Secure Connectivity Performance Validation Engineer
Job Requisition ID: 19697
Date Posted: 7 July 2025
Closing Date: 28 July 2025 23:59 CET/CEST
Publication: Internal & External
Type of Contract: Permanent
Directorate: Connectivity and Secure Communications
Workplace:Noordwijk, NL
Grade: A2 - A4

DESCRIPTION

Secure Connectivity Performance Validation Engineer in the System Validation Section in the Secure Connectivity System Section within the Secure Connectivity Department in the Directorate of Connectivity and Secure Communications.
The ESA Programme Related to EU Secure Connectivity, hereinafter referred to as “Secure Connectivity”, is intended to support the effective development and validation of the EU Secure Connectivity governmental infrastructure and the services provided by it, as well as the validation and demonstration of services based on the commercial infrastructure developed by the contractor(s) delivering the EU Secure Connectivity governmental infrastructure.
The System Validation Section in the System Office of the Secure Connectivity Department is responsible for all system validation tasks to support the effective qualification and validation of the overall Secure Connectivity system of systems.

EDUCATION

A master’s degree in engineering, physics or a relevant scientific field is required for this post.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

• Strong problem-solving skills to deal with day-to-day operational challenges, together with demonstrated planning and organisational skills.
• A strong results orientation with the ability to set priorities and present practical solutions both orally and in writing.
• The ability to manage challenging situations proactively and constructively and to be customer focused.
• Direct experience of working with a commercial telecommunications company and operator will be a distinct advantage.
• Experience in public-private partnership projects would be an asset.
• Public speaking experience and the ability to conceptualise complex ideas would be beneficial.
• Experience working in projects with a security dimension would be beneficial.

Reporting to the Head of the Secure Connectivity System Validation Section, you will have the following responsibilities:

• Supporting ESA’s role of Qualification and Validation Authority of the IRIS² system to ensure that the IRIS² system infrastructure complies with the applicable performance requirements;
• Following up the performance of the system from as-designed to as-built;
• Defining and maintaining the main system performance drivers and performing the necessary design trade-offs (including the margin policy) to ensure that the mission performance will be achieved;
• Establishing and maintaining the system performance budgets throughout the project life cycle to ensure compliance with system and mission requirements;
• Following up the industrial activities related to system verification and qualification of the overall IRIS² system infrastructure at segment and system level until the SQR (system qualification review), the IOVR (in-orbit validation review) and the SVR (service validation review), paying particular attention to the system performance;
• Within the qualification and validation plan, defining and implementing the overall performance validation programme of work, from the initial system simulations (to be completed using agreed methodologies) to the validation of performance as-designed during the CDR (critical design review), as-built at the SQR, and as-operated at the SVR;
• Defining and managing the development of the system performance simulation tools required to support these system qualification and validation activities;
• Following up the corresponding space and ground segment qualification activities, in close cooperation with the PA and Safety Manager and the Space, Ground and Security Offices, ensuring that compliance with the main system performance parameters is correctly achieved as early as possible, and intervening in the event of non-conformances with an impact on the system or mission;
• Coordinating closely with the relevant IPT members, in particular the System and Ground Segment Officer, the Development and Validation Officer, the User Terminal, Spectrum and Signal Officer and the Critical External Interfaces Officer;
• Continuously monitoring the qualification status by reviewing design changes, new developments or changes outside the system requirements, and assessing their impact on the system qualification with respect to the system performance and on the roadmap for service provision;
• Supporting the maintenance of the non-conformance correction plan for issues affecting system performance, and following up the corresponding non-conformance recovery or waiver approval;
• Providing regular reporting to project management on all aspects of your area of competence, identifying risks and problem areas and proposing mitigation actions, where appropriate;
• Contributing to the management of the schedule and the maintenance of the overall project risk register, and proposing schedule risk mitigation actions;
• may have the delegation responsibility from project management on programmatic aspects;
• Developing and maintaining an efficient interface with the European Commission, EUSPA and the IRIS² concessionaire.