Earth Observation Ground Segment and Data Manager

Select how often (in days) to receive an alert:Earth Observation Ground Segment and Data Manager Job Requisition ID: 20122Date Posted: 2 December 2025Closing Date: 6 January :59 CET/CESTDirectorate: Earth Observation ProgrammesEarth Observation Ground Segment and Data Manager in the ESA and Third-Party Missions Ground Segment Section, ESA Ground Segment and Data Management Division, Earth Observation Mission Management and Ground Segment Department, Directorate of Earth Observation Programmes.ESA and third-party mission data, from Earth Explorer and Earth Watch missions for example, are generated and managed using a flexible and resilient industrial service-oriented architecture: the ESA Missions Operations and Data Management Framework for EO Science Missions (EOF-EOS), enabling all ESA-managed end-to-end activities required to generate and make available validated, quality Earth observation (EO) science data to a wide user community.The EOF-EOS covers both mission-specific and mission-generic elements and, through innovative interfaces and services, is part of a wider European Earth Observation Data and Operations Framework. New EO missions are progressively onboarded in this system, which integrates new mission-specific elements and upgrades mission-generic elements as necessary. You will be responsible for the onboarding activities of one or more EO missions during the pre-launch phases and/or for the data generation and management operations of one or more EO missions after the satellite launch; furthermore, you will be responsible for ensuring, through proactive monitoring of relevant industrial engineering activities, that mission-specific requirements are adequately accounted for in the EOF-EOS and its continuous evolution.Duties Reporting to the Head of the ESA and Third-Party Missions Ground Segment Section, your tasks and responsibilities will include the following:During the onboarding of new EO missions on the EOF-EOS:in preliminary assessments, supporting the evaluation of new ESA EO missions based on the operations concept for the science data generation and management systems and the associated onboarding complexity, as well as the evaluation of the related costs;contributing to the definition of new EO mission system requirements and interacting with the Space Segment and Flight Operations Segment Teams for all matters relating to the specific characteristics of new EO missions, for example on-board handling of science data, downlink and on-ground acquisition, operations concept definition and instrument planning and science data formatting and processing;preparing the onboarding of new EO missions by establishing and maintaining a project plan that includes all necessary evolutions to the EOF-EOS technical and operational baseline, i.e. new mission-specific elements and integration/upgrades of mission-generic services;defining and managing the procurement of new mission-specific elements and services, including integration and validation activities to ensure operational readiness;defining the specific needs of new EO missions on existing EO mission-generic services and interacting as necessary with the relevant service managers to ensure the timely upgrade of such services, as well as following up the necessary integration and validation activities to ensure operational readiness;establishing, in cooperation with the Space Segment and Flight Operations Segment Teams, the pre-launch and commissioning system activities and supporting them, as well as preparing for routine phase operations;coordinating from end to end the