Antenna Engineer

Telespazio Belgium can count on almost 40 years of experience in the field of Space Operations Service & Engineering activities.

We provide a significant contribution to the most major Space programs of the European Space Agency. Our core business is to work on the ground to build bridges into space, contributing to the success of ambitious missions.

The European Space Agency is our biggest client and we provide highly qualified employees to many sites of ESA but mainly for ESTEC in the Netherlands, and we provide a permanent contract with great benefits, a good salary, a relocation package along with genuine support to our employees.

On behalf of the European Space Agency, we are looking for a highly skilled Antenna Engineering to work in ESTEC, in the Netherlands.

What is expected from you:

• Contribution to the engineering work in the field of Antennas in support to ESA Projects, which includes:
• Supporting Staff in interfacing with Projects (and Studies). This includes:
• Providing expertise to support Projects (and Studies) throughout all project phases, for antenna sub-systems;
• Performing and documenting relevant analyses;
• Supporting the implementation of industrial project activities;

• Supporting and performing “in-house” design and trade-offs to support project specific technology developments;
• Providing hands-on antenna modelling and testing support to projects, which will require proper coordination with the corresponding Laboratory Service;
• Supporting and contributing to meetings and reviews
• Identification, implementation, validation, and operation of the relevant section tools, which includes:
• Providing expertise related to the software, hardware and data related tools;
• Participating in the development, validation, deployment and maintenance of relevant internal software tools and databases;
• Liaising with Technical Responsible for the proper configuration of software / hardware either developed in the service itself or originating from external activities.
• Operating the tools for the purpose of supporting Projects or ESA R&D activities.
• Support to Staff in the implementation of R&D activities in the technical domain. This includes:
• Providing technical inputs to the definition of technology roadmaps and contributing to relevant reviews and meetings;
• Monitoring applicable scientific and technological trends and maintaining stateof-the-art expertise in space antenna systems;
• Providing inputs to documentation and meetings / reviews, conducting relevant technical analyses;
• Contribute to the definition of technical requirements and statements of work for the tasks to be performed by industry from early conceptual studies to full hardware development;
• Reviewing output from industry / academia and providing inputs to the ESA Technical representative. This includes – when relevant – the conduction of software or of hardware tests in a Divisional laboratory, which will require proper coordination with the corresponding Laboratory Service.
• Supporting the ESA Technical representative in meeting with industry / academia;
• When required, organizing ad hoc meetings with industry / academia and reporting on their outcome to the ESA Technical representative.
• Analysing and characterizing antenna systems as well as of interference effects among antennas and with the spacecraft structure (including mini and Cubesats) or other platform (like aircraft/train/vehicle).
• Designing, synthesizing, analysing and engineering all antenna (passive and active) sub-systems including e.g. stand-alone radiators, arrays, reflector, lens optics, dichroics and their associated focal plane.
• Interfacing with other sections for structural aspects (e.g. reflection characteristics, impact of manufacturing and thermo-elastic errors) and for sub-system and system aspects.
• Developing RF Modelling and design tools for all kind of stand-alone antennas and antenna interactions (e.g. parasitic effect on the radiation performance, coupling among antenna ports, antenna farm analysis, scattering effects,...) for spacecraft (including mini and CubeSats) or other platform (like aircraft/train/vehicle), including advanced techniques (e.g. Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence techniques, etc.).
• Supporting the testing of the radiative performance of antennas, payloads and instruments both in stand-alone and in relevant environment.
• Supporting the characterization of the RF properties of materials, both at room- and operational-temperature.
• Supporting the involvement in ESA Working Groups, Workshops/Conferences organisation.
• Supporting the technology harmonisation and coordination in the area of Reflector antennas and Array antennas.
• Ensuring operations according to ISO 9001.

What you offer:

• MSc or PhD in Telecommunications or electrical engineering or physics
• Very good knowledge in electromagnetic wave theory
• Experience with antenna architectures and technologies as applied to space
• Familiarity with antenna Space constraints at RF, mechanical, thermal and environmental levels gained from the handling of Flight Model development or R&D development at high TRL level.
• Familiarity with antenna industrial design, manufacturing, testing processes, architecture and technologies.
• Familiarity with antenna modelling tools (e.g. Ticra Tools, Ansys, CST) and programming languages (e.g. Python, Matlab)
• Familiarity with antenna testing processes and control software design for antenna measurement systems.
• Familiarity with Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence applied to antennas is considered and asset.

What we offer

• A competitive salary
  
• 30 days of paid annual leave, plus the days ESTEC is closed including public holidays (~12 days) based on a 40-hour working week;
• Hybrid working scheme (3 days in the office and 2 days remote in the Netherlands)
• Flexible working hours; you are in charge of your own agenda respecting core working hours
• Fully paid collective extensive health insurance scheme;
• A good pension scheme with no personal contribution;
• A career development (Coursera membership + training budget);
• Travel allowance;
• Extensive relocation package

Where:

You will be working within ESTEC, the European Space Agency’s offices in the Netherlands as a contractor for Telespazio Belgium. We don’t expect the employees to be on-site full time however you will still have to relocate to the Netherlands for this position.

Check out the ESTEC site here: esa.int/About_Us/ESTEC

When

Deadline to apply: 28/01/2025

Please note that interviews will be held either via skype, webex, other digital platforms or onsite in ESTEC

We look forward to receiving your application for this position!