Operations and Failure Management Placement (12 months)

at  Airbus Defence and Space Limited

JOB DESCRIPTION:

Start date: 21st July 2025
Location: Stevenage
Duration : 12 Months
Application closing date: We encourage you to apply early to avoid missing out on this opportunity! Please note we will close adverts as soon as we receive sufficient applications.

ABOUT US:

You will join the Operations and Failure Detection, Isolation and Recovery (FDIR) team, which sits in the Functional Avionics group in Stevenage.
We work on a range of missions, from telecoms missions such as OneSat Payload to Earth Observation, Science and Exploration missions such as Vigil and ARIEL.
We look at how the Spacecraft will operate in all nominal and contingency situations, from launch until end of life. We answer questions such as: how do we switch on the spacecraft? How do we talk to the spacecraft? How do we know if something breaks? What do we do if something breaks? (Don’t panic!)
To do that we work with all the other disciplines to understand all aspects of the satellite, and more specifically with other Functional Engineering disciplines such as: Software, to define telecommands and data parameters; Functional Verification, to test our Flight Operation Procedures; Database, to implement the FDIR parameters and tuning.

REQUIREMENTS:

Our placements are open to U ndergraduates only . Therefore it is mandatory for candidates to be an undergraduate for the whole duration of the placement. Please inform your graduation date on your application.

PLEASE ENSURE YOU INCLUDE YOUR CV AND A COVER LETTER FOR YOUR APPLICATION TO BE CONSIDERED

We’re looking for you to demonstrate your personal skills!

• Degree in a related technical field such as Aerospace engineering, Physics, Maths.
• You are Interested in finding out “How things work”;
• You are happy talking with people and to ask questions to gather information you need;
• You are keen to share your knowledge;
• You are technically-oriented and able to process detailed information to engineer and overall architecture.

SECURITY CLEARANCE: Eligibility to gain UK SC Security Clearance OR You will be subject to a BPSS check (including a criminal record check).

EXPERIENCE LEVEL:

Student

This role is a great opportunity to learn all about how the spacecraft works, since you’ll be collaborating with all of the other subsystem architects to make sure it does!
Your objective is to make sure the satellite operates in all nominal and failure situations.
In the early design phase you might be helping to define the initial operational and FDIR concept including mission scenario, operational constraints, recovery levels and actions etc. On an implementation-phase project you might be going into the detail of the FDIR monitors, or working on the interfaces with software, or writing and testing Flight Operations Procedures (basically, instructions for the operator).
In any case you’ll gain great exposure to satellite design and the opportunity to exchange with and learn from a host of passionate engineers.