Senior Innovation Officer

Vacancy in the Directorate of Earth Observation Programmes.

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
ESRIN, Frascati, Italy 

You will work within ɸ-lab, a division and innovation lab of ESA’s Science, Applications and Climate Department, which aims to be a promoter and catalyst for disruptive and transformative innovation in Earth observation (EO). The Φ-lab vision is to accelerate the future of EO and act as a hub and catalyst, connecting a growing ecosystem of innovative capabilities across Europe between EO and disruptive or transformative technologies.

You will be responsible for exploring, within space and non-space domains, innovations and delivering them up to their adoption, with positive impacts on ESA’s mainstream activities and ecosystem (industry, academia, NGOs and the scientific community). To ensure success as a Senior Innovation Officer, you should be technically competent, detail-driven, strategic, energetic and motivated, with the ability to promote and achieve innovation adoption. You are a recognised innovator with, at a minimum, a European-wide network of connections, and are interested in innovative technologies and approaches, with a strong ability to think outside the box and deliver a strategic plan for innovation adoption.

Your tasks and responsibilities will include:

• exploring the disruptive/transformative innovation landscape of space and non-space domains;
• defining, procuring and implementing a suite of Research & Innovation (R&I) industrial activities fostering innovative EO solutions and missions, by exploring the use of new data sources (e.g. New Space, IoT), technologies (e.g. AI, blockchain) and computing paradigms (e.g. Quantum Computing); 
• supporting the rapid prototyping and benchmarking of innovative EO-based solutions; 
• supporting development of a suite of AI4EO challenges including data preparation; 
• providing some AI-related technical support and guidance to the Φ-lab team;
• promoting the generation, connections and sharing of ideas to engage with innovation pioneers; 
• analysing innovation trends and opportunities within the ecosystem (including ESA);
• actively identifying key areas for innovative transformation of EO, and creating/overseeing their long-term innovation strategic view and plans for fostering innovation uptake in the European EO ecosystem and in ESA mainstream activities;
• developing plans for nurturing and testing ideas, and promoting adoption with the capability to rise ideas TRL fostering their uptake;
• adopting agile development methods to foster discovery, facilitating innovation and accelerating the adoption;
• supporting the presentation of new ideas and plans to high-level stakeholders;
• supporting the design and implementation of the EOP coordination function for disruptive/transformative innovation;
• engaging with internal and external stakeholders to enhance innovative thinking in and around ESA;
• networking proactively with all EOP organizational units to increase awareness and collaboration with Φ-lab Explore Office addressing problems and opportunities they define, facilitating their initiatives, channeling results into their projects.

Ability to explore, develop and promote innovations up to adoption

Understanding of upstream and downstream innovative applications and technologies

Knowledge of new digital technologies including AI, innovative computing paradigms, Web 3, NLP, etc..

Seniority and recognized credibility within EO industry or academia

Understanding of innovation processes

Strong knowledge of EO industry, market, technologies, applications, data products and ecosystem trends and opportunities

Strong communication capabilities

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

A master’s degree or an equivalent qualification in a relevant engineering or scientific discipline and a successful track record in managing innovation programmes, preferably in an international context, are required for this post.

A relevant PhD is an asset.

Additionally you should have and/or demonstrate:

• Ability to launch and sustain collaborative initiatives with industrial partners and stakeholders on a non-exchange-of-funds basis
• Track record of interacting with external parties, especially industry and non-space actors
• Excellent in cognitive, analytical, strategic planning, strong communication and relationship skills
• Ability to “think outside the box” and explore new avenues with natural curiosity and a passion for new subjects and research areas
• A research record in the AI field is an asset

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.     

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] .

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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. 

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.

*Member States, Associate Members or Cooperating States.