Overview:

Serco, a supplier of staff and resources to International Organisations and Governments have provided engineering and business administration staff  to the European Space Agency for over 30 years

Currently we are seeking to employ a highly motivated and enthusiastic Safety Engineer to work in an exciting innovative international environment.

As an expert in your field, you will provide support to the Utilisation (HSF-G) and Operations (HSF-E) Departments of the Human Spaceflight Microgravity and Exploration Directorate.

Your main duties would be to provide system safety engineering support to ESA ISS Payload Safety Review Panel (PSRP). This panel is a multidisciplinary panel of specialists from various technical and functional areas (structures, 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 panel is chaired by the Head of ESA ISS Utilisation PA & Safety Office (HSF-GQ), who reports to NASA Safety for matters related to ESA payload/cargoes certification status and directly to D/HSF for organisation matters. The ESA ISS PSRP performs safety reviews at payload (development) level, payload integration level (racks and Columbus), and similarly for ATV cargo. 

For the preparations and conduct of formal safety reviews and follow up of  the relevant action items, 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 also maintains 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 additionally 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.

The successful applicant shall perform the safety engineer tasks as ESA-PSRP Technical Assistant, including:

·         Scheduling of safety reviews and of follow-up activities in accordance with applicable process requirements and in coordination with the ESA-PSRP ExSec

·         Take detailed minutes of formal safety meetings and ensure their receipt, approval and distribution internally and externally to ESA. (Note: such minutes are one of the main historical records of the technical discussion during safety review. They are frequently consulted by ESA and NASA safety managers and engineers)

·         Tracking, collecting and reviewing status and when necessary, soliciting responses to Action Items assigned during safety reviews in coordination with nominated experts

·         Liaise with counterparts to ensure that safety data packages are received on time, and ensure their internal distribution to ESA PSRP members and technical support;

·         Maintain the complete safety certification data file, both paper/electronic, of each payload reviewed by the ESA-PSRP; including data entry into NASA/ESA on-line databases. [Note: the safety data file is audited every year by a NASA team]. 

·         Tracking/archiving of formal safety documents released and approved by the ESA PSRP.

·         Distribution to ESA-PSRP members of technical and process documents released by NASA (Reports, TN, CR, MoM etc)

·         Support payload safety engineers in the administration of the safety verifications closeout process.

·         Ensure the proper set-up of the meeting rooms for formal safety meetings, in particular with reference to audio-visual equipment necessary to support teleconference with NASA via Webex.

·         Maintain under configuration control the ESA-PSRP internal procedures and baseline documents.

·         Maintain the current PA&S website safety pages (safety baseline documents and master schedule of safety reviews).              

Qualifications and Requirements:

Applicants require a University degree in Aerospace Engineering or equivalent together with at least 5 years experience in a similar task.

A good command of English is required, additional European languages would be an advantage

An in depth knowledge of MS Office and other IT applications as  used in model administration activities

The ability to work both as a team member and as an individual

Applicants must hold the correct documentation and permits to work in the Netherlands.

Position:

 Safety Engineer

Reference:

 RT4060-069  

Application closing date:

 10 August 2008  

Start date:

 1 Nov 2008

Duration:

  To end of 2010, possible extension