Lead Commercial Industrialisation Engineer - 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.

Key responsibilities

According to the vacancy notice, the role centres on the following duties:

• Lead assessment of industrialisation and production-readiness needs for commercial SatCom technologies, products and systems
• Establish industrialisation strategies and technical approaches including design for manufacturing, production processes, process automation, integration, verification and quality assurance
• Provide functional leadership for definition and development of industrialisation activities with industry and ESA technical experts
• Oversee technical and programmatic progression of industrialisation activities and ensure outcomes contribute to production-readiness
• Lead assessments of production scalability for commercial SatCom applications, particularly large-scale constellations
• Identify strategic production technologies and capability-development needs and coordinate with TEC and other ESA programmes
• Provide authoritative technical assessments and recommendations on industrialisation activities to support Member State prioritisation and ARTES funding decisions
• Identify infrastructure and production-capability investment needs and develop implementation and financing approaches

Are you eligible?

Check these requirements from the notice before investing time in an application:

• Education: Master's degree in a relevant engineering discipline required, or bachelor's degree with additional four years of relevant professional experience
• Experience: Four years of relevant professional experience in commercial industrialisation domain
• Key skills: Commercial industrialisation domain expertise: design for manufacturing/assembly, process automation, production routing, Large-scale AIT expertise with deep familiarity with assembly, integration and testing processes for space hardware, Knowledge of ECSS and/or industrial manufacturing standards, Cross-functional team working and promoting innovation through creative collaboration, Strong problem-solving skills, Planning and organisational skills, Ability to understand and communicate complex technical issues clearly and concisely, Strong results orientation with ability to set priorities and present practical solutions, Ability to manage challenging situations proactively and constructively, Customer focus

Contract and working arrangements

Contract duration: 4 years, extendable to indefinite.

Hiring unit: Commercial Partnerships Department, Directorate of Commercialisation and Industry Partnership.

Position details

Reference

1456759533

Last Verified

12 November 2026

Position overview

This is the official EU Careers listing for Lead Commercial Industrialisation Engineer at ESA based in Noordwijk (Other). The vacancy reference is 1456759533.

Job Requisition ID:21091

Date Posted:12 November 2026

Closing Date:3 December 2026 23:59 CET/CEST

Publication Method:Internal & External

Type of Appointment (learn more):4 years, extendable to indefinite

Directorate:Commercialisation and Industry Partnership

Location ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands

Description

Lead Commercial Industrialisation Engineer within the Commercial Partnerships Department within the Directorate of Commercialisation and Industry Partnership, reporting to the Head of the Commercial Partnerships Department.

You will work as Lead Commercial Industrialisation Engineer within the Commercial Partnerships Department in the Directorate of Commercialisation and Industry Partnership, reporting to the Head of the Commercial Partnerships Department. You will lead the Directorate’s approach to advancing ARTES-supported commercial SatCom technologies, products and systems towards efficient, competitive and scalable production. Applying extensive industrialisation and production engineering expertise, you will provide functional leadership in assessing industrialisation needs, defining appropriate approaches and coordinating the technical, programmatic and industrial inputs required to progress from product development to volume production. You will act as the Directorate’s focal point and principal technical authority for commercial SatCom industrialisation. In this capacity, you will work closely with industry, the Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality (TEC), other ESA programmes and Member States to establish priorities, identify industrialisation opportunities and lead the preparation and implementation of coordinated industrialisation activities. The position requires the ability to provide authoritative technical guidance, build alignment across organisational boundaries and influence industrialisation decisions involving multiple stakeholders, disciplines and funding considerations.

Duties

Your tasks and responsibilities will include the following:

- Leading the assessment of industrialisation and production-readiness needs for midstream and upstream commercial SatCom technologies, products and systems, identifying the technical, process, infrastructure and capability constraints affecting their transition towards efficient and scalable production; - Establishing appropriate industrialisation strategies and technical approaches in areas such as design for manufacturing and assembly, production processes and routing, process automation, integration, verification and quality assurance, taking into account product characteristics, anticipated production volumes, technical constraints and intended commercial applications; - Providing functional leadership for the definition and development of industrialisation activities, working with industry and relevant ESA technical experts to translate identified needs into coherent technical activities, implementation plans and measurable objectives; - Overseeing the technical and programmatic progression of industrialisation activities, reviewing results, addressing emerging issues and ensuring that outcomes contribute effectively to production-readiness and commercial scalability; - Leading assessments of production scalability for commercial SatCom applications, particularly large-scale constellations, and determining the technical, process, infrastructure and industrial capability developments required to enable efficient volume production; - Identifying strategic production technologies and capability-development needs, and coordinating their progression with TEC and other ESA programmes where complementary expertise, facilities or activities are required; - Providing authoritative technical assessments and recommendations on proposed industrialisation activities to support Member State prioritisation, programme decision-making and the effective use of available ARTES funding; - Identifying infrastructure and production-capability investment needs arising from industrialisation activities and working with the relevant technical, commercial and financial functions to develop appropriate implementation and financing approaches; - Leading the coordination of the transition from product development to industrialisation, identifying and addressing technical gaps, dependencies and interface issues that could prevent or delay progression towards efficient volume production; - Defining and coordinating the TEC expertise required for industrialisation activities and ensuring the effective integration of specialist technical contributions into their preparation, implementation and review; - Providing expert advice to industry on industrialisation strategies, production-readiness considerations and opportunities for support through ARTES, while contributing to the visibility and promotion of relevant industrialisation initiatives; - Developing and maintaining industrialisation guidance, assessment approaches and good practices to promote consistency, technical quality and continuous improvement across the Directorate’s commercial industrialisation activities; - Building and maintaining an industrialisation roadmap and portfolio overview, ensuring visibility of priorities, dependencies, investment needs, progress and emerging opportunities across the assigned area; - Representing the Directorate in relevant Agency-level and external forums concerning commercial SatCom industrialisation, production engineering and industrial scale-up; - Reporting to management on the progress, results, risks, dependencies and emerging needs of industrialisation activities, and recommending appropriate technical or programmatic actions.

Technical competencies

Relevant experience in the commercial industrialisation domain: design for manufacturing/assembly, process automation, production routing

Relevant large-scale AIT expertise, preferably with deep familiarity with assembly, integration and testing processes for space hardware, be it satellites or equipment

Knowledge of ECSS and/or industrial manufacturing standards

Experience in SatCom constellation AIT would be a distinct advantage

Behavioural competencies

Education and professional experience

A master’s degree in a relevant engineering discipline is required for this post together with four years of relevant professional experience. Alternatively, candidates with a bachelor’s degree and an additional four years of relevant professional experience may be considered.

Additional requirements

- Experience of working in a cross-functional team and in promoting innovation through a creative collaboration process - Strong problem-solving skills to deal with day-to-day operational challenges, together with demonstrated planning and organisational skills - Ability to understand, and to clearly and concisely communicate complex technical issues to the team and external parties - Strong results orientation with the ability to set priorities and present practical solutions both orally and in writing - The ability to manage challenging situations proactively and constructively and to be customer focused

Application timeline

This vacancy was first listed on 12 November 2026, 1 day ago.

The application deadline is 3 December 2026, 18 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 12 November 2026.

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.

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