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Herschel Operations Support Engineer
2014-01-08 14:37:07| Space-careers.com Jobs RSS
Aurora is an established supplier of skilled manpower to ESA and in particular at ESTEC and ESAC. Aurora has the opportunity to expand our support within the Science and Robotic Exploration Directorate DSRE. Aurora currently has a team of 18 engineers and scientists at ESAC including support to Herschel. Overview The Herschel Space Observatory was launched in May 2009. It performed astronomical photometry and spectroscopy in the far infrared and submillimetre 57 670 micron wavelength range. Its scientific payload consisted of three instruments using a variety of detector technologies developed by Principal Investigator teams at various institutions, predominantly in Europe but with a significant contribution from the US. The majority of its observing time was provided to the general user community, via annual Calls for Proposals. Since May 2013, the Herschel spacecraft has had no liquid helium coolant remaining to allow the science instruments on board to operate, hence regular operations have ceased and the spacecraft has been placed into a nonreturning Solar orbit. In the ongoing postoperations phase, the Herschel Science Centre HSC, located at ESAC, is, inter alia, responsible for supporting data analysis improvements, oversight of the calibration and crosscalibration of the science instruments, and the generation of standard science products and their quality assessment as final Herschel archive products. All observational data has been systematically processed to generate these products that are distributed to the astronomical community via the Herschel Science Archive HSA, developed and maintained at ESAC. With the complete set of data from mission operations now in hand it is possible to further improve the calibration and data products in the archive. For this service, the incumbent is expected to perform the following service tasks. The priorities of each task and the level to which they are performed will depend on the needs of the observatory plus the capabilities of the successful candidates. to understand the general workings of the PACS andor SPIRE science instruments of Herschel, sufficient to be able to answer general community questions become responsible for the documentation of the PACS or SPIRErelated elements of the Herschel Explanatory Supplement and data processing documentation. to become expert in understanding the post operations development of one of the PACS photometerspectrometer or SPIRE photometer instruments answer helpdesk questions on instrument operations and data products associated with either the PACS or SPIRE instruments participate in assessing and updating calibration information and its use in the standard processing pipelines to participate in data processing workshops and work with users in understanding how to handle their Herschel PACS or SPIRE science data to participate in acceptance testing of new software as it relates to the PACS or SPIRE pipeline products and associated data processing software to participate in crosscalibration checks of the Herschel science data as needed perform data quality checking of problematic observations, as needed potentially be involved in the formulation of extended processing and data products of the Herschel Science Centre for the Herschel Science Archive. conduct science research based on Herschel data. The specific duties include Helpdesk Interactions with Scientists Answering user tickets associated with instrument operations and data processing Instrument Expertise Learn about the technical issues and be involved in technical problem solving for one or more of the Herschel science instruments Data processing Checks of calibration file deliveries to the Herschel Science Centre. Checks of software delivered to the data processing system Acceptance testing of data processing capabilities for each software update every year Quality control Perform checks of problematic observations and their associated data for feedback to users Specific qualification requirements University degree preferably PhD in AstronomyAstrophysics or Physics or equivalent and relevant professional experience. At least 4 years relevant professional experience. You must be able to work in English. Specific experience is required in the following areas Knowledge of astronomical instrumentation, acquired through astronomical instrument hardware development andor intensive astronomical data reduction experience. Experience and understanding of farinfrared instruments would be a distinct advantage. Experience in interacting with the scientific community. An interest in performing science research with Herschel data is considered a plus. Legal and Security Requirements All applicants must be legally allowed to work in Spain without the need to obtain a work visa. Non EU citizens cannot be employed by Aurora in Spain. Applicants are required to provide a copy of their passport and degree certificate. Aurora will validate the Degree with the issuing University and provide evidence to ESA. Prior to issuing a letter of employment the applicant shall provide to Aurora a recent official document declaring that they are of good conduct from the country where currently resident. Location The work will be performed at the ESAC, the European Space Astronomy Centre, at Villafranca del Castillo, near Madrid, Spain. Contract You will be registered for both social security and tax in Spain. The standard working hours are 40 per week. There are 12 public holidays and an additional 29 annual days holiday. In addition to public health services Aurora provides private medical insurance in Spain. Training to improve efficiency and provide strength for future career are of course included. Aurora can assist financially and provide recent experience information for relocation. To be considered for this Position Provide prior to 28 January 2014 a summary of why you are a good candidate for the position together with a complete and detailed Recruitment Form to Mr. Alex Jeanes, at email alexjeanesaurora.nl quoting reference SRE60. Aurora will agree conditional employment terms and conditions with candidates before presenting their recruitment form to ESA 4 February 2014. ESA will select the candidates for interview and Aurora will provide for interview travel costs. Should ESA select you then a formal letter of employment shall be issued with an agreed start date.
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