Internal Research Fellow (PostDoc) in Operations Resilience
Location
ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany
Our team and mission
You will join a team responsible for strengthening the continuity, robustness, and recoverability of mission operations and the supporting services. Its goal is to ensure that space mission operations continue to function even when unexpected disruptions occur, which involves preparing for events such as technical failures, cyber events, environmental disruptions, and changes to infrastructure.
This key objective brings together specialists from a range of operational areas and support functions at ESOC, as well as at tracking station facilities across the globe. You will collaborate with professionals working on flight operations, mission support services, information technology services, and facility operations, becoming part of a team that encourages curiosity, analytical thinking, and co‑creation with colleagues across the organisation. Your research will directly support the evolution of the centre’s operational concept, including planned infrastructure changes and service transformations.
You are encouraged to visit the ESA website: https://www.esa.int/
Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeship
As an Internal Research Fellow, you will develop methods to analyse how mission operations respond to disruptions and how they can recover rapidly while maintaining continuous service. You will explore how different areas of the mission operations environment behave under stress, and how people, processes, and technical systems can be strengthened to improve resilience.
Your research project will be structured as follows:
Phase 1 – Understand and Define: analyse the operational environment and its existing practices, identify essential services and dependencies, and define resilience measures such as absorption capability, recovery expectations, and continuity thresholds.
Phase 2 – Model and Simulate: build system maps and develop simulation models to explore how disruptions propagate and how services fail or recover under different scenarios.
Phase 3 – Validate Through Co‑Creation: conduct workshops and scenario exercises with operational experts to refine models, confirm assumptions, and uncover hidden dependencies.
Phase 4 – Translate Findings into Guidance: convert insights into practical requirements, evaluation criteria, and improvement recommendations for roles, processes, and technologies.
Phase 5 – Deliver Toolkit and Roadmap: finalise the modelling toolkit and produce a resilience improvement roadmap supporting future operational concepts and infrastructure changes.
The research project is expected to deliver clear and practical ways to measure how well mission operations can absorb disruptions, restore essential functions and maintain continuity. It will produce models that realistically simulate interruptions across technical, organisational and environmental domains, along with interactive tools that will help operational teams understand disruption propagation and evaluate recovery strategies. Through close collaboration with colleagues across a variety of operational areas, the project will identify vulnerabilities and dependencies and translate these insights into actionable recommendations for improving processes, roles, and technologies. This will provide a structured roadmap guiding future resilience improvements for mission operations and supporting services.
Overall, your work will strengthen the organisation’s ability to deliver mission services under diverse, complex, and unpredictable conditions while helping protect operations from cyber attacks, technical failures, natural disasters, health crises, and geopolitical challenges thereby enhancing resilience posture and strengthening customer confidence.
Technical competencies
Knowledge relevant to the field of researchResearch/publication recordAbility to conduct research autonomouslyBreadth of exposure coming from past and/or current research/activitiesAbility to gather and share relevant informationGeneral interest in space and space researchBehavioural 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
You should have recently completed, or be close to completion of a PhD in a related technical or scientific discipline, such as systems engineering, computer science, operations research, applied mathematics, or another relevant field.
Preference will be given to applications submitted by candidates within five years of receiving their PhD.
Additional requirements
In addition to your CV and your motivation letter, please prepare a research proposal of no more than 5 pages. This proposal should be uploaded to the "additional documents" field of the "application information" section.
You should have experience or a strong interest in modelling complex systems, analysing disruptions or studying resilience in operational environments. Experience with simulation techniques, structured analysis methods (such as failure mode, effects, and criticality analysis) or scientific software tools would be an advantage. For automated reasoning, experience with applied classification or generative AI would be an asset.
You should have knowledge and experience with related European and international standards regarding resilience, critical infrastructure protection, and business continuity.
Experience in working with interdisciplinary teams is beneficial, as this role requires frequent collaboration with colleagues from different fields.
A very good command of the English language, both verbal and written, as well as concise technical writing skills will be required for achieving the desired outcomes of this research fellowship.
You should also have good interpersonal and communication skills and be able to work in a multi-cultural environment, both independently and as part of a team.
Your motivation, overall professional prospects and career goals will also be explored during the later stages of the selection process.
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 contact.human.resources@esa.int.
Important Information and Disclaimer
Applicants must be eligible to access information, technology, and hardware which is subject to European or US export control and sanctions regulations.
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.
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 can only be 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, and the United Kingdom. Nationals from Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia, as Associate Member States, or Canada as a Cooperating State, can apply as well as those from Bulgaria, Croatia and Malta as European Cooperating States (ECS).
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.
