Ready to take your software engineering career to new heights and contribute to some of Europes most exciting space science missions?
We are looking for a Software Engineer (Java & JavaScript) to join ESA’s European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) in Madrid, the heart of Europe’s space science operations and data archives. In this role, you will design, develop, and maintain mission-critical data archive platforms that preserve and deliver access to scientific data from astronomy, planetary science, heliophysics, Earth observation, and human and robotic exploration missions. Your work will enable researchers worldwide to access, analyze, and transform space mission data into groundbreaking scientific discoveries, contributing directly to the advancement of space science and exploration
Tasks and activities
* Supporting the analysis of user requirements and working on the design and modelling of archive databases and archive data models
* Archiving applications and data, including interoperability systems and programmatic access supported by Virtual Observatory (VO) standards
* Administration services, including monitoring, statistics, reporting, and user management Virtual Observatory (VO) tools and services
* Integration of common infrastructure, tools, and science data visualisation across all ESDC systems, enabling maximum exploitation of the data
* Software configuration control activities associated with the archive development
* Contributing to the preparation and maintenance of required documentation in accordance with ECSS engineering standards
* Participating in working groups, workshops, conferences, and meetings focused on science data systems and Virtual Observatory standards and practices
* Interacting with the international community of astronomers, scientists, and users
* Interacting with ESA partners, including international teams such as NASA, JAXA, and Canadian partners
Skills and experience
* Masters degree (or equivalent experience) in Computer Science, Software Engineering, IT, or a related field
* 4+ years of software engineering experience with Java development and modern web technologies, including JavaScript/Angular.
* Experience building and supporting web applications and services (HTTP, Apache, Tomcat, APIs/web services).
* Solid knowledge of relational databases, particularly PostgreSQL and Oracle, including SQL and database administration concepts.
* Experience with software testing across the development lifecycle, including unit, integration, system, and end-to-end testing (e.g., JUnit, Selenium, Cypress, Cucumber, Jasmine).
* Desire to work both autonomously and as part of a team, in an international multicultural environment
* Solution oriented mindset, with a customer focused communication skill
* Fluent in English, both written and spoken
The following skills and experience are a plus:
* Experience with Python
* Familiarity with distributed database technologies, such as Greenplum
* Virtualisation knowledge
* Agile software development and continuous integration knowledge.