OpSTAR Lead Ground Segment System Engineer

OpSTAR Lead Ground Segment System Engineer

Job Requisition ID: 20701 Date Posted: 24 June 2026 Closing Date: 15 July 2026 23:59 CET/CEST Publication: Internal & External Type of Appointment**:** Fixed-Term Directorate: Navigation Workplace:Noordwijk, NL Grade Band: A2 - A4

This is a fixed-term appointment with an initial duration of 4 years. Depending upon performance and organisational needs, the appointment may be extended up to a possible maximum duration of 8 years.

Location

ESTEC, Noordwijk, NetherlandsDescription

OpSTAR Lead Ground Segment System Engineer, OpSTAR Project, Future Navigation Department, Directorate of Navigation.

Reporting to the OpSTAR Project Manager, as OpSTAR Lead Ground Segment System Engineer, you will be responsible for leading and coordinating all ground segment engineering and operations activities for the implementation of the OpSTAR In-Orbit Demonstrator, including team coordination, technical leadership and programmatic oversight of the ground segment work.

The OpSTAR In-Orbit Demonstrator is one of the in-orbit demonstrators of the FutureNAV programme and includes the implementation of the end-to-end infrastructure to validate a system concept based on the use of optical links for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT).

You will lead the definition, development, verification and operations preparation of the OpSTAR IOD ground segments, comprising the IOD satellite control segment and the IOD mission experimentation segment. The role includes coordination of a multidisciplinary team, ensuring consistency with the overall system architecture and mission objectives, and contributing to programmatic aspects such as schedule and risk management for the ground segment domain.Duties

Your tasks and responsibilities will include:

• leading and coordinating the development, verification and operations preparation of the OpSTAR IOD ground segment, composed of the IOD satellite control segment and the IOD mission experimentation segment, ensuring full consistency with the overall system architecture and mission objectives;
• coordinating a multidisciplinary team of ESA and external personnel in the execution of ground segment engineering and operations duties;
• defining, maintaining and ensuring traceability of the OpSTAR IOD ground segment requirements derived from mission and system requirements and overseeing the flow-down to lower-level ground segment elements;
• identifying relevant design drivers and coordinating the elaboration of technical trade-offs to support the consolidation of the ground segment design and architecture;
• documenting and maintaining technical budgets, such as those relating to performance, data handling and availability, for the IOD ground segments and contributing to system-level trade-offs, ensuring consistency with system constraints and mission needs;
• defining and maintaining the OpSTAR IOD ground segment architecture and the internal and external interfaces, for example with the space segment and external systems, ensuring architectural coherence;
• interfacing with system, segment, operations and experimentation teams to ensure the definition, maintenance and verification of the ground segment and its interfaces, guaranteeing compliance and interface consistency with the IOD system;
• interfacing with the operations and experimentation teams to ensure correct implementation of the ground segment in line with the operations concept and experimentation objectives and constraints;
• leading the integration, verification and validation of the ground segment within the IOD system, including definition, execution and analysis of tests, and ensuring readiness for integration and operations;
• contributing to the IOD operations concept and requirements and overseeing the development of operational procedures, tools and campaigns for the satellite control and mission experimentati