JOB DESCRIPTION

VN 25/72 Mission Control System Applications Engineer

The EUMETSAT Mission Control System is a central and strategic asset of the EUMETSAT Ground Segment for the preparations and operations of Earth Observation missions.

Within the Satellite Systems Ground Segment Division (SGS), the Mission Control System Applications Engineer will perform the technical management of the development, maintenance and evolution of the EUMETSAT Mission Control Systems.

The successful candidate will be part of an international team responsible for the big spectrum of Mission Control & Operations Applications. She/he will play a key role in the definition of roadmaps for the EUMETSAT Mission Control Systems, contribute to the provision of operationally reliable systems, pursue an efficient usage of resources and promote technologies and tools oriented towards these goals. Close collaboration with the Flight Control Teams will offer her/him the enriching experience of seeing the end-use of the systems under her or his responsibility.

Duties

Requirements definition, design, implementation, integration and testing of Mission Control Systems for new satellite missions.

Responsible for managing the end-to-end software application lifecycle for the maintenance and evolution of Mission Control Systems.

Collaborate closely with various stakeholders, including end-users and cross-functional teams, for the development and maintenance of Mission Control Systems.

Technical management of industrial development and maintenance contracts and support services, including monitoring of Contractors’ performance against Service Level Agreements.

Identify opportunities for optimisation and promote innovation within the Mission Control Applications domain by staying up-to-date with the latest industry trends and emerging technologies.

LOCATION

Darmstadt, Germany

QUALIFICATIONS

Engineering degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. computer science, software engineering).

LANGUAGES

The official languages of EUMETSAT are English and French. Candidates must be able to work effectively in English and have some knowledge of French.

DEADLINE

26 January 2026

Duties

Requirements definition, design, implementation, integration and testing of Mission Control Systems for new satellite missions.

Responsible for managing the end-to-end software application lifecycle for the maintenance and evolution of Mission Control Systems.

Collaborate closely with various stakeholders, including end-users and cross-functional teams, for the development and maintenance of Mission Control Systems.

Technical management of industrial development and maintenance contracts and support services, including monitoring of Contractors’ performance against Service Level Agreements.

Identify opportunities for optimisation and promote innovation within the Mission Control Applications domain by staying up-to-date with the latest industry trends and emerging technologies.

Skills and Experience

Knowledge and experience required:

Demonstrated experience in the development or maintenance of medium-large scale software systems in a high availability (24/7) environment.

Demonstrated experience in Software System Applications development and maintenance lifecycle covering all phases: requirements engineering, design, implementation, integration, testing and support to operations.

Knowledge of Space Industry Standards (e.g. CCSDS and ECSS).

Proven experience with modern software technologies (e.g. web, cloud, containers), modern architectures (e.g. microservices) and practices (e.g. DevSecOps).

Good interpersonal and communications skills, strong teamwork skills and service orientation.

Strengths in synthesising and presentation of complex problems and solutions.

It is considered a distinct advantage the knowledge and proven experience in the following areas/systems:

Development, maintenance and evolution of Mission Control Systems (and interfaces thereof) consisting of telemetry and tele-commanding processing chains, schedule execution and procedure automation, data archive, operations preparation functions.

Mission Control System Application Software development and maintenance lifecycle covering all phases: requirements engineering, design, implementation, integration, testing and support to operations.

Proficiency in Java and C++ programming languages and related technologies as well as any other technologies applied to the Mission Control domain.

Provision of software support to Flight Control Teams.

Knowledge and experience with generative AI technology, with a primary focus on Large Language Models (LLMs) and related frameworks.

Proven experience with technical management of services provided by industry.

Employment Conditions

The contract for the successful candidate will only be issued after obtaining formal approval of the EPS-Sterna Programme by EUMETSAT Member States.

The initial contract will be of 4 years’ duration, with subsequent 5 year contracts being awarded thereafter, subject to individual performance and organisation requirements. There is no limit to the amount of follow-up contracts a staff member can receive up to the EUMETSAT retirement age of 63 and there are certainly opportunities to establish a long career perspective at EUMETSAT.
This post is graded A2/A4 on the EUMETSAT salary scales. The minimum basic salary for this post is EURO 7340 per month (net of internal tax but excluding pension contribution and insurances) which may be negotiable on the basis of skills and experience. The salary scale provides for increments on the anniversary of taking up employment, and scales are reviewed by the EUMETSAT Council with effect from 1 January each year. In addition to basic salary, EUMETSAT offers attractive benefits. Further information, including salary details, is available on the EUMETSAT web site.

EUMETSAT is committed to providing an equal opportunities work environment for men and women.
Please note that only nationals of EUMETSAT Member States may apply. The EUMETSAT Convention requires that Staff shall be recruited on the basis of their qualifications, account being taken of the international character of EUMETSAT. Applicants are required to disclose all nationalities they have held and currently hold in order to determine whether they can exercise the role as advertised in compliance with applicable export control regulations.

About EUMETSAT

EUMETSAT is Europe’s meteorological satellite agency. Its role is to establish and operate meteorological satellites to monitor the weather and climate from space – 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This information is supplied to the National Meteorological Services of the organisation”s Member States in Europe, as well as other users worldwide.

EUMETSAT also operates several Copernicus missions on behalf of the European Union and provide data services to the Copernicus marine and atmospheric services and their users.

As an intergovernmental European Organisation, EUMETSAT has 30 Member States (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.)

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements