Science Operations Scientist

The European Space Agency maintains a world-leading Science Programme with missions in heliophysics, planetary science, astrophysics and fundamental physics. Its mission is to ”empower Europe to lead space science”. The Science Operations Department (SCI-S), within ESA’s Directorate of Science, hosts the scientists and engineers that oversee the space missions from study to end of operations, develops the science operation systems for the missions and operates the missions in space, and archives and curates their data during operations and beyond. Its main objective is to maximise the scientific output of the missions for the benefit of humankind.

You will be assigned as Science Operations Scientist, initially for the Gaia mission, under the direct responsibility of the Mission Manager in the Mission Management and Science Operations Division within SCI-S. Gaia will end its operational life in the first half of 2025, after which the mission’s post-operations phase will begin. Four highly successful data releases (DRs) have been achieved so far, all of which were major, transformational events for the astronomical world. A fifth release, DR4, is currently being prepared for publication in 2026, and a final release, DR5, is expected to conclude the mission by the end of the decade.

During the mission post-operations phase, you will be responsible for coordinating the operations of the Science Ground Segment systems under ESA's responsibility with the overall aim of maximising the scientific return of the mission and, in support of the Mission Manager, safeguarding the mission’s overall success; coordinating and maintaining operational interfaces with the other mission operations centres and with affiliated scientific institutes; assuming the role of leader of the Data Processing Centre at ESAC (DPC-E), including reporting duties to relevant mission stakeholders, for example the Gaia Science Team; supporting the definition of the scientific contents of DR5 and the data sets and services to be preserved for the legacy phase of the mission; supporting the Project Scientist and Mission Manager in analysing the impact of mission baseline changes, such as the potential de-scoping of DR5, on the scientific outcome of the mission; acting as an interface between the SOC and the mission consortium’s payload experts for instrument calibration, instrument performance and operational knowledge preservation; coordinating activities relating to on-ground payload calibration and, where applicable, to the provision of scientific analysis software for the legacy phase; defining the activities to be carried out by the relevant Science Operations (SCO) service contractor workforce supporting Gaia; planning and coordinating all activities relating to the transition from the post-operations phase to the legacy phase; compiling “Lessons Learned from Gaia” and contributing to corresponding initiatives at divisional and departmental level.

A PhD in astronomy or physics is required for this post. Experience in science operations in the context of astronomical survey missions and with media and outreach activities would be additional assets. Applicants must be eligible to access technology and hardware which is subject to European and US export control regulations.