Science and Application Support Specialist (Satellite & Ground Segment Engineer)

Package Description

• Competitive Salary 
• Great career opportunities 
• Corporate Benefits Package
• International environment

Job Introduction

Serco is a leading Space Services Provider with thousands of skilled resources that has supported over 50 space missions on behalf of more than 10 Space or Government agencies around the globe, including the ESA and NASA. Serco offers space capability across the full space lifecycle from satellite testing to launch services, LEOP to spacecraft operations, space surveillance to data management, and supporting downstream application development.

Key Responsibilities

Engineering Support (technical backbone, ensuring the platform runs smoothly and efficiently): 

• Provide robust engineering support. This involves handling the day-to-day technical challenges that arise, from helping the BIOMASS/EarthCARE/.. user community with their platform usage to investigating and resolving any anomalies within the software.
• Contribute to the platform's efficiency by developing small applications to automate tasks and assisting with the integration and development of application monitoring components.

Scientific Support (ensure the scientific users can focus on their work, confident that their technical needs are being met):

• Offer dedicated scientific support to bridge the gap between the technical and user communities. A key part of this is helping the user community fully leverage the data product portfolio of initiatives like Biomass/EarthCARE/... 
• Act as a link for the Initiative Manager, helping to translate the needs of the user community to the technical teams. 
• Support the Helpdesk by clarifying user requests and connecting them with the appropriate technical experts for resolution.

Interface: 

• Support interfacing with External service entities and other ESA interfaces, and to other entities inside ASCEND.

Documentation: 

• Prepare scientific documentation, technical dopcuemtation, posters for the contract/workshops/conferences as agreed within the ASCEND management and with ESA. 

Reporting: 

• Support the preparation of periodic service reports on the activities performed 

Skills

Mandatory requisites are:

• Strong teaming attitude
• Very good interfacing capabilities towards external interfaces: customer,  scientific and technical  
• Proactive approach to problem identification and resolution.
• Ability to plan and report on proposed problem solutions and to work to deadline.
• Candidates should be fluent in English and have good writing and communication skills.
• Availability to travel to attend meetings.
• Programming skills: Phyton preferentially, other programming languages and scripting (Linux) for data manipulation / analysis automation purposes.    
• Knowledge of space based platform data (e.g. Biomass, EarthCARE,..)

In addition, the candidate shall have:

• Attitude to follow guidelines and to require minimum supervision, proactively requesting help when needed
• Ability to plan and report and to work to deadline.
• Ability to follow different concurrent activities
• Attitude to be propositive in suggesting new opportunities of research or solutions leading to scientific improvements of satellite data quality