Space Weather Products & Applications Scientist

As Space Weather Products & Applications Scientist, you will provide scientific and technical support in the development, validation, evolution, and operation of Space Weather services as contractor for ESA ESOC. The successful candidate will act as a technical interface between scientific experts, software and data system teams, industrial contractors, and end users, ensuring that space weather services, applications, data products, and supporting infrastructures meet operational and user requirements.

The role is a combination of scientific expertise in space weather, experience with operational service development, systems engineering practices, requirements management, data modelling, software validation, and stakeholder coordination.

Tasks and activities

• Acting as a space weather subject matter expert, providing technical support to the definition, evolution, and implementation of services and products.
• Gathering, analysing, and consolidating user requirements and use cases from stakeholders, workshops, training events, and service users, translating them into system and service requirements.
• Supporting the definition and review of system architectures, service roadmaps, work plans, requirements documentation, product specifications, and data models.
• Contributing to the development, maintenance, and implementation of metadata schemas and information models for space weather data.
• Supporting the testing, verification, validation, and acceptance of software applications, data services, and industrial deliverables, including the identification, tracking, and resolution of non-conformances.
• Monitoring service performance and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), supporting operational readiness activities, and contributing to continuous service improvement.
• Providing technical input to the definition of international space weather standards, interoperability approaches, and data exchange mechanisms.
• Participating in technical reviews, network assessments, workshops, and service development activities as an appointed space weather expert.
• Preparing technical documentation, review material, and regular progress reports summarising activities, findings, and recommendations.
• Interacting with different stakeholders, customers and industry partners.

Skills and experience

• University degree (Master’s level, preferably PhD) in Space Physics, Solar Physics, Astrophysics, Geophysics, Atmospheric Physics, Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, Data Science, or a related scientific or engineering discipline.
• Minimum 4 years of professional experience in space weather, heliophysics, solar-terrestrial physics, upper atmosphere studies, geomagnetism, or closely related scientific domains.
• Demonstrated experience in the development, operation, validation, or evolution of scientific or operational space weather services.
• Background in requirements engineering, including user requirement elicitation, use-case definition, requirements analysis, traceability, and specification development.
• Expertise in supporting software or data system development projects, including testing, validation, acceptance, and deployment activities.
• Experience reviewing technical deliverables and coordinating technical activities with external contractors or industrial teams.
• Knowledge in preparing technical reports, specifications, validation reports, and review documentation.
• Experience interacting with multidisciplinary teams composed of scientists, software developers, system engineers, operators, and external stakeholders.
• Proven ability to support workshops, training activities, outreach events, and user engagement activities.
• Ability to engage effectively with scientific users, operational stakeholders, industrial partners, and software development teams.
• Strong analytical, organisational, and reporting skills.