Performance Engineer (Optical Instrumentation/Earth Observation)

TL;DR

Performance Engineer (Optical Instrumentation/Earth Observation): Contribute to mission performance activities up to Level 2, including requirements maintenance, monitoring, and critical analysis across observation requirements, end-to-end simulator/GPP, and instrument calibration/validation. Focus on building and maintaining mission performance mathematical models and tools, analyzing compliance with end-to-end performance requirements and error budgets, and supporting in-flight CAL/VAL operations during commissioning.

Location: Noordwijk, the Netherlands

Company

HE Space is an international space company providing managed services and human resources to the space sector.

What you will do

• Support mission performance activities up to Level 2, including monitoring/review of relevant industrial activities and interaction with mission users and scientists.
• Maintain mission and system level requirements, analyze requirement allocation and flow-down, track margins and evolution, and support verification.
• Work across observation requirements and mission data products, end-to-end simulator and Ground Processor Prototype (GPP), and instrument characterization, calibration, and validation.
• Develop and maintain mission performance mathematical models and tools to assess industrial development activities.
• Maintain mission level performance and error budgets, analyze compliance with end-to-end requirements, and propose corrective actions when deviations occur.
• Support CAL/VAL operations during commissioning and cross-verification between PDGS operational ground processor and GPP.

Requirements

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in a relevant physical science or engineering subject.
• Demonstrated experience in performance assessment of optical instrumentation for atmospheric observation, including image processing.
• Experience with Earth observation systems; knowledge of aerosols and ozone observational data is required.
• Proficiency in programming languages used for implementing and maintaining system performance models (e.g., MATLAB and Python).
• Strong analytical skills and system-oriented thinking, with the ability to rapidly learn and switch across application domains.
• English: Fluency in English is mandatory.

Culture & Benefits

• Temporary parental cover for 7 months.
• International working environment across Europe’s space sector.
• Inclusive and committed employer focused on gender diversity and respectful workplace practices.
• Application materials must be submitted in English (CV in Word or PDF).