseeing the alignment of technology development activities across multiple technical domains with ESA technology programmes and R&D strategy;
• Contributing to the development of R&D plans, roadmaps, strategies and processes to address user and programme needs;
• Fostering the use of best engineering practices and methods, innovative technologies and solutions in projects and programmes;
• Integrating inputs from the relevant technical domains, including industry, relating to technology and manufacturing readiness, supply chain and manufacturing capabilities to support technology maturity across the Directorate;
• Identifying opportunities for technology development across multiple technical domains, including global technology trends in other industries and their adaptation to the space field.

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• knowledge management and knowledge-building:
• Overseeing quality and consistency in knowledge management in the relevant technical domains;
• Fostering a knowledge-sharing culture across the technical domains and in multiple projects and programmes;
• Promoting the transfer of knowledge and lessons learned within ESA, identifying means and best practices to disseminate information across technical domains and projects;
• Developing technical training plans and strategies to build and strengthen competencies in areas of innovation within the relevant technical domains;
• Developing and facilitating training courses and workshops across the technical domains with a focus on the system level for both internal and external audiences as required;
• Leading the development of relevant ECSS standards in the relevant technical domains;
• Mentoring engineering experts and technical authorities on technical leadership aspects, fostering a holistic system view.
• community engagement and collaboration:
• Engaging with external stakeholders, such as European and international industry, agencies and academic institutions, to support cross-fertilisation and foster the advancement of technologies and engineering methodologies across multiple technical domains;
• Driving collaboration among communities and networks across technical domains, identifying and enabling multidisciplinary synergies to address complex technical challenges and stimulate novel ideas.