RAMS (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety) Engineer

You will be assigned as RAMS (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety) Engineer in the RAMS Section, Quality and Product Assurance Management Division, Quality Department, Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality.

The Section provides dependability and safety support to all ESA projects and is also in charge of the development, implementation and maintenance of dependability and safety expertise and standards. It carries out technological research and development (R&D) in the fields of RAMS requirements, techniques, methodologies and tools. It also supports RAMS-related standardisation and training activities.

Description

You will report to the Head of Section and, within the technical fields described above, your main tasks and responsibilities when taking up duties at ESA will include:

• providing technical support and expertise to ESA projects in the RAMS field throughout all project phases;
• supporting technical risk assessments of ESA missions during the conceptual design phase at the Concurrent Design Facility;
• supporting the spacecraft safety submissions process in the context of launch campaigns;
• contributing to the proposal, definition and management of R&D activities covering ESA’s long- and short-term needs;
• contributing to the definition of technology development requirements and work plans for the Agency’s technology programmes;
• contributing to ESA dependability and safety policies, requirements and standards;
• maintaining Agency and industry technical competence through training, symposiums and workshops;
• monitoring applicable scientific and technological trends, and maintaining state-of-the-art expertise;
• contributing to the dissemination of the results of activities performed and the transfer of knowledge across the Agency.

Your duties may also include other activities within your field of competence.

Technical competencies

• General background and specific experience in the technical domains covered by the position
• Understanding of related technologies and R&D trends and familiarity with the industrial landscape
• Project support experience in a relevant domain
• Experience in the management and monitoring of industrial activities, including participation in reviews
• Experience with Space Quality Standards and their preparation and implementation
• Experience with the application of RAMS tools and methods at System, Satellite or Payload level
• Experience with the preparation and delivery of Dependability and Safety training

Behavioural competencies

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

Education and professional experience

A master's degree in an engineering discipline is required for this post together with five years of relevant professional experience.

Additional requirements

• Experience in performing RAMS analyses: reliability and availability predictions, failure mode effects analysis (FMEA), fault tree analysis (FTA) and hazard analysis.
• Experience in performing other RAMS analyses, such as Petri-Nets, Markov graph or common cause analysis, would be an asset.
• Experience with the preparation or review of spacecraft safety data packages in the context of the safety submission process for launch campaigns would be an asset, as would knowledge of space centre safety regulations.
• An educational background with a specialisation in a RAMS discipline is desirable.

Important information

In principle, recruitment will be within the advertised grade band (A2-A4). However, if the selected candidate has less than four years of relevant professional experience following the completion of the master’s degree, the position may be filled at A1 level.

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

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 and Canada, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia.

According to the ESA Convention, staff shall be recruited on the basis of their qualifications, taking into account an adequate distribution of posts among nationals of the Member States.

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.