Internal Research Fellow in Safety Assurance of AI-Enabled Autonomous Systems for Human Spaceflight - European Space Agency (Noordwijk)
About this position
The summary below is published by European Space Agency on the official vacancy notice. Our own analysis — salary realism, comparable openings, career trajectory, language profile — follows further down the page.
Job Requisition ID:20889
Date Posted:17 September 2026
Closing Date:8 October 2026 23:59 CET/CEST
Publication:External Only
Type of Appointment (learn more):Internal Research Fellow
Directorate:Technology, Engineering and Quality
Location ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands
Our team and mission
The Product Assurance Sections coordinate and supervise Product Assurance and Safety (PA&S) activities for the relevant programmes and projects within their respective application directorates. They also represent the directorates in all corporate PA&S activities, including quality management.
The Exploration & Science PA Section is responsible for the quality management and PA&S functions throughout the design, development, and operation of projects within the Directorate of Human and Robotic Exploration Programmes (HRE). As a Research Fellow, you will lead the development of advanced assurance methodologies for the safe use of artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous functions in human spaceflight systems. Your work will bridge the gap between conventional deterministic safety assurance approaches and emerging data-driven and autonomous technologies, helping to define future ESA frameworks, standards, and practices for crewed missions.
Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeship
In particular, your research activities will include:
- conducting a comprehensive literature survey and state-of-the-art assessment of AI and autonomy assurance approaches across relevant domains, including space, aviation, automotive and other safety-critical industries, and identifying their applicability to, and gaps in relation to, ESA practices; - defining a classification framework for AI-enabled and autonomous functions in human spaceflight systems, distinguishing between advisory, supervisory and safety-critical roles, and establishing the associated levels of assurance, verification and acceptance criteria; - developing hazard analysis methodologies tailored to AI-based systems, extending traditional approaches, such as FMEA and FTA, to address non-deterministic behaviour, data-driven failure modes, human-machine interaction and emergent system effects; - proposing and assessing architectural patterns for the safe integration of AI functions within crewed systems, including the use of deterministic safety monitors, runtime assurance mechanisms, bounded autonomy concepts and human-in-the-loop supervision; - devising and validating verification and validation (V&V) strategies for AI-enabled functions, including scenario-based testing, robustness assessment, dataset qualification, fault injection and performance evaluation under off-nominal and degraded conditions; - developing safety assurance case methodologies for AI and autonomous systems, defining the required claims, arguments and evidence to support acceptance within ESA human spaceflight programmes, in alignment with evolving practices within and outside ESA; - analysing representative use cases, such as onboard fault detection and diagnosis, autonomous rendezvous support and crew decision support systems, and demonstrating the application of the developed methodologies to realistic mission scenarios; - investigating the impact of AI-enabled autonomy on human reliability and operational concepts, including crew interaction, trust, workload and decision-making in nominal and contingency situations; - contributing to the definition of lifecycle processes for AI-enabled systems, including configuration control, model updates, retraining constraints and operational monitoring during missions; - providing recommendations for the evolution of ESA PA&S practices, including potential input into guidelines, handbooks and future standardisation activities.
Technical competencies
Knowledge relevant to the field of research
Research/publication record
Ability to conduct research autonomously
Breadth of exposure coming from past and/or current research/activities
Ability to gather and share relevant information
General interest in space and space research
Behavioural competencies
Education
You should have completed within the past five years, or close to completing, a PhD in aerospace engineering, computer science, artificial intelligence, systems engineering, software engineering or a related field, with a demonstrated focus on AI, autonomy or complex software systems.
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 good interpersonal and communication skills and should be able to work in a multicultural environment, both independently and as part of a team. Previous experience of working in international teams can be considered an asset. Your motivation, overall professional perspective and career goals will also be explored during the later stages of the selection process.
You should also have:
- solid knowledge of artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques, including their limitations, validation challenges and applicability to safety-critical systems; - experience in the development, verification or validation of software-intensive or autonomous systems, preferably in safety-critical domains such as space, aviation, automotive, rail or medical; - experience with data analysis and modelling tools, such as Python or MATLAB, including handling of datasets used for training, testing and validation of AI models; - an understanding of verification and validation techniques for AI-enabled systems; - familiarity with human-machine interaction concepts and the role of human operators in supervisory or decision-making loops; - an interest in human spaceflight and safety-critical applications, and the motivation to help advance ESA’s PA&S practices; - the ability to work autonomously while interacting effectively within multidisciplinary teams, including software engineers, system engineers, safety engineers and mission operations specialists.
Position details
- Reference
- 1437920333
- Last Verified
- 18 September 2026
Position overview
This is the official EU Careers listing for Internal Research Fellow in Safety Assurance of AI-Enabled Autonomous Systems for Human Spaceflight at ESA based in Noordwijk (Other). The vacancy reference is 1437920333.
Job Requisition ID:20889
Date Posted:17 September 2026
Closing Date:8 October 2026 23:59 CET/CEST
Publication:External Only
Type of Appointment (learn more):Internal Research Fellow
Directorate:Technology, Engineering and Quality
Location ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands
Our team and mission
The Product Assurance Sections coordinate and supervise Product Assurance and Safety (PA&S) activities for the relevant programmes and projects within their respective application directorates. They also represent the directorates in all corporate PA&S activities, including quality management.
The Exploration & Science PA Section is responsible for the quality management and PA&S functions throughout the design, development, and operation of projects within the Directorate of Human and Robotic Exploration Programmes (HRE). As a Research Fellow, you will lead the development of advanced assurance methodologies for the safe use of artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous functions in human spaceflight systems. Your work will bridge the gap between conventional deterministic safety assurance approaches and emerging data-driven and autonomous technologies, helping to define future ESA frameworks, standards, and practices for crewed missions.
Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeship
In particular, your research activities will include:
- conducting a comprehensive literature survey and state-of-the-art assessment of AI and autonomy assurance approaches across relevant domains, including space, aviation, automotive and other safety-critical industries, and identifying their applicability to, and gaps in relation to, ESA practices; - defining a classification framework for AI-enabled and autonomous functions in human spaceflight systems, distinguishing between advisory, supervisory and safety-critical roles, and establishing the associated levels of assurance, verification and acceptance criteria; - developing hazard analysis methodologies tailored to AI-based systems, extending traditional approaches, such as FMEA and FTA, to address non-deterministic behaviour, data-driven failure modes, human-machine interaction and emergent system effects; - proposing and assessing architectural patterns for the safe integration of AI functions within crewed systems, including the use of deterministic safety monitors, runtime assurance mechanisms, bounded autonomy concepts and human-in-the-loop supervision; - devising and validating verification and validation (V&V) strategies for AI-enabled functions, including scenario-based testing, robustness assessment, dataset qualification, fault injection and performance evaluation under off-nominal and degraded conditions; - developing safety assurance case methodologies for AI and autonomous systems, defining the required claims, arguments and evidence to support acceptance within ESA human spaceflight programmes, in alignment with evolving practices within and outside ESA; - analysing representative use cases, such as onboard fault detection and diagnosis, autonomous rendezvous support and crew decision support systems, and demonstrating the application of the developed methodologies to realistic mission scenarios; - investigating the impact of AI-enabled autonomy on human reliability and operational concepts, including crew interaction, trust, workload and decision-making in nominal and contingency situations; - contributing to the definition of lifecycle processes for AI-enabled systems, including configuration control, model updates, retraining constraints and operational monitoring during missions; - providing recommendations for the evolution of ESA PA&S practices, including potential input into guidelines, handbooks and future standardisation activities.
Technical competencies
Knowledge relevant to the field of research
Research/publication record
Ability to conduct research autonomously
Breadth of exposure coming from past and/or current research/activities
Ability to gather and share relevant information
General interest in space and space research
Behavioural competencies
Education
You should have completed within the past five years, or close to completing, a PhD in aerospace engineering, computer science, artificial intelligence, systems engineering, software engineering or a related field, with a demonstrated focus on AI, autonomy or complex software systems.
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 good interpersonal and communication skills and should be able to work in a multicultural environment, both independently and as part of a team. Previous experience of working in international teams can be considered an asset. Your motivation, overall professional perspective and career goals will also be explored during the later stages of the selection process.
You should also have:
- solid knowledge of artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques, including their limitations, validation challenges and applicability to safety-critical systems; - experience in the development, verification or validation of software-intensive or autonomous systems, preferably in safety-critical domains such as space, aviation, automotive, rail or medical; - experience with data analysis and modelling tools, such as Python or MATLAB, including handling of datasets used for training, testing and validation of AI models; - an understanding of verification and validation techniques for AI-enabled systems; - familiarity with human-machine interaction concepts and the role of human operators in supervisory or decision-making loops; - an interest in human spaceflight and safety-critical applications, and the motivation to help advance ESA’s PA&S practices; - the ability to work autonomously while interacting effectively within multidisciplinary teams, including software engineers, system engineers, safety engineers and mission operations specialists.
Application timeline
This vacancy was first listed on 17 September 2026, 3 days ago.
The application deadline is 8 October 2026, 17 days from today. Late applications are not accepted, so submit through the official EU Careers portal well in advance.
Last verified against the EU Careers feed on 18 September 2026 (2 days ago).
Where to learn more
For headcount, mission, and other open vacancies at ESA see the ESA institution page; for the cost of living, correction coefficient, and other postings in Noordwijk see our Noordwijk location page.
New to EU careers? Our beginner's guide walks through entry routes, EPSO competitions, and what to prepare. For application logistics see application tips and EPSO competitions.
Career trajectory
Language profile
Application cadence
Visit the official European Space Agency website
Source: This job listing was sourced from the officialEU Careers portal (EPSO). First published: .