Head of the Quality Department

About the role

Reporting directly to the Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality, you will serve as Head of the Quality Department, as a member of the Directorate’s management team, participating in decision-making for all major activities covered by the Directorate.

You will be responsible for establishing and implementing ESA’s Quality policy, governing Agency-wide quality standards and representing ESA in internal and external Quality Boards. You will lead the Department’s independent assurance function for ESA projects, and support directorates and research activities in the product assurance and safety disciplines.

As Head of the Quality Department, you will also act as ESA’s principal representative for quality matters vis-à-vis external stakeholders, including Member State delegations, industry partners, academia and international organisations.

A key element of your role will be to ensure the well-being, motivation and professional development of the Department’s workforce. You will encourage the flow of information, proactively coordinate with the Directorate’s other departments, and foster a culture of excellence, accountability and continuous improvement.

With the Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality and your peers, you will actively contribute to ESA’s Agenda 2040 and the Agency’s ongoing transformation. This will include supporting increased efficiency, strengthening the matrix organisation, promoting digitalisation and enabling calculated risk-taking while safeguarding mission success, safety and quality.

You will be accountable, with the support of Division and Office Heads, for the management of Departmental activities and resources, and for maintaining and further developing excellence in the technical competencies covered by the Quality Department.

The Quality Department is currently planned to undergo a detailed review with a focus on organisational efficiency. With the Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality, you will have the opportunity to challenge the current organisational setup, and propose and implement changes if needed.

Duties

Reporting directly to the Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality, and within the technical fields described above, your main tasks and responsibilities will include:

• Leading and developing a large, highly skilled team of Product Assurance Managers, Product Assurance Engineers, Safety Engineers, Quality Managers and other experts.
• Providing and planning competences and services in an operational matrix model for all directorates at ESA.
• Acting as ESA Quality Manager, establishing and implementing ESA’s Quality policy, and the governance of Agency-wide quality standards and management system.
• Representing ESA in Quality Boards.
• Exercising independent assurance for ESA projects, supporting directorates and research activities in the product assurance and safety disciplines, including management of reliability, availability, maintainability, safety, software, product quality, space debris mitigation, planetary protection and nuclear power safety.
• Supervising the correct implementation of the Agency’s flight safety rules, planetary protection, nuclear power safety and space debris mitigation (including re-entry safety).
• Exercising corporate authority to request corrective actions for identified quality problems and communicate serious concerns to ESA senior management, with direct access to the Director General for major issues.
• Coordinating and supervising the activities of the Quality and Product Assurance Management Division, the Independent Safety Office and the Product Assurance and Safety Offices, ensuring synergy, a consistent approach, the sharing of experience and confidentiality.
• Leading and managing the Department’s cost centre, resources and competencies, including multi-year resource planning and career development of the workforce.
• Fostering continuous improvement, development of techniques, methods and procedures, and contributing to standardisation policies and work plans as a member of the Quality Standardisation Board.
• Coordinating and cooperating with international partners and bodies, supporting Member States in launch authorisations, and participating in relevant boards and international bodies.
• Ensuring the well-being, motivation and performance of the Department’s workforce, fostering cooperation, knowledge-sharing and proactive coordination within the Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality and across the Agency.
• Liaising with the Inspector General, cooperating with other ESA directorates and interacting with external entities (Member State delegations, industry, academia and international partners) to promote and develop ESA activities.

Roles and responsibilities are subject to further evolution as part of the ESA transformation.

You will also be responsible for identifying, assessing, managing and reporting the health and safety risks in your area of responsibility.

Technical competencies

• Strong technical and programmatic risk and non-conformance management
• Leadership of technical and programmatic reviews
• Expertise in process simplification and tailoring
• Expertise in quality assurance across the full lifecycle and all TRLs
• Proven leadership in resource and competence management
• Experience working in a complex matrix environment, including resource planning and management
• Experience in technology development and engineering support
• Experience in technical reviews

Behavioural competencies

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

Education

A master's degree in a relevant engineering discipline is required for this post.

Additional requirements

You should also have:

• Demonstrated excellent leadership, relationship management and communication skills, both oral and written.
• The ability to provide strategic direction to the individuals and teams within the Quality Department and to relate team objectives to the overall, evolving organisational goals and context.
• The ability to lead technical and programmatic reviews, adapting to the different project types.
• A willingness to adapt and improve quality-related processes significantly.
• Solid and proven experience in managing space activities in a multi-project environment, and leading large, multidisciplinary and international teams.
• The demonstrated ability to provide strategic direction, align Departmental objectives with evolving organisational goals, and anticipate and manage complex issues.
• A proven track record in driving team performance, fostering cooperation among stakeholders, and developing and motivating people.
• Openness to change and the ability to lead change processes in a complex organisational environment; experience in large-scale transformation initiatives would be an asset.
• Excellent ambassadorship skills, as well as knowledge of the internal operations of ESA or a similar organisation.
• The ability to synthesise complex technical and programmatic information and to make pragmatic, timely and high-quality decisions with integrity.
• Excellent cognitive, analytical, delegation, planning and organisational skills.
• The ability to anticipate problems, solve complex issues and relate situations to their context.
• The ability to reach solution-oriented, pragmatic and timely decisions of a high standard and with integrity as well as to support others (team members, upper management and other stakeholders) in this process.

People management experience is required and international experience would be an asset, including outside your home country, as would experience in diverse functional areas relevant to ESA activities.

Mobility is inherent to management functions and this position may be subject to rotation. Therefore, mobility opportunities may be offered to you as part of your career evolution at ESA, starting after approximately five years in this role.

Important Information and Disclaimer

Applicants must be eligible to access information, technology, and hardware which is subject to European or US export control and sanctions regulations and eligible to acquire the security clearance by their national security administrations.

Note that ESA is in the process of transitioning to a Matrix setup, which could lead to organisational changes affecting this position.

Nationality and Languages

Please note that applications are only considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia. When short-listing for an interview, priority will first be given to internal candidates.

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.