Our team and mission

ESA plays a key role in the Gateway program by providing critical contributions for lunar communication, crew support and refueling of the Cislunar station (i.e. Lunar-link, Lunar I-Hab and Lunar-view) as well as equipment to conduct research in moon orbit.

The ESA Gateway Operations team is responsible for the preparation and execution of the activities on ground and in orbit.

In particular, the ESA Gateway Ground Segment team is tasked to work in close cooperation with the ESA Gateway Operations and Engineering team and the Gateway partners teams to ensure the readiness of the necessary mission systems. This includes:

1. Evolution of existing ground systems to allow smooth transition from ongoing ISS operations into Moon exploration.
2. Preparation of Mission Tools: Designing and validating ground segment tools for telemetry, command, and simulations.
3. Ensure Knowledge Management: Documenting requirements, technical information, lessons learned, and best practices for operational continuity.

You are encouraged to visit the ESA website: http://www.esa.int

Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeship

As an ESA Graduate Trainee, you will engage in following activities:

1. Knowledge Base / Documentation Import

• Design and implement a process to centralise all Gateway program documentation (e.g. documents, emails of importance, presentations, minutes of meeting or team notes) into a knowledge-based system;
• Configure and customise the knowledge-based system (e.g., myBase, Documize) to:
  • Ensure structured and intuitive storage of documents;
  • Facilitate easy access and searchability for users (e.g. using AI assistance);
  • Merge and eliminate existing file shares while ensuring no data is lost;
  • Implement a solution compliant with ESA security standards, including appropriate authentication controls.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to identify documentation needs and ensure the system meets operational requirements;
• Provide training and support to team members on using the knowledge-based system effectively.

2. Gateway Ground Segment Requirement Management

• Design and implement the requirements management process for the ESA Gateway Human Exploration Ground Segment;
• Tailor use of Polarion for ESA Gateway, including:
  • Customising the tool to collect and organise the right information;
  • Creating and maintaining a well-structured repository of requirements;
  • Generating exports, baselining documents, and tracking changes;
  • Setting up automated reports and dashboards for stakeholders.
• Collaborate with engineering teams to ensure requirements align with system needs and project goals;
• Support the creation of high-quality requirement documents, ensuring traceability and completeness;
• Provide training and support to team members on Polarion usage and the requirements process.

3. DevOps Software Engineer

• Assess current development and deployment practices used by the Gateway Mission Services team to identify gaps and areas for improvement;
• Research, recommend, and implement modern DevOps tools and practices to streamline workflows;
• Collaborate with developers to establish CI/CD pipelines and automated testing frameworks;
• Enhance system performance, scalability, and reliability through best DevOps practices;
• Monitor and maintain infrastructure, ensuring availability and security;
• Document processes, tools, and workflows to enable knowledge sharing and consistency.

Technical competencies

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation

Operational Efficiency

Fostering Cooperation

Relationship Management

Continuous Improvement

Forward Thinking

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

Education

You should have just completed, or be in the final year of your master’ s degree in space systems engineering or software engineering.

Additional requirements

You should have good interpersonal and communication skills and should be able to work in a multicultural environment, both independently and as part of a team. Previous experience of working in international teams can be considered an asset. Your motivation, overall professional perspective and career goals will also be explored during the later stages of the selection process.

The following skills are also considered an asset:

• Understanding of space and ground segment architecture;
• Knowledge in programming languages for tool development;
• Familiarity with databases and scripting tools;
• Experience with tools for defining and tracking mission requirements (e.g. Polarion).