Job Description

Telecom Product Assurance and Safety Manager

Job Requisition ID: 20363

Date Posted: 11 March 2026

Closing Date: 1 April 2026 23:59 CET/CEST

Publication: Internal & External

Type of Appointment: 4 years, extendable to indefinite

Directorate: Technology, Engineering and Quality

Workplace:

Noordwijk, NL

Grade Band: A2 - A4

Location
ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands

Description

As a Telecom Product Assurance and Safety (PA&S) Manager, you will be assigned to the Connectivity and Secure Communications (CSC) Product Assurance and Safety Office (TEC-QC), Quality Department, Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality.

You will work as a Product Assurance and Safety Manager to support projects in the Connectivity and Secure Communications Directorate. You will report hierarchically to the Head of the CSC Product Assurance and Safety Office and functionally to the Project Managers of the projects you will be assigned to. Initially, you will be assigned to support two of the following projects: HydRON DS, OneSat Novacom I, HummingSat and QKDSat.

For the maintenance of professional standards, the implementation of the general ESA Product Assurance and Safety policy and contributions to corporate tasks (such as reviews, standardisation, alerts, lessons learned, etc.), you will report to the Head of the Quality Department through the Head of the CSC Product Assurance and Safety Office.

Duties

Your specific responsibilities and duties will include:

defining or supporting the Agency’s partners in the definition and maintenance of the product assurance and safety (PA&S) requirement baselines in compliance with the relevant requirements in the statements of work, the CSC PA&S approach and the ESA PA&S policy. Projects may involve public-private partnerships between ESA and the private sector, which means that you must be able to engage with partners as required by ESA’s role;
reviewing contractors’ plans, specifications and effort proposed for the implementation of the project PA&S programme;
guiding and monitoring the implementation of PA&S requirements by contractors in order to assess performance/effectiveness, participating in design and safety reviews and directing the necessary preventive or corrective actions;
planning, coordinating and monitoring any PA&S support for the project team;
representing ESA in the Boards established for reviews (failure reviews, test reviews, etc.) and in addressing non-conformances/anomalies, etc.;
guiding and monitoring the application and procurement of electrical, electronic and electromechanical (EEE) parts, materials and processes and controlling implementation of applicable requirements;
ensuring the implementation of the software PA requirements;
ensuring the preparation of design trade-offs, analyses and reports using reliability, availability, maintainability and safety (RAMS) data to support project decisions;
monitoring the manufacturing, integration and test activities with quality assurance audits, mandatory and key inspection points, test witnessing and configuration inspections;
defining the formal acceptance requirements and conducting the acceptance reviews of all deliverable items specified in the contracts;
reviewing contractors’ PA&S analyses and safety data packages, ensuring that they are available at the planned dates to support safety review schedules, in coordination with the safety authorities;
providing support for the tracking of the overall implementation of PA&S verification;
supervising the performance of contractor PA&S activities during launch, validation, operation and service, as relevant.

In performing these tasks, you will be supported by experts from the project team and the ESA Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality.

Technical competencies

Knowledge of Product Assurance, Safety and Quality Management disciplines

Experience in the management and monitoring of industrial activities, including participation in reviews

Experience with the definition and application of product assurance and safety requirements baselines, tools and methods

Experience in PA&S technical domains

Experience with space and commercial quality standards as well as with their implementation

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 master's degree in engineering subjects is required for this post.

Additional requirements

Significant experience as a PA&S Manager on projects involving cooperation with institutional partners, industry and/or telecom operators as well as the use of ECSS, other industrial and commercial standards and commercial off-the-shelf products, and, in general, on space telecommunications projects would be considered an important asset.

A minimum of 10 years of experience in product assurance and safety would be an advantage.

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 contact.human.resources@esa.int.

Important Information and Disclaimer
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 and sanctions regulations & eligible to acquire the security clearance by their national security administrations.

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.

According to the ESA Convention, staff shall be recruited on the basis of their qualifications, taking into account an adequate distribution of posts among nationals of the Member States.

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.