Archive Scientist

Closing Date:  7 October 2024 23:59 CET/CEST

Workplace:  Villanueva de la Cañada, ES

Grade Band:  A2 - A4

This is a non-renewable post for a limited duration of 3 years.

Location
ESAC, Villanueva de la Cañada, Spain 

Our mission

The European Space Agency maintains a world-leading Science Programme with missions in heliophysics, planetary science, astrophysics and fundamental physics. Its mission is to “empower Europe to lead space science”. 

The Department of Science Operations (SCI-S), within ESA’s Directorate of Science, hosts the scientists and engineers who oversee the space missions from study to the end of operations, develops the science operation systems for the missions and operates the missions in space, and archives and curates their data during operations and beyond. Its main objective is to maximise the scientific output of the missions for the benefit of humankind.  

You will be assigned as Archive Scientist for ESA heliophysics missions under the direct responsibility of the Head of the Science Archives Development and Operations Section, also known as the ESAC Science Data Centre (ESDC), in the Data Science and Archives Division within SCI-S. You will have further functional reporting lines within the mission(s) you support.

Duties

You will be responsible for the definition and specification of the scientific archive for the supported ESA heliophysics missions and for the follow-up and monitoring of its implementation and operation with the goal of maximising the scientific return of the missions. You will work in close collaboration with the heliophysics mission project scientists, the other mission archives scientists, the ESDC Software and Data Systems Architect and the members of the Heliophysics Archives Users’ Group.

As Archive Scientist, your specific responsibilities will include: 

• ownership of use cases and drivers for the mission archives, including:
  • interfacing with the Project Scientist, the Science Operations Centre (SOC) team, other archive science leads and other archive scientists, as well as the external stakeholders, such as the instrument teams and the mission scientific community, to provide the science use cases that drive the mission archive and determine the priorities for implementation;
  • providing scientific support and steering the development and operations of the archives for the supported ESA heliophysics missions, providing the ESDC development team with an archive user requirements document as a baseline for implementation;
• monitoring the implementation, testing and expected performance of the archive based on use cases gathered by the mission team and derived requirements; in particular, defining and performing the end user acceptance testing of the different archive versions prior to their release to the scientific community;
• with the help of the instrument operations scientists, supervising and coordinating the definition and provision of science data products and any higher-level data products from the community or instrument teams as needed, including liaising on submission schedules and content;
• liaising with any internal and external providers to ensure the completeness of all levels of data products with maximum science quality, contributing to the optimisation and refinement of the archive products when possible;
• encouraging and contributing to the science exploitation of the missions’ data products through archive usage;
• participating in archive scientist meetings and user groups and sharing ideas and proposals for the strategy and promotion of the ESA science archives;
• supporting the scientific community on archive- and data product-related questions.

As a scientist in the Department, you will be required to actively pursue personal scientific research, publishing articles using archival data, and to actively participate in the Department’s research activities.

Technical competencies

• Experience in science operations, preferably in the context of ESA missions;
• Experience in science data management and archiving systems;
• Broad knowledge of scientific disciplines, including strategic vision in the area of heliophysics;
• Experience in coordinating the scientific community and managing multiple interfaces at international level.

Education

• A PhD in heliophysics is required for this post.

Additional requirements

The following will be considered assets:

• Experience in promoting science to the wider scientific community and general public;
• Experience in agile and DevOps methodologies, human factors engineering (UX design) and associated technologies and their use in modern software engineering.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness 
ESA is an equal opportunity employer, committed to achieving diversity within the workforce and creating an inclusive working environment. We therefore welcome applications from all qualified candidates irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, beliefs, age, disability or other characteristics. Applications from women are encouraged.

At the Agency we value diversity, and we welcome people with disabilities.  Whenever possible, we seek to accommodate individuals with disabilities by providing the necessary support at the workplace.  The Human Resources Department can also provide assistance during the recruitment process. If you would like to discuss this further, please contact us via email at contact.human.resources@esa.int.

For more details and to submit your application, please click APPLY.

Important Information and Disclaimer

In principle, recruitment will be within the advertised grade band (A2-A4). However, if the selected candidate has less than four years of relevant professional experience following the completion of the master’s degree, the position may be filled at A1 level.

Applicants must be eligible to access technology and hardware which is subject to European and US export control regulations & security clearance by their national security administrations.

During the recruitment process, the Agency may request applicants to undergo selection tests. Additionally, successful candidates will need to undergo basic screening before appointment, which will be conducted by an external background screening service, in compliance with the European Space Agency's security procedures.

Note that ESA is in the process of transitioning to a Matrix setup, which could lead to organisational changes affecting this position.

The information published on ESA’s careers website regarding working conditions is correct at the time of publication. It is not intended to be exhaustive and may not address all questions you would have. 

Nationality and Languages 
Please note that applications can only be considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia. 

According to the ESA Convention, the recruitment of staff must take into account an adequate distribution of posts among nationals of the ESA Member States*. When short-listing for an interview, priority will first be given to internal candidates and secondly to external candidates from under-represented Member States*. 

The working languages of the Agency are English and French. A good knowledge of one of these is required. Knowledge of another Member State language would be an asset.  

*Member States, Associate Members or Cooperating States.