Earth Observation Service Manager
**Job Requisition ID**:19574
**Date Posted**:20 May 2025
**Closing Date**:10 June 2025 23:59 CET/CEST
**Publication**:Internal & External
**Type of Contract**:Permanent
**Directorate**:Earth Observation Programmes
**Workplace**:Frascati, IT
**Grade Band**:A2 - A4
**Location**
ESRIN, Frascati, Italy
**Description**
Earth Observation Service Manager in the Copernicus Ground Segment Services Section, Copernicus Ground Segment and Data Management Division, EO Mission Management and Ground Segment Department, Directorate of Earth Observation Programmes.Copernicus is the Earth Observation (EO) component of the European Union's Space Programme, offering accurate, accessible data for environmental management, climate change mitigation and civil security.ESA is developing a digital ecosystem for the Copernicus Space Component (CSC) and Destination Earth (DestinE) data management to foster data exploitation activities and the growth of a sustainable network of European industrial services.ESA is implementing this digital ecosystem for the Copernicus and DestinE programmes based on an industrial service-oriented architecture relying on cloud technology and innovative solutions to optimise scalability and performance, providing users with timely access to high-quality data from Sentinel missions in the framework of Copernicus and access to an ecosystem of digital twin-related services in the framework of DestinE.The Copernicus Ground Segment Services Section is responsible for the definition, procurement, management and evolution of the operational industrial services contributing to the Copernicus Space Component operations, such as EO payload data acquisition, EO data processing, EO data archiving and service operations coordination, the aim being to achieve continuous innovation, cost-effectiveness, security and environmental sustainability objectives while ensuring the availability of high-quality data and services.Additional information about the activities of the Division can be found at:
**Duties**
In close coordination with the Head of Division and the other Sections of the Division, your tasks and responsibilities will include:
- planning, organising and managing the procurement of the required EO services and the associated allocated budget;
- contributing to the strategic evolution of EO operational service architecture and definition, enabling timely, efficient and cost-effective responses to the future operational challenges of the Copernicus programme;
- defining and maintaining technical and service requirements, service level of performance and cost models associated with the implementation of the EO operational services;
- identifying and assessing the adoption of cutting-edge technologies, for example in the areas of cloud computing, HPC, AI, data analytics, data processing and standard data access interfaces, tailored to the EO domain to enhance the performance, reliability, capabilities and environmental sustainability of ESA's Operational Framework for Copernicus (EOF-CSC) and DestinE ecosystem service operations and big data management;
- identifying and assessing the operational implementation of innovative approaches for the operational Sentinel product definition and data architecture to support scalable and cost-effective access to the increasing data volumes and manage their industrial service implementation.
This position will provide exposure to coordinating EO and IT industrial teams in Europe and to cutting-edge technologies and methodologies in the fields of Earth Observation, big data management and cloud computing.**Technical competencies**-
Experience in multidisciplinary EO data engineering, such as EO data analytics, EO data engineering, EO data processing, EO data formatsExperience in the design or implementation of EO data management solutions with cloud-native services or big data frameworksKnowledge of machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) in relevant areas, such as the EO domain, Earth science modelling, operational processes, or processorsUnderstanding of scalable and distributed systems architecture for EO big data management and operations of EO ground systemsExperience in managing operational projects or services**Behavioural competencies**
Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward ThinkingFor more information, please refer to the ESA Core Behavioural Competencies guidebook**Education**
A master's degree or PhD in a relevant field, including but not limited to engineering, computer science, Earth observation, and/or data management, is required for this post.**Additional requirements**
- At least three years of relevant professional experience
- Understanding of EO missions
- Programming skills, particularly in Python and for cloud-based environments
- Proven ability to effectively work within a team and across teams in an international enviro