POSITION

We are looking for a Science & Utilisation Planner to join in our customer premises at the European Space Agency (ESA) / ESTEC.
The Requirements Planning Service Team (RPT) provides the interface between ESA Science and Operations for the ESA research complement aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The Team also provides analytical services and products to ESA planners and operators, monitors and tracks ESA science, technology and education objectives, and advocates/defends these objectives within the multilateral ISS research community.
The position is in the Services Department (composed of 30 persons) within Space Applications Services’ structure.

The candidate will mainly report to the Science Team Lead, and the ESA Payload Integration Team Lead, as necessary.

• Location: Noordwijk, The Netherlands (ESA – ESTEC)
• Start date: As of September 2025.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• A University Degree or equivalent qualification in a scientific (e.g. biology, medicine, physics, chemistry) or engineering field
• At least 4 years of professional experience in research, research coordination or operations
• Experience with Columbus and/or ISS operations and/or processes
• Experience and/or familiarity with microgravity platforms, research and operations
• Ability to:
• Synthesise, summarise and draw conclusions
• Work Independently and in a distributed international teams
• Adhere to strict standards of confidentiality
• Strength to cope with schedules and deadlines
• Excellent written and spoken English (Dutch or French as a native language is an asset).

ABOUT US

Space Applications Services NV/SA is an independent Belgian company founded in 1987. Aerospace Applications North America is our Partner company in Houston, USA.
Our aim is to research and develop innovative systems, solutions and products and provide services to the aerospace and security markets and related industries. Our activities cover manned and unmanned spacecraft, launch/re-entry vehicles, control centres, robotics and a wide range of information systems.
The Company develops payloads, avionics, robotics technology and products, and provides complete mission operations control centre solutions to EN9100 standards.
We also provides engineering, science and training services, including astronaut training.
From our headquarters, we are in daily contact with the International Space Station (ISS) ensuring our Customers’ research is successful.

• Provide information and analytical support to User Support Operations Centers, Increment Management & ESA’s ISS Flight Directors
• Monitor real-time ISS operations, upcoming activities, and advocate for ESA ISS utilisation objectives
• Track accomplishments of ESA research and payload utilisation objectives, and conduct post-increment crew-time utilisation reconciliation
• Review and provide comments and inputs to various increment or experiment documentation, including but not limited to:
• Activity Requirements Documents, Mission Operations and Integration Concept, CEFs
• Input from third-party in NASA MIDAS Prime tool in coordination with ESA Logistics team
• Documentation submitted as part of the Certificate of Flight Readiness (CoFR) process
• Review and maintain increment Stage Priorities documentation
• Prepare, contribute to, and attend regular meetings/teleconferences, including with multilateral partners (Joint/Mission Management Team, Increment Coordination Meeting, Payloads Integration meetings, Operations Teams tag-ups)
• Contribute to and/or be responsible for regular deliverables issued by the service, or contribute to external deliverables including but not limited to Increment Graphical Overview, Weekly Science Summary, Accomplishment reports, and Lessons learned.
• Support the RPT service management towards the ESA customer, ensuring high-quality performance and reports, as necessary.