VN 24/15 Data Processing Ground Segment Manager

In partnership with ESA and other international organisations, EUMETSAT contributes to the development of several Copernicus missions, for example Sentinel-3, Sentinel-6 and High Priority Copernicus Missions such as CO2M, in order to later assume the responsibility for routine operations. EUMETSAT also develops capability to process global ocean data from CRISTAL and CIMR polar regions monitoring missions. The EUMETSAT activities are funded by the EU Copernicus programme, under Cooperation Agreements with the European Commission, and by EUMETSAT ocean altimetry programmes, e.g. the Jason-CS programme.

Part of the Altimetry Team in the Copernicus Mission Development Division (CMD) and supported by a team of engineers, the Data Processing Ground Segment Manager is responsible for managing the procurements, and the technical coordination of internal developments, involved with the implementation of the data processing ground systems for altimetry missions under development (e.g. CRISTAL), including data access services (e.g. dissemination, archiving) and supporting also the integration, verification and validation activities and the transition of those ground systems and services into operations.

• Manage the technical baseline (requirements, design) of the relevant ground systems and its evolution until the transition to operations, including identification of technical trade-offs;
• Propose and maintain the relevant ground systems development plan, including procurements, internal developments, their acceptance, integration and transition into operations;
• Initiate and lead the procurement activities as technical officer of the relevant contracts until final acceptance;
• Coordinate the internal activities assigned to teams in the Technical and Scientific Support divisions at EUMETSAT and the integration of those elements with the procured elements;
• Support the integration of the data processing and data access ground systems with the rest of the ground segment elements (e.g. Earth terminals, mission control elements and interfaces with external entities);

• Support the system-wide verification and validation activities, including the performance of the end-to-end payload functional chain, from instrument acquisition to data access, against technical and mission performance requirements;
• Support the operations preparation activities, including handover of knowledge (training) and documentation to the operations and maintenance teams;
• Participate in other activities of the Programme Development Department, such as management of technical studies, participation in system and ground segment reviews and support to the preparation of future programmes.

Employment Conditions

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 7146 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.)