Product Assurance and Safety Manager

Vacancy in the Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality.

ESA is an equal opportunity employer, committed to achieving diversity within the workforce and creating an inclusive working environment. We therefore welcome applications from all qualified candidates irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, beliefs, age, disability or other characteristics. Applications from women are encouraged.

This post is classified A2-A4 on the Coordinated Organisations’ salary scale .

Location
ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands  

You will be assigned as integrated support from the Product Assurance and Safety (PA&S*) Department to the Connectivity and Secure Communications Product Assurance and Safety Office (CSC-Q) to work in the Directorate of Connectivity and Secure Communications (D/CSC) as the IRIS2 (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite) Product Assurance and Safety Manager. You will report hierarchically to the Head of the CSC Product Assurance and Safety Office and functionally to the IRIS2 Project Manager.

For the maintenance of professional standards, the implementation of the ESA general PA&S policy and contributions to corporate tasks, such as reviews, standardisation, alerts and lessons learned, you will report to the Head of the Product Assurance and Safety Department through the Head of the CSC Product Assurance and Safety Office.

* PA&S covers safety, reliability, availability, maintainability, quality assurance, components, including radiation hardening assurance, materials and processes and software product assurance.

Specific responsibilities and duties include:

• guiding the definition and maintenance of the PA&S requirements baseline in compliance with the relevant requirements of the IRIS2 statement of work and overall approach, which provides for a public-private partnership between the European Commission, ESA and the private sector, and with the general ESA PA&S policy; 
• reviewing contractors’ plans, specifications and effort proposed for the execution of the project PA&S;
• guiding and monitoring the implementation of PA&S requirements by contractors in order to assess performance and effectiveness, participating in design and safety reviews and directing the necessary preventive or corrective actions;
• planning, coordinating and monitoring the assigned PA&S workforce providing support to the project team;
• representing ESA in the Boards established to conduct failure reviews  and test reviews, for example, and in the disposition of non-conformances and anomalies;
• guiding and monitoring the application and procurement of electrical, electronic and electromechanical (EEE) parts, materials and processes and controlling implementation of applicable requirements;
• ensuring the implementation of the software PA requirements baseline;
• ensuring the preparation of design trade-offs, analyses and reports using reliability, availability, maintainability and safety (RAMS) data to support project decisions;
• monitoring the manufacturing, integration and test activities with quality assurance audits, mandatory and key inspection points, test witnessing and configuration inspections;
• defining the formal acceptance requirements and conducting the acceptance reviews of all contractual deliverable items;
• reviewing contractors’ PA&S analyses and safety data packages, ensuring that they are available at planned dates to support the safety review schedule, in coordination with the safety authorities; 
• providing support for the tracking of the overall implementation of PA&S verifications;
• supervising the performance of the contractor PA&S activities during launch, validation, operation and service.

In the execution of these tasks, you will be supported by experts from the project team and the ESA Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality.

Knowledge of Product Assurance, Safety and Quality Management disciplines

Experience in the management and monitoring of industrial activities, including participation in reviews

Experience with the application of product assurance tools and methods

Experience in the technical domains covered by the position

Experience with Space Quality Standards and their preparation and implementation

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

A master’s degree in engineering is required for this post.

Significant experience in large projects involving institutional partners, industry and/or operators, and in the use of ECSS as well as of other industrial and commercial standards and COTS products, is considered a significant asset.

A minimum of 10 years of experience in product assurance and safety is an advantage.

Other information

For behavioural competencies expected from ESA staff in general, please refer to the ESA Competency Framework .

For further information please visit: Professionals ,What we offer  and FAQ    

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.  

Applicants must be eligible for security clearance by their national security administrations.   

The Agency may require applicants to undergo selection tests.

At the Agency we value diversity and we 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 email [email protected] .

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please note that applications are only considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

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*. When short-listing for an interview, priority will first be given to internal candidates and secondly to external candidates from under-represented Member States *.  

In accordance with the European Space Agency’s security procedures and as part of the selection process, successful candidates will be required to undergo basic screening before appointment conducted by an external background screening service. 

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. 

*Member States, Associate Members or Cooperating States.