About this job

We are recruiting a System Performance Engineer for Sapienza to work on our Customers Site (ESA-ESTEC).

She/he will contribute to all aspects relevant to the system performance of the Biomass mission up to Level 1 (tbc) products in the context of the design and implementation activities undertaken in the frame of the Biomass Project. This includes project internal activities and monitoring/review of the relevant industrial activities.

The System Performance Engineer will cooperate closely with the Biomass payload team in the execution of the relevant tasks. Furthermore, she/he will be supported by and is expected to closely cooperate with specialist engineers from the Biomass team, from the Earth Observation System Support Division and from the Directorate of Technical and Quality Management (D/TEC) as appropriate. The incumbent will provide regular reporting to the Biomass System and Mission Performance Manager.

*Please note the starting date might be slightly delayed due to COVID-19.

Responsibilities

Requirement Engineering:

• Support the maintenance and coherence of system-level requirements including Mission observation, Biomass End-to-End simulator (BEEPS) and Ground Processor Prototype (GPP), external and internal calibration, ITU and RFI protection requirements
• Monitor and critically analyse the system-level performance requirements allocation, their flow down to the relevant contributors, the associated margins and their evolution
• Support the payload team for aspects relevant to instrument performance requirements flow-down and instrument performance verification, including relevant models and tools

Performance Budgets and Performance Modelling:

• Maintain system-level performance budgets in coordination with the Biomass Payload and Engineering/AIV sections
• Critically monitor and analyse the compliance of the system performance budgets with the end-to-end system performance requirements and propose corrective actions in case of deviation
• Develop and maintain system performance mathematical models and tools to support the performance assessment
• Acquire knowledge of the BEEPS/GPP and conduct performance simulations and sensitivity analyses
• Support the BEEPS / GPP verification and acceptance activities

End-To-End (E2E) calibration and Calibration Transponder:

• Monitor and critically analyse the calibration transponder performance budget, its coherence with the system performance budgets and the compliance with the end-to-end system performance requirements
• Verify and ensure the coherence of the E2E and external calibration approaches and ground processing implementation with the instrument internal calibration and instrument/system
• Monitor and review the Biomass calibration plan and the specification, procurement and verification/validation of the relevant external calibration

General Support activities:

• Support the definition of cal/val and in-flight commissioning plans and the preparation, execution and analysis of the relevant in-flight operations during the commissioning phase
• Support Payload Data Ground Segment (PDGS) reviews for what concerns the SAR processor and L1-L2 processing interface aspects including cross-verification activities of the PDGS operational SAR processor
• Support the interactions with the Biomass Mission Advisory Group (MAG) for what concerns system performance aspects.
• Support Agency Project reviews
• Support the System and Mission Performance Manager and the Biomass project team members in all aspects related to system performance, as necessary for the effective execution of the Biomass project

Profile

• Master’s Degree or equivalent qualification in a relevant physical science or engineering subject
• At least 4 years of relevant work experience
• Background and experience in SAR systems, SAR performance/calibration and SAR processing, preferably acquired in a space project environment
• Background and experience on the specific issues relevant to low frequency, full-pol SAR systems is an asset
• The candidate must possess solid analytical skills and the command of the physics and techniques of SAR systems, together with the capability to critically analyse the work performed by industry in the relevant areas, identify problems and propose/instigate corrective actions
• The candidate shall demonstrate to be proficient with programming tools and languages relevant to the implementation and maintenance of the system performance models (e.g. MATLAB, Python)
• Fluent in English; knowledge of another ESA member-state language is an asset
• Candidates must be eligible to work in the EU

Please send your CV (in English) as soon as possible, but no later than 4th May 2020 to jobs@sapienzaconsulting.com

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