HE Space Operations is a steadily growing international human resources company specialised in the space market. We have been providing consultancy services in space engineering and business administration for over 25 years. We generally work directly on-site with our principal customers such as the European Space Agency (ESA) and EADS Astrium.

For the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) at Noordwijk in the Netherlands, we are currently looking for a

Safety Engineer

This person will provide system safety engineering support to the ESA ISS Payload Safety Review Panel (PSRP). This is a multidisciplinary panel of specialists from various technical and functional areas (structure, power, avionics, laser, ISS operations etc) which reviews and grants flight safety certification (for on-orbit operations and transportation by shuttle or ATV) to ESA ISS payloads/cargoes under a co-ordination agreement with NASA.

The PSRP needs a system safety engineering support team to perform the following technical and administrative ground-work tasks:

a)      Appraisal of adequacy (completeness and technical content) of received Safety Data Packages;

b)      Assistance to Payload Developers in the interpretation of technical safety requirements;

c)        Tracking and processing of Action Items responses and safety verifications closeouts;

d)       Support to CoFR process (Certification of Flight Readiness);

e)        Issuing official minutes of meetings, loading of formal safety data into the NASA DMS, scheduling and planning, etc.

The system safety support team maintains also all necessary liaisons with specialist teams at NASA (e.g. Toxicologist, Biological Review Board, EVA) for the relevant mandatory data submittals.

Outside the scope of the ESA ISS PSRP, the safety engineering team provides additional support to ESA projects for achieving safety certification of payloads/cargoes to be transported and/or operated on Russian vehicles and elements. The team provides also safety engineering support during missions/increments preparation and execution, including safety assessment of on-orbit anomalies. Finally the team performs a number of review tasks in the field of ground safety and assists the projects in obtaining the relevant launch centre safety certification.

Tasks and responsibilities:

·          Providing technical support for interpretation of safety requirements, and for impact evaluation of new/revised requirements.

·          Reviewing flight and ground safety analyses and safety compliance data packages prepared by industrial contractors, experimenters, agencies, and commercial companies and provide detailed written assessments.

·          Providing written technical assessment of vehicle/payload/cargo design and operation with respect to special problem areas and possible suitable alternate solutions.

·          Producing, when required, complete Safety Data Packages, including summary technical description, safety analyses, and hazard reports.

·          Tracking implementation of safety verifications identified in Hazard Reports.

·          Preparing and support payloads, cargos and integrated vehicle safety reviews, including consolidation of initial findings from technical discipline experts and functional areas representatives.

·          Providing safety engineering support to Acceptance Reviews, Test Reviews, Flight Readiness Reviews, and late-access verification activities at launch site, as required.

·          Providing safety-engineering support during mission preparation and execution.

·          Providing safety assessment of on-orbit anomalies. Support MRBs, failure investigations, and anomaly resolutions, as required.

·          Verifying flight and ground procedures that include procedural hazard controls, for compliance with relevant baselined hazard reports.

·          Processing cargo safety certificates and attached supporting documentation prepared by cargo providers.

·          Performing tutorial or training activities as required

Skills and Experience:

·          University degree in aerospace engineering or equivalent

·          Experience in system engineering in manned or unmanned space projects

·          Good interpersonal and team working skills

·          Able to write clear and concise documentation

·          Fluent English, both verbal and written

For this position, we will give a preference to candidates with appropriate experience; however, in exceptional cases, we will also consider applications from recent graduates with aerospace engineering.

Location:                  ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands

Starting date:          As soon as possible – Autumn 2008

An exciting international working environment in a highly innovative and motivated team awaits you!

Please send an English CV and a letter of motivation before 28 September 2008 via Email to:

Mrs. Karina Grzenkowicz

HE Space Operations BV

Email: kgrzenkowicz@hespace.com

Tel. +31-71-341-7500