Ground Station System Integration Engineer

Leonardo UK Ltd; Darmstadt; Hybrid; EUR 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Telespazio Germany, a European aerospace partner, seeks an expert Ground Station Integration Engineer to support ESA at ESOC in Darmstadt. You will be responsible for the integration, deployment, maintenance and upgrade of ground station systems and related infrastructure, collaborating with cross‑functional teams across Europe.

The role requires hands-on engineering across backend systems, networks, and software, with travel to sites as needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor-level degree or higher in Electronic Engineering, Telecommunication or a closely related field.
• Experience with ground station architectures and design.
• Proven ability to integrate and upgrade large systems, including testing and validation.
• Fluency in English, both spoken and written.

Responsibilities

• Develop, upgrade, integrate, test, validate and deploy operational systems and subsystems.
• Support Mission Operations infrastructure projects.
• Assist ESA and third‑party missions during routine, critical and contingency operations.
• Perform integration activities per engineering processes; participate in reviews and project meetings.
• Conduct maintenance, obsolescence management and system support across ground station networks.

Skills

English fluency

Planning & organization

Stakeholder coordination

Independent work

Travel flexibility

Education

University degree in Electronic Engineering or Telecommunication

Tools

ECDB

CoCKPIT

ESTRACK

Job description

Job Description:

About Us

We are the first-choice European aerospace company for software centric engineering solutions. We are a key player since 40 years in a market where trust and quality are needed. With more than 450 employees in Germany, we craft the future of aerospace – and beyond - together.

Our staff plays a key role for our success through their qualifications, motivation, passion, different cultural backgrounds, and their sense of collaboration in an open international environment living our values, trust, integrity, participation and curiosity.

We are committed to crafting a diverse environment and are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.

We offer a wealth of benefits to support a balanced work life balance, including but not limited to flexible working hours, mobile working and encouraging career development.

Responsibilities / Duties

Are you passionate about space missions, ground segment and in particular ground stations systems and seeking a meaningful opportunity to enfold your talents? Then you are on the right track!

As Ground Station Integration Engineer at Telespazio Germany, you will be supporting the European Space Agency (ESA) with highly qualified services at the European Operations Control Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt. You provide engineering services for the integration, evolution, operation, maintenance and deployment of ground segment systems and associated infrastructure supporting ESA and third-party missions. The role covers backend ground station systems, local and wide area networks, operating systems, application software, RF-related interfaces and compatibility activities, as well as associated engineering processes and support functions. The role spans the full system lifecycle and includes technical coordination, system engineering, maintenance, obsolescence management and operational support activities.

As part of this role, in close and direct collaboration with the client, you will support ground station developments, upgrades, testing campaign, validation and deployment of operational systems or subsystems:

• Development, upgrade, integration, testing, validation and deployment of operational systems and subsystems.
• Support to Mission Operations infrastructure projects.
• Support to ESA and third-party missions during routine, mission-critical and contingency operations.
• Performance of integration activities in accordance with applicable engineering processes.
• Corrective and preventive maintenance, as well as obsolescence management, of ground station systems and associated network infrastructure.
• Participation in technical reviews, coordination activities, conferences and project meetings.

Some of the activities will require travel to ground station sites as well as to development/integration facilities.

Crucial Skills

• University degree in Electronic Engineering, Telecommunication or similar

• Knowledge in the Ground Station domain: ground station architecture and design

• Experience in:

• backend ground station systems

• integrating and upgrading large systems, including testing and validation

• application software and operating systems, e.g. Linux, Windows and QNX.

• Good knowledge in database architecture, documentation and configuration control

• Familiarity with ESTRACK and with specific tools like ECDB and CoCKPIT

• Fluency in English, both in speech and writing

• Capability to coordinate and interact with other service providers in operations and other fields

• Good planning and organisational skills

• Ability to work independently and to set priorities

• availability to travel (depending on mission, working across global sites as required)

Desirable Skills

• Familiarity with the ESOC environment: processes, configuration control

• Familiarity with Ground station maintenance and operations

Seniority:

Expert

Primary Location:

DE - Darmstadt - ESOC

Contract Type:

Employee-Permanent

Hybrid Working:

Hybrid