Software Product Assurance Engineer

Software Product Assurance Engineer

Location: ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands

Description:

The Software Product Assurance Engineer position is located in the Software Product Assurance (PA) Section, within the Quality, Dependability and PA Support Division of the Product Assurance and Safety Department, under the Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality. The section provides functional support to ESA projects and is responsible for the development, implementation, and maintenance of software PA expertise and standards. It also engages in technological research (R&D) in software PA requirements and techniques, as well as participating in standardization and training activities.

Duties

• Provide expert technical support and consultancy to ESA projects, including involvement in major project reviews and, where applicable, boards and panels.
• Support projects in monitoring contractor software PA programme execution to ensure compliance with software PA requirements.
• Prepare and implement general programmatic and technical software PA requirements in line with Agency standards and specifications.
• Establish project-specific programmatic and technical software PA requirements based on the ESA PA baseline.
• Support projects in evaluating contractor documentation and efforts proposed for the execution of software PA programmes.
• Evaluate proposed concepts, designs, and operations for compliance with defined software PA requirements to include the performance of associated audits.
• Define, initiate, and manage R&D activities covering long- and short-term needs.
• Support and, at the line management’s request, participate in the Directorate’s competence domain activities.
• Audit contractors and their in-house standards for compliance with ESA requirements, assessing the maturity of their software processes.
• Liaise with related engineering and PA specialists regarding overlapping areas of activity.
• Monitor applicable scientific and technological trends and maintain state-of-the-art expertise.

Your duties may also include supporting other activities within your field of competence. You will also act as the Section’s focal point for security assurance matters.

Technical Competencies

• General background and specific experience in the technical domains covered by the position
• Understanding of related technologies, R&D trends and familiarity with the industrial landscape
• Project support experience in a relevant domain
• Experience with the application of software product assurance tools and methods
• Experience in the management and monitoring of industrial activities, including participation in reviews
• Experience with Space Quality Standards and their preparation and implementation

Behavioural Competencies

• Result Orientation
• Operational Efficiency
• Fostering Cooperation
• Relationship Management
• Continuous Improvement
• Forward Thinking

Education

A master’s degree in computer science, mathematics or software engineering is required for this post.

Additional Requirements

Experience in at least three of the following areas is required:

• Software product assurance in critical real-time applications
• Software engineering
• Software configuration management
• Dependability assessment of software-intensive systems
• Software development and maintenance
• Software process assessment and auditing
• Software security assurance

Some knowledge in the following areas would be considered an asset for this position:

• Agile practices
• Quality assurance for machine learning models
• Big data software architectures and life cycles
• Data quality assurance
• Hands-on experience of static code analysis and tools
• Alternative software development life cycles, continuous integration and tools
• Security assurance and security best practices
• System security analysis, design and associated tools
• Security accreditation and certification methodologies and processes

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.

The Agency may require applicants to undergo selection tests.

At the Agency, we value diversity and 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 at email contact.human.resources@esa.int.

Please note that applications are only considered from nationals of certain countries. 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. Recruitment will normally be at the first grade in the band (A2); however, if the candidate selected has little or no experience, the position may be filled at A1 level.