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Lead Payload Engineer

Job Requisition ID: 19826

Date Posted: 24 November 2025

Closing Date: 4 January 2026 23:59 CET/CEST

Publication: Internal & External

Type of Appointment : 4 years, extendable to indefinite

Directorate: Connectivity and Secure Communications

Workplace:

Noordwijk, NL

Location

ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands

Description

Lead Payload Engineer in the Sunrise Project within the LEO Satellites Programme Office in the Satellite Programmes Department within the Directorate of Connectivity and Secure Communications.

The Lead Payload Engineer is responsible for all payload development and procurement aspects in the assigned project.

You will be the focal point and day-to-day interface with the satellite operator and industrial prime contractor, and, under the leadership and authority of management, will be responsible for decision-making on behalf of the ESA Partnership Project and for the design, development, qualification, on-ground verification and in-orbit validation of the satellite payload, ensuring overall consistency with the mission requirements and end-to-end performances within schedule and cost.

As a first assignment, you will work on the Sunrise Project and will report to the Sunrise Mission Procurement Lead within the Sunrise Project, LEO Satellites Programme Office (CSC-PL), Satellite Programmes Department (CSC-P). Once the project has been initiated, you may also work on the Direct-to-Device (D2D) Partnership Project under the same Department.

Duties

Your tasks will include:

• Leading the design, development, qualification, on-ground verification and in-orbit validation of the satellite payload in partnership with the satellite operator and the industry consortium;
• Contributing to contract negotiation and managing industry payload contract(s), including CCNs and RFD/RFW/NCRs;
• Supporting, as required, the industry tailoring and leading the subsequent application of ECSS, international and industry standards;
• Responsibility for the satellite payload requirements and specifications, technical budgets, design drivers, internal and external payload interfaces, satellite payload performance, operational concepts, including their consistency with the mission requirements, specifications and technical budgets;
• Managing, together with the satellite operator and the industrial prime contractor, the payload, subsystem and equipment reviews;
• Participating in all spacecraft- and mission-level reviews as lead payload representative of the ESA project;
• Leading the preparation and implementation of payload-level and payload lower-level reviews in cooperation with the project team and supporting the other project team engineers in other project lower-level reviews;
• Leading a team of engineers and specialised engineering support from the Directorates of Technology, Engineering and Quality (TEC) and Operations (OPS);
• Proactively monitoring the overall payload schedule, identifying risks and problem areas, providing assessments and proposing mitigation actions from industry and the ESA side;
• Monitoring the completion of payload activities within technical performance, schedule and cost;
• Monitoring payload competitiveness through regular competitiveness meetings;
• Supporting the Project Manager for regular technical, programmatic and financial reporting to ESA management and the Participating States;
• Supporting meetings with delegations and partners as required;
• Contributing to relevant communication and outreach activities;
• Supporting other activities of the Department, such as the preparation of future mission opportunities, as required and relevant to your experience.

Technical competencies

Experience in Payload design, development, verification

Knowledge of ESA Procurement and contract negotiation

Knowledge of risk management

Knowledge of ESA processes (including industrial development, verification, procurement, risks management)

Knowledge and experience of Industrial costs and schedule aspects

Experience with telecom satellite operators

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation

Operational Efficiency

Fostering Cooperation

Relationship Management

Continuous Improvement

Forward Thinking

Education

A master's degree in a relevant engineering discipline is required.

Additional requirements

• Ability to understand and clearly and concisely communicate complex technical issues to external parties and to ESA management;
• Ability to clearly communicate with and lead internal teams within TEC and OPS, as well as external industrial teams;
• Experience with 5G payloads for constellations.

Experience in Public-Private Partnership Projects would be an asset.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness

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, religious beliefs, age, disability or other characteristics.

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 via email at .

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.

During the recruitment process, the Agency may request applicants to undergo selection tests. Additionally, successful candidates will need to undergo basic screening before appointment, which will be conducted by an external background screening service, in compliance with the European Space Agency's security procedures.

Note that ESA is in the process of transitioning to a Matrix setup, which could lead to organisational changes affecting this position.

The information published on ESA's careers website regarding working conditions is correct at the time of publication. It is not intended to be exhaustive and may not address all questions you would have.

Nationality and Languages

Please note that 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, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia.

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.