Project Management and Engineering Specialist (Non-orbital projects)

Telespazio Belgium can count on almost 40 years of experience in the field of Space Operations Service & Engineering activities.

We provide a significant contribution to the most major Space programs of the European Space Agency. Our core business is to work on the ground to build bridges into space, contributing to the success of ambitious missions.

The European Space Agency is our biggest client and we provide highly qualified employees to many sites of ESA but mainly for ESTEC in the Netherlands, and we provide a permanent contract with great benefits, a good salary, a relocation package along with genuine support to our employees.

On behalf of the European Space Agency, we are looking for a highly skilled Project Management and Engineering Specialist for Non-Orbital projects to work in ESTEC, in the Netherlands.

Candidates must be eligible for a security personal clearance from an EU Member State national security administration

What is expected from you:

• Coordinate ESA Academy non-orbital project programmes, including the ESA Academy Experiments Programme, REXUS/BEXUS and related educational initiatives, from call preparation and participant selection through project execution, testing campaigns and post-project activities;

• Support university student teams throughout the project lifecycle, providing guidance on project management, systems engineering, risk management, experiment development and mission preparation activities;

• Coordinate application campaigns, participant selection activities, student support services and programme communications in collaboration with ESA experts, industry partners and academic stakeholders;

• Monitor the technical, managerial and programmatic progress of participating teams and support the resolution of project-related issues throughout all project phases;

• Coordinate mentorship activities and organise project meetings, technical reviews, training events, workshops, experiment campaigns and evaluation activities;

• Coordinate the technical supervision of student projects, including engineering documentation reviews, technical assessments, experiment verification activities and compliance with applicable requirements and engineering best practices;

• Support student teams during testing and operational activities at ESA and partner facilities, including sounding rocket, stratospheric balloon, parabolic flight and laboratory campaigns;

• Develop and deliver training activities related to project management, systems engineering, experimentation platforms and ESA Academy educational programmes;

• Manage programme documentation, reporting, participant databases, statistics and digital learning content using ESA-approved tools, including ESA Learn, ensuring compliance with applicable data protection requirements;

• Contribute to the development of new partnerships, programme opportunities and engagement initiatives with industry, agencies, scientific organisations and academic institutions;

• Support outreach, communication and community-building activities, including educational events, competitions, promotional materials and alumni engagement initiatives;

• Support ESA participation in third-party educational initiatives and competitions such as EuRoC, ERC and other future programme activities.

What you offer :

• Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, Space Engineering, Robotics, Scientific Engineering or another relevant technical discipline;
• Minimum 4 years of professional experience in engineering project management, aerospace projects, scientific experimentation programmes or other complex technical projects;
• Practical experience supporting scientific experiments, sounding rocket payloads, balloon missions, robotics projects, parabolic flight campaigns or other hands-on research and experimentation activities;
• Experience supporting laboratory-based testing, scientific experiments or hardware development activities;
• Experience coordinating multidisciplinary technical projects involving academic, industrial and institutional stakeholders;
• Experience working with universities, student teams, training programmes or educational projects in a technical or engineering environment;
• Demonstrated experience supporting projects through development, testing, validation, operations or experimentation phases;
• Experience in technical project management including planning, scheduling, risk management, stakeholder coordination and reporting;
• Experience organising and supporting technical reviews, workshops, test campaigns or engineering activities;
• Practical knowledge of systems engineering principles, requirements management and engineering best practices;
• Ability to deliver technical training, mentoring activities or educational workshops;
• Previous experience working with ESA, DLR, SNSA, research institutions, universities or the European space sector is a plus;
• Experience with educational, student-oriented or university space projects, including hands-on engineering or experimentation programmes is a plus;
• Familiarity with ESA Academy activities, REXUS/BEXUS, parabolic flight campaigns, sounding rocket programmes or stratospheric balloon campaigns is a plus;
• Experience in outreach, mentoring, STEM education or university engagement programmes is a plus;
• High proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, especially Word, Excel and PowerPoint;
• Strong analytical, organisational and problem-solving skills;
• Ability to work independently and within multidisciplinary international teams;
• Candidates must be eligible to work and live in the EU.
• Fluency in English, both written and spoken.

What we offer:

• A competitive salary
• 30 days of paid annual leave, plus the days ESTEC is closed including public holidays (~12 days) based on a 40-hour working week;
• Hybrid working scheme (3 days in the office and 2 days remote in the Netherlands)
• Flexible working hours; you are in charge of your own agenda respecting core working hours
• Fully paid collective extensive health insurance scheme;
• A good pension scheme with no personal contribution;
• A career development (Coursera membership + training budget);
• Travel allowance;
• Extensive relocation package

Where:

You will be working within ESTEC, the European Space Agency’s offices in the Netherlands as a contractor for Telespazio Belgium. We don’t expect the employees to be on-site full time however you will still have to relocate to the Netherlands for this position.

Check out the ESTEC site here: esa.int/About_Us/ESTEC

When:

Deadline to apply: ASAP

We look forward to receiving your application for this position