IRIS² Lead Ground Segment Service Engineer

Secure Connectivity Ground Segment Service Engineer in the Secure Connectivity Ground Segment & Operations Office (CSC-IG), within the Secure Connectivity Programme Department (CSC-I) in the Directorate of Connectivity and Secure Communications.

The ESA Programme Related to EU Secure Connectivity, hereinafter referred to as “Secure Connectivity”, also IRIS², 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.

Reporting to the Head of the Secure Connectivity Ground Segment & Operations Office, you will be responsible for supervising all ground segment service engineering tasks related to the effective design and development of the infrastructure providing services to the end users, operated by the IRIS² service management center, GOVSATCOM Hub and commercial operators.

Your tasks and responsibilities will include:

• supervising the end‑to‑end technical requirements lifecycle for the IRIS² service component of the ground segment —including OSS and BSS—covering functional, performance, operational, and security requirements, as well as decomposition to lower levels and the definition of associated interfaces;
• coordinating with domain teams, such as operations, security, and service management (ITIL), to ensure consistent requirements, aligned processes, and coherent operational workflows across the service infrastructure of the ground segment;
• preparing for, contributing to, and supporting project reviews at ground‑segment level, ensuring technical consistency, completeness of inputs, and alignment with applicable standards and milestone objectives;
• supervising the implementation of the service‑infrastructure activities, ensuring that delivered components meet defined requirements, interface specifications, and verification and validation plans;
• liaising with the system office to ensure correct implementation, integration, and validation of the interfaces between the system, the service component of the ground segment and the external interfaces (GOVSATCOM Hub, commercial operator), including support to interface control activities and cross‑segment coordination;
• supporting the alignment of OSS/BSS workflows with ITIL processes, including incident, problem, change, and configuration management, to ensure operational readiness and smooth service transition;
• monitoring relevant schedules and delivery progress, identifying risks and issues affecting the service infrastructure of the ground segment, conducting technical impact assessments, and proposing mitigation actions;
• monitoring and controlling changes and deviations/anomalies related to the service component of the ground‑segment, ensuring change requests are analysed for technical impact, documented properly, and implemented in a controlled and traceable manner;
• supporting integration activities involving 5G Core-related architectures, including the assessment of service‑based interfaces, exposure mechanisms, and operational workflows where applicable to the IRIS² service infrastructure;
• supporting the service and exploitation team at the European Commission managing the overall service lifecycle management (following ITIL).

Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking

For more information, please refer to ESA Core Behavioural Competencies guidebook

A master’s degree in a relevant engineering discipline is required for this post, together with four years of relevant professional experience. Alternatively, candidates with a bachelor’s degree, complemented by an additional four years of relevant professional experience, may be considered.

• strong problem-solving skills to deal with day-to-day operational challenges, together with demonstrated planning and organisational skills;
• 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.