Vacature Head

Head of the Flight Vehicles and Fluid Mechanics Engineering Section

Job Requisition ID: 18320

Closing Date: 29 January 2024 23:59 CET/CEST

Establishment: ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands

Directorate: Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality

Publication: Internal & External

Vacancy Type: Permanent

Date Posted: 8 January 2024

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, beliefs, age, disability or other characteristics. Applications from women are encouraged.

Location
ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands

Description

Head of the Flight Vehicles and Aerothermodynamics Engineering Section in the Propulsion, Aerothermodynamics and Flight Vehicle Engineering Division, Mechanical Department, Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality.

Reporting to the Head of the Propulsion, Aerothermodynamics and Flight Vehicles Engineering Division, you, as Head of the Flight Vehicles and Aerothermodynamics Engineering Section, will be responsible for the management of the Section, along with its resources and activities. In addition, you will manage the operational activities within the Section's technical domains.

The activities of the Section cover:
• flight vehicle engineering of technology demonstrators and flight experiments (including support for space logistics) with respect to aerothermodynamics, flight physics and fluid mechanics, and thermal, structure and propulsion interactions;
• fluid mechanics from continuum to rarefied, including computational fluid dynamics;
• ground testing and ground-to-flight transposition methods for internal and external flows;
• external and internal fluid mechanics and chemistry of relevance to propulsion systems;
• ascent, cruise and (re-)entry, descent and landing of space vehicles, including through Earth's or planetary atmospheres;
• plume and contamination analysis;
• advanced modelling tools with respect to aerothermodynamics, flight physics and fluid mechanics, and thermal, structure and propulsion interactions;
• fluid-structure interaction phenomena, including aeroacoustics;
• flight demonstrators and flight experiments;
• exploitation of flight data from flight experiments, especially data involving fluid mechanics and aerothermodynamics during (re-) entry.

The Section is also the technical focal point for flight vehicle architecture design, analysis and technical assessment. In this function, the Section performs overall feasibility and viability assessments, as well as quick design iterations with the support of colleagues with the necessary competencies within the Directorate.
Within the relevant Competence Domains, the Section coordinates specialised support and R&D initiatives with other sections in the Directorate.

The Section maintains and operates facilities at ESTEC for computational fluid mechanics, visualisation, fluidics and flow related hardware, and, within the Division, is responsible for the procurement and maintenance of propulsion, aerothermodynamics. fluid mechanics and flight physics modelling tools.

Within this framework, the Section also provides support to the evolution of European test facilities in propulsion, fluid mechanics and flight physics.

The Section provides engineering support to ESA application directorates and is responsible for R&D, simulation and testing activities related to flight vehicles, flight physics, fluid mechanics, chemistry and aerothermodynamics engineering.

Duties

Your duties will include:
• ensuring a positive and motivating working environment for the Section;
• managing the workforce of the Section with accountability for all resources and activities delegated to the Section;
• maintaining and developing the expertise and technical competence of the Section's members to meet current and future strategic needs, taking due account of their motivation, aspirations and professional development with appropriate opportunity for laboratory/computational work;
• distributing and assigning the tasks of the Section to its members, monitoring and managing their performance and providing timely and regular feedback;
• anticipating and resolving sensitive or difficult situations, liaising with HR as required;
• negotiating, organising and coordinating the specialist support provided by the Section to ESA projects throughout all phases;
• preparing resource requirements based on needs originating from both inside and outside the Section and resolving conflicting demands on the use of the resources available in the Section;
• establishing and maintaining good working relationships and technical networks with users, project groups and other organisational bodies both inside and outside the Agency;
• contributing to the continuous improvement of working procedures and to the reflection on the evolution of the Section's role and activities.

Within the terms of reference of the Section, you will be responsible for:
• contributions to the establishment of ESA policy in areas of concern for the Section;
• the conception, initialisation and supervision of corresponding enabling technology R&D. This includes contributions to architecture studies and technology assessments for the aforementioned multidisciplinary areas, missions and vehicles in the Section's relevant Competence Domains, and also the specific instrumentation and sensors, such as health monitoring systems, entry diagnostics, etc.;
• participation in, and support for, feasibility and project definition studies for future programmes involving flight physics and aerothermodynamics engineering concepts;
• provision of specialist support in the field of fluid mechanics and flight physics engineering to ESA and third-party projects, involving the preparation of calls for tender, specifications, evaluations of industrial proposals, and supervision of procurement and development contracts;
• maintenance and operation of the computational fluid dynamics and related fluidic facilities;
• coordination of activities for the development, procurement and maintenance of computational tools within the Directorate's common framework;
• participation in the development and promotion of ISO, CCSDS, handbooks and ECSS standards in multidisciplinary domains.

Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the flight physics and fluid mechanics engineering field, you will be expected to establish and maintain good working relationships and networks with experts from other related disciplines in the Directorate.

Experience in supporting ESA programmes and/or projects and knowledge of their technical and programmatic requirements in relevant technical domains

(*relevant technical domains being aerothermodynamics, flight physics and fluid mechanics, and thermal, structure and propulsion interactions.))

Knowledge of the industrial landscape and ability to define technology development roadmaps identifying future trends in technology requirements

Experience in driving R&D activities, as well as knowledge of the ESA technology programmes

Resource management experience

Experience in ESA procurement processes and contract management as well as applied negotiation skills

Education

A master's in aerospace or mechanical engineering or physics.

Solid experience related to the technical domains of the Section is required, as well as in the definition and specification of technology R&D activities.

Functie:	head
Startdatum:	12-01-2024
Ervaring:	Ervaren
Educatielevel:	HBO
Contracttype:	Vast
Salaris:	onbekend – onbekend
Uren per week:	1 – 40

Heb je interesse in deze vacature en wil je graag op deze functie solliciteren? Neem dan contact op met ARES - (Association of Retired ESA Staff in Nederland). via onbekend of onbekend. Of bezoek hun website onbekend.