LSTM Instrument AIT Engineer

Aurora is an established supplier of skilled manpower to ESA and in particular at ESTEC and ESAC. Aurora has the opportunity to expand our support to ESA in the domain of EOP – Engineering Support to Earth Observation, for the specific mission of LSTM.

Happiness of our employees has proven key to obtaining excellent results and a client who also regards us highly for excellent service.

Specific Tasks

Instrument/Payload AIT (Assembly, Integration, and Testing)

• Oversee LSTM instrument integration, verification, and testing at various levels (unit, subsystem, and full instrument).
• Monitor ESA’s role in breadboard (BB), engineering (EM), and qualification model (QM) development.
• Reviewing the instrument CCVP plan , test procedures and optical alignment control plans with the a focus to secure the optical, spectral, spatial and radiometric performances of the payload.
• Track and mitigate risks related to the AIT schedule.
• Coordinate ESA’s participation in the instrument AIT campaign, ensuring proper documentation and issue resolution.

Instrument Payload Calibration & Verification

• Assess on-ground calibration and characterization plans.
• In co-ordination with the lead instrument principal engineer, and system and instrument performance engineers, review and confirm the adequacy of verification plans for all instrument key optical and pointing performances including spectral (ISRF), radiometric (SNR, ARA, Straylight), spatial (MTF dynamic/static, PSF), absolute and knowledge pointing.
• Support the payload manager in defining the opto-mechanical verification campaign.
• Maintain coherence across test specifications, calibration, and verification campaigns.
• Establish communication between engineers for anomaly reporting and resolution.

Support to Project Reviews

• Support the ESA LSTM team in System and Instrument level reviews on all aspects relating to AIT/AIV planning, execution and flight hardware acceptance.
• Trace actions in Eclipse and chase close-out of actions.

Instrument GSE (Ground Support Equipment) Procurement

• Oversee ESA’s involvement in Instrument GSE procurement, including upcoming 2025 initiatives.
• In particular take the lead of all Instrument OGSE contracts i.e. Dichroic 1 SPEQTRE, Ambient/Passive Optical bench OGSE, Instrument collimator, Instrument Source Pack, Instrument large area calibration Blackbodies, and Instrument integrating sphere.
• Review and approve OGSE specifications, designs, and validation tests to ensure alignment with verification plans.
• Participate in OGSE development contract reviews and project meetings.

Specific qualification requirements

• Engineering background (Master’s level), with a focus on space applications.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in Spacecraft and Optical Instrument AIT/AIV, specializing in optical manufacturing, assembly, alignment, testing, and verification of opto-mechanical and electro-optical systems.
• Previous experience in alignment of optomechanical systems.
• Good understanding of:
  • Optical and electro-optical performances of optical payloads.
  • ECSS standards.
  • Space system development and PA (Product Assurance) standards.
• Strong planning capabilities to optimize and adapt schedules (experience with MS Project).
• A good knowledge of the English language.

Legal and Security Requirements

• All applicants must be legally allowed to work in The Netherlands.
• Applicants are required to provide a copy of their passport and degree certificate. Aurora will validate the Degree with the issuing University and provide evidence to ESA.
• Prior to issuing a letter of employment the applicant shall provide to Aurora a recent official document declaring that they are of good conduct from the country where currently resident.

Location

The work will be performed at the European Space Technology and Research Centre (ESTEC) at Noordwijk, The Netherlands.

Contract

• The selected candidate will receive good remuneration.
• Will be registered for both social security and tax in the Netherlands.
• The standard working hours are 40 per week. There are 12 public holidays and an additional 30 annual days holiday.
• Training to improve efficiency and provide strength for future career are of course included.
• Aurora assist with relocation both with support and financially.
• Aurora contributes 15,4% of pensionable salary to a company pension scheme and employees can optionally make additional contributions.

To be considered for this Position

Prior to 09 May 2025, please apply via our Job Application form quoting EOP-208 (LSTM Instrument AIT) as reference.

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