EUMETSAT operates a fleet of spacecraft to observe the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans and land surfaces in support of climate monitoring, weather forecasting, oceanography and hydrology. This includes satellites both owned by EUMETSAT or operated by EUMETSAT on behalf of the European Commission’s Copernicus programme.
The Space Segment Security Engineer is responsible for maintaining the security of the satellite systems operated by EUMETSAT. The post reports to the Mission Control Systems team leader in the Flight Operations division of EUMETSAT’s Operations and Services to Users department.
The role’s main duties include routine operations activities related to spacecraft security, investigating anomalies, and supporting the maintenance and use of related facilities. The post holder will support the development of spacecraft security operations for future programmes and support general security activities applicable to operational satellite-based systems.
The Space Segment Security Engineer will maintain close co-ordination across all the flight control teams, work closely with the Security Operations Team in the Real-time services and System Operations (RSO) division, and support recurrent satellites and future programme development.
The post holder will maintain familiarity across the space segment security domain through review of professional publications, attendance to conferences and participation in workshops.
Duties
- Perform routine operations related to spacecraft security, including management, access control and operational use of satellite authentication and encryption keys, and related facilities, across multiple sites and in close cooperation with the spacecraft operations and mission control systems teams;
- Develop and maintain operational data items (procedures, operations guides, databases, logbooks, etc.) relevant for spacecraft security, and train operations and supporting team personnel in their operational use;
- Investigate spacecraft security anomalies, events and incidents;
- Support general operational security processes for system change management, anomaly and incident investigations, and reporting to mission and operations management, and participate in reviews related to system evolutions and development programme activities;
- Support the development of future programmes’ spacecraft security concepts, functions, facilities and their operation, ensuring alignment with operational and other development missions, and coordinating the management and use of satellite authentication and encryption keys;
- Maintain familiarity with the spacecraft security ecosystem, including concepts, current capabilities and future developments, industry standards, recent events and issues.
Skills and Experience
- Minimum of 3 years’ professional experience in satellite operations for a satellite-based system, preferably associated with Earth observation or telecommunications;
- Knowledge of satellite systems, their operational ground segments, and operations concepts;
- Familiarity with spacecraft security concepts, their implementation and associated issues;
- Ability to understand and synthesise complex issues, apply these to investigative processes, and provide concise and clear reporting;
- Familiarity or knowledge of ISO27002;
- Good communication, interpersonal and organisational skills.
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 7340 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.)
