Liaison Officer

 

Location
ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany with a resident assignment to the ESA Houston Office, Texas, USA.

Description

The Directorate of Human and Robotic Exploration Programmes (D/HRE) is a programme directorate within the ESA matrix structure. Through a partnership between humans and robots, D/HRE is dedicated to exploring destinations in space where humans are already living and working — or will live and work in the future — for the purpose of scientific research, economic development, international cooperation and public inspiration.

The Houston Office Team provides the necessary technical liaison between the NASA International Space Station (ISS), Orion and Gateway Programme Office located at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) and the HRE staff located in Europe.

The Liaison Officer reports directly to the Houston Office Team Leader.

Duties

Your tasks and responsibilities will include:

 

• facilitating technical and programmatic coordination between ESA and NASA teams and the other IP liaison offices at JSC for the ISS, post-ISS and other LEO programmes. This includes representing ESA in reviews, boards, panels and working groups relating to the ISS and post-ISS programmes and assisting in coordinating and processing change requests (CRs) requiring ESA approval or consent;
• acting as the primary ESA Liaison Officer for the ISS and post-ISS programme operations, supporting ISS flight and increment preparation, operations and execution as the IMC (Increment Management Centre) ESA lead in coordination with ESA increment managers and the COL-CC Flight Control Team;
• coordinating ESA’s position with the EHO Team Lead, the ESA Programme Manager(s) and the ESA Increment Manager(s) prior to reviews, boards, panels and working groups relating to the ISS and post-ISS programmes;
• coordinating ESA flight readiness for ISS, PAM and other potential ESA-led commercial and institutional flights, both for cargo and crewed flights, and representing ESA in associated meetings, briefings, readiness reviews and Mission Management Team meetings. This includes flight risk posture coordination, contingency response coordination and EHO mission management support;
• providing real-time ESA IMC shift support for dynamic ISS, PAM and ESA-led commercial flight operations events and selected activities involving ESA career and project astronauts. This also includes liaison support for the planning and execution of missions or increments that include ESA astronauts and/or ESA cargo and contingency operations;
• assisting other EHO-supported programmes, at the request of the EHO Team Lead, in the definition and future planning and execution of operations;
• assisting ESA programmes in the areas of export control, multi- and bilateral arrangements and agreements, as well as in ESA/NASA barter discussions, as required.

This is an operational role, and you may be required to be on call and/or support meetings outside normal working hours and/or during holidays. 

Technical competencies

Understanding of Member States’ and relevant stakeholders’ communication networksGood understanding of the European and NASA space context, as well as other relevant organisations and associated challengesState-of-the-art knowledge in your area of responsibility at the required levelUnderstanding of the Agency’s core business and structures and its relationship with other space agencies

Behavioural competencies

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

For more information, please refer to ESA Core Behavioural Competencies guidebook

Education

A master’s degree in a relevant domain is required for this post.

Additional requirements

• Excellent communication skills, good networking skills, a goal- and solution-oriented approach to work, and the capacity for forward thinking.
• Technical command of human spaceflight operations and liaison competency.
• Good knowledge and understanding of collaborative HRE ESA/NASA LEO programmes, with a focus on ISS design, operations, procedures and tools.
• Sound knowledge of NASA commercial crew vehicle design and operations, mission management support and risk posture evaluation.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness 
ESA is an equal opportunity employer, committed to achieving diversity within the workforce and creatin