Product Assurance and Safety Manager

EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY; Noordwijk; Remote; EUR 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

European Space Agency is seeking a Product Assurance and Safety (PA&S) Manager to support the Resilience, Navigation and Connectivity Directorate on the SAGA project and other initiatives. You will coordinate with the RNC team and report to the Head of PA&S, ensuring adherence to ESA policies and safety standards across contracts.

This role requires a master’s degree in engineering and about eight years of PA&S experience in space projects, with eligibility for security clearance and export

Qualifications

• Master's degree in engineering; eight years of relevant professional experience in PA&S.
• Experience as PA&S Manager on space projects, with institutional partners, industry or operators.
• Eligibility for security clearance and export control compliance.
• Knowledge of ECSS and space industry standards; familiarity with COTS usage.

Responsibilities

• Define PA&S requirements in line with project needs and ESA policy.
• Review contractors' PA&S plans, specifications and effort.
• Guide and monitor PA&S implementation; participate in design and safety reviews.
• Coordinate PA&S support for project teams and reviews.
• Represent ESA on boards for reviews and disposition of non-conformances.
• Support selection and procurement of parts and processes; monitor compliance.
• Ensure software PA requirements and safety data are prepared and available.

Skills

PA&S management

Project assurance

Quality assurance

Safety reviews

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Master's degree in engineering

Tools

ECSS standards

COTS products

Job description

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Closing Date: 11 November 2026 23:59 CET/CEST

Publication Method: Internal & External

Type of Appointment ( learn more ) : 4 years, extendable to indefinite

Directorate: Technology, Engineering and Quality

You will be assigned to the Resilience, Navigation and Connectivity (RNC) Product Assurance and Safety Section, Product Assurance Management Division, Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality.

You will work as Product Assurance and Safety (PA&S) Manager to support projects in the Directorate of Resilience, Navigation and Connectivity. Under the coordination of the RNC Connectivity Team Lead, you will report hierarchically to the Head of the RNC Product Assurance and Safety Section and functionally to the project manager(s) of the project(s) you are assigned to. You will initially be assigned to support the SAGA project.

For the maintenance of professional standards, the implementation of ESA’s general Product Assurance and Safety policy and contributions to corporate tasks, such as reviews, standardisation, alerts and lessons learned, you will report to the Head of the Quality Department through PA&S line management.

Duties

Your specific responsibilities and duties will include:

• defining or supporting the definition of general and project-specific programmatic and technical requirements in compliance with the applicable product assurance and safety requirements, the RNC PA&S approach and ESA PA&S policy. RNC projects may involve public-private partnerships between ESA and the private sector, requiring the ability to engage with partners in accordance with ESA’s specific role;
• reviewing contractors’ plans, specifications and effort proposed for the execution of the project PA&S programme;
• guiding and monitoring the implementation of PA&S requirements by contractors in order to assess performance and effectiveness, participating in design and safety reviews and directing the necessary preventive or corrective actions;
• planning, coordinating and monitoring any PA&S support for the project team;
• representing ESA on boards established to conduct reviews, such as failure reviews and test reviews, and to determine the disposition of non-conformances and anomalies;
• guiding and monitoring the selection and procurement of electrical, electronic and electromechanical parts, materials and processes and controlling implementation of applicable requirements;
• ensuring the implementation of software PA requirements;
• ensuring the preparation of design trade-offs, analyses and reports using reliability, availability, maintainability and safety data to support project decisions;
• monitoring manufacturing, integration and test activities through quality assurance audits, mandatory and key inspection points, test witnessing and configuration inspections;
• supporting the definition of acceptance requirements, as necessary, and participating in acceptance reviews of contractually deliverable items;
• reviewing contractors’ PA&S analyses and safety data packages, ensuring that they are available by the planned dates to support safety review schedules, in coordination with the relevant safety authorities;
• providing PA&S support for project assembly, integration and verification activities;
• providing PA&S support during launch, validation, operation and service activities, as relevant. This may involve participation in launch campaigns;
• supporting the identification and management of lessons learned and contributing to the quality management system as required;
• supporting security activities as needed.

In the execution of these tasks, you will be supported by experts from the ESA Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality or service contractors.

Knowledge of product assurance, quality assurance, and safety and quality management

Experience in the management and monitoring of industrial activities, including participation in reviews

Experience with the definition and application of product assurance and safety requirements baselines, tools and methods

Experience in the PA&S technical domains covered by the position

Experience with space and commercial quality standards and their implementation

Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking

A master’s degree in an engineering discipline is required for this post together with, in principle, eight years of relevant professional experience in product assurance and safety.

Additional requirements

Significant experience as a PA&S Manager on space telecommunications or New Space projects is considered an important asset, particularly where this has involved working with institutional partners, industry and/or telecommunications operators and applying ECSS, other industrial and commercial standards, and Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) products.

Eligibility for security clearance and access to export control-related information.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness

ESA is an equal opportunity employer, committed to achieving diversity within the workforce and creating an inclusive working environment. We therefore welcome applications from all qualified candidates irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religious beliefs, age, disability or other characteristics.

At the Agency we value diversity, and we welcome people with disabilities. Whenever possible, we seek to accommodate individuals with disabilities by providing the necessary support at the workplace. The Human Resources Department can also provide assistance during the recruitment process. If you would like to discuss this further, please contact us via email at [e-mail] .
Important Information and Disclaimer

In principle, recruitment will be within the advertised grade band (A2-A4). However, if the selected candidate has less than four years of relevant professional experience following the completion of the master’s degree, the position may be filled at A1 level.

Applicants must be eligible to access information, technology, and hardware which is subject to European or US export control and sanctions regulations & eligible to acquire the security clearance by their national security administrations.

During the recruitment process, the Agency may request applicants to undergo selection tests. Additionally, successful candidates will need to undergo basic screening before appointment, which will be conducted by an external background screening service, in compliance with the European Space Agency's security procedures.

Note that ESA is in the process of transitioning to a Matrix setup, which could lead to organisational changes affecting this position.

The information published on ESA’s careers website regarding working conditions is correct at the time of publication. It is not intended to be exhaustive and may not address all questions you would have.

Nationality and Languages

Please note that applications are only considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Canada, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia.

According to the ESA Convention, staff shall be recruited on the basis of their qualifications, taking into account an adequate distribution of posts among nationals of the Member States.

The working languages of the Agency are English and French. A good knowledge of one of these is required. Knowledge of another Member State language would be an asset.