Head of the Earth and Mission Sciences Division

Description

Reporting to the Head of the Climate Action, Sustainability and Science Department, you will be responsible for the scientific evaluation of proposed mission ideas or approved candidate mission concepts, ensuring their scientific maturity and integrity, and for reviewing the conformance of proposed or approved missions with scientific and/or other user community requirements. 

You will convene mission-specific advisory groups (MAG) and establish and maintain the mission requirement documents and the science support plans. You will ensure coherence of implementation with approved mission objectives for all phases of all missions. You will also manage scientific studies and campaigns supporting all mission phases, assigning dedicated mission and campaign scientists for each mission and actively driving calibration/validation and derived product definitions, as well as the definition of derived processing methodologies. 

In addition, you will manage the Advisory Committee for Earth Observation (ACEO) Secretariat and will be responsible for organising its activities, including the management and implementation of the scientific selection procedure for research missions in accordance with the ESA Earth Observation Science Strategy.

Duties

Your tasks and responsibilities will include:

• managing the mission science-related activities of the Earth Observation (EO) programmes, including provision of the mission and campaign scientist leadership and expertise guiding the study and implementation of EO missions;
• managing the generation and maintenance of mission requirements in all phases of mission development, from pre-Phase A to commissioning;
• developing, maintaining and implementing appropriate science support plans for all EO missions (unless excluded by programme declarations);
• conducting and supervising relevant in-house and external scientific studies as needed to support EO mission implementation;
• managing international science and mission advisory groups as needed to support selected missions within all EO programmes;
• contributing to the elaboration of candidate EO mission and payload documents as well as the associated requirements;
• leading the scientific evaluation and contributing to the technical evaluation of EO mission proposals and to the selection of missions for implementation;
• supervising geophysical algorithm research and development in support of EO missions;
• leading and conducting all measurement campaigns concerned with the calibration, validation and exploitation of EO missions;
• contributing to the Agency's outreach and communication on EO;
• supporting the work of Young Graduate Trainees and Research Fellows in cooperation with nominated tutors, as applicable;
• reporting on the activities of the Division, including to Member States;
• being part of the Department’s executive leadership team, thereby contributing to overall cohesion and coordination across divisions, as well as vis-à-vis other departments;
• as appropriate, representing ESA at relevant international forums and in cooperative frameworks with partners;
• coordinating with the other Directorates of the applications area (D/NAV, D/CSC, D/CIC), as well as D/SCI and D/TEC, on topics of common interest.

You will also be responsible for identifying, assessing, managing and reporting on the health and safety risks in your area of responsibility.

Technical competencies

Behavioural competencies

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

For more information, please refer to ESA Core Behavioural Competencies guidebook

Education

A PhD degree in physics, engineering or a relevant Earth science and applications discipline is required for this post.

Additional requirements

Previous experience working on a multi-agency, cooperative programme is an advantage.

You bring solid experience as a team leader, with an extensive understanding of management and procurement processes.

Importance will be attached to your personal credibility with leading scientific authorities in the field.

Furthermore, you should have:

• proven experience of leading, motivating and developing a team in a project environment;
• the ability to provide strategic direction to the individuals and teams within the Division and to relate team objectives to the overall, evolving organisational goals and context;
• the ability to drive performance and foster cooperation within and across teams throughout the organisation;
• demonstrated excellent leadership, relationship management and communication skills, both oral and written;
• a proven track record of representing the Agency’s interests to external interfaces;
• excellent cognitive, analytical, delegation, planning and organisational skills;
• the ability to anticipate problems, resolve complex issues and relate situations to their context;
• the ability to make solution-oriented, pragmatic and timely decisions of a high standard and with integrity as well as to support others, such as team members, upper management and other stakeholders, in this process.

People management experience is an asset, as is international experience, i.e. outside your home country, as well as experience in diverse functional areas relevant to ESA activities.