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Network Operations Centre Technician (Ground Station Operator)

Please Note: The application deadline for this job has now passed.

Job Introduction

Serco is a specialist at delivering vital services on behalf of European, National and Local Governments.

Serco Europe employ’s a large workforce in Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Spain, Italy and the UK.

Our European operations have ca. 2,000 employees delivering critical services to public institutions throughout Europe. 

 

For our activities in the European Space Agency, we are currently seeking to employ a highly motivated and enthusiastic Network Operations Centre (NOC) Technician to work in an exciting innovative international environment.

The NOC Technician will be part of an integrated team which provides 24/7 monitoring and control of Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TT&C) stations of the ESTRACK ground station network, Operational IT and Operational Control Centre services at ESA's European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany.

The team, located in the ESOC Network Operations Centre, provides support using a variety of computer and network hardware and software.

The NOC acts as the first point of contact for users, missions/projects and second line support teams.

 

Role Responsibility

Your main tasks and responsibilities as NOC Technician will include:

  • Liaise with spacecraft and mission operations engineers as well as staff on duty at other support units, ground stations and external Agencies to establish and continuously maintain a comprehensive overview on the availability of and the demand for utilization of resources provided by the ground segment facilities.
  • Supervise and coordinate scheduled support activities.
  • Monitor the progress of station configurations for satellite passes through voice coordination or remote monitoring systems.
  • Schedule Ground Stations and OCC facilities in real-time (outside normal working hours).
  • Configure and monitor station configurations for satellite passes as well as data transmissions and performance.
  • Respond immediately to any anomaly affecting operations; relevant procedures shall be initiated and 1st line maintenance activities executed as required in order to restore operations. Document and track anomalies, call out 2nd/3rd party support/escalate and follow-up on incident resolution.
  • Reporting and documentation.
  • Act as first line of contact for users of critical systems.
  • Provide 1st line computer and network support to all eligible users – including incident, problem, change request and user request/complaints handling.
  • Actively monitor all operational IT systems, applications and networks and react immediately on potential issues or outages by:
    • Logging and escalating incident tickets according to procedure;
    • Identify the impacted services/users and inform all relevant parties;
    • Initiate incident resolution or mitigating actions to restore the service asap;
    • Call out/escalate to 2nd line support or external providers according to procedure;
    • Follow-up on incident resolution/progress and inform interested parties of the status;
  • Prioritise work according to criticality of systems, schedules and targets.
  • Operation, fault finding and repair on the network and on active network components (CISCO) using Ethernet and TCP/IP protocols and by logging on/commanding active network components.
  • In line with procedures perform contingency and scheduled re-configurations, hardware and software maintenance, test and remedial activity, so as to minimise resource impact.
  • Perform various housekeeping/administrative duties.
  • Work to predefined schedules and service levels, actively participate in recommending technical and procedural improvements to benefit the service.
  • Provide round the clock cover in a rotating shift pattern, with adequate information handover between shifts.
  • Maintain a log of all relevant activities and events.
  • Attend user meetings, briefings, user groups and workshops as required.

Successful Candidate

Essentials:

The successful candidate will bring:

  • A very good understanding of Local and Wide Area Network (Intranet, Internet) communications;
  • Decisiveness and accountability;
  • Fluency in English (spoken and written);
  • A good understanding of IT networking: WAN/LAN concepts, technology and troubleshooting;
  • Strong service ethic - responsive and courteous when handling user calls;
  • Problem Solving aptitude;
  • PC literacy: MS Office Products;
  • Familiarity with operational environments;
  • Team-player skills, ability to interface with technical and management personnel.

Note: This is a 24/7 position - candidates must be able to work rotating shifts.

Desirables:

The following would be seen as an asset:

  • Previous experience with remote operations of a network of unmanned satellite ground stations or with local operations and maintenance of a manned satellite ground station;
  • Sound understanding of ESTRACK ground stations functionality, configurations requirements, and operations constraints;
  • Interest in and ability to coach / train other staff;
  • Some knowledge of VMS, Unix, Console Works, NetBackup, CD-ROM production, CiscoWorks, HP-OV, CISCO Firewalls, QIP, MS Windows operating systems, ITSM tools;
  • A good understanding of IT security:concepts, technology and best practices;
  • Knowledge of ITIL , certification a plus;
  • Knowledge of, or proven ability of linear fault-finding, diagnosis and resolution methodology.

 

Application procedure

All applicants must hold a current valid work permit for Germany or be EU nationals.

Package Description

Full details on application.

Relocation assistance provided (if applicable).

About the Company

Serco Services GmbH, part of the Serco group, A FTSE250, Multi-national Service Provider with over 60,000 employees worldwide.

Serco’s space heritage over the last 40 years has placed us in the Space News Top 50 Space Industry Manufacturing and Services Companies - We work alongside EUMETSAT and the European Space Agency, where we are the largest on-site service provider with ca. 300 staff.

What connects the ever growing Serco workforce is a passion for delivering great service – To keep ahead we have to constantly evolve and enhance the way we deliver our services and everyone in Serco has a role to play here.

Serco provide the right environment to encourage ideas and a comprehensive Best Practice support network that enables them to put their ideas into action.

If you share our values then join with over 60,000 colleagues globally who are equally as passionate about delivering great service as you

Serco European Agencies

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