Network Architecture Engineer (Darmstadt / Germany)

Short company description

About EUMETSAT – Trusted in Space. Essential on Earth.

Since 1986, EUMETSAT, Europe’s meteorological satellite agency, has monitored weather and climate from space. From its headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany, it operates fleets of satellites observing the Earth system and delivers real-time, 24/7 data and imagery to its 30 member states to help protect communities and support critical sectors of their economies.

As it marks its 40th anniversary in 2026, EUMETSAT looks back on four decades of achievements in Earth observation for weather and climate. Today, it plays a central role in the international meteorological satellite system, contributing observations that support forecasting and climate monitoring in its member states and beyond.

Requirements

SKILLS:
- Proven experience of communication network engineering in an high-availability, 24/7 operational environment;
- Experience in designing, developing and deploying network architectures and services according to recognised standards;
- In-depth and demonstrable knowledge of industry standard WAN/LAN networking protocols and architectures;
- In-depth and demonstrable knowledge of Cisco technology, services and solutions. Knowledge of ACI and automation tools such as python, ansible, terraform would be an advantage;
- Experience of gathering/defining customer requirements, monitoring and ensuring their implementation and delivery;
- Experience of collaborating with industry, undertaking procurements and management of service contracts;
- Strong communication skills with the ability to present complex technical information to management and customers in a comprehensible manner;
- Strong team-leadership and interpersonal skills, with a demonstrable customer focus and experience working in a service driven environment;
- Track record of successfully leading projects from inception to completion following recognised project management frameworks.

QUALIFICATIONS:
A university degree in a relevant scientific/engineering discipline (e.g. telecommunications, network systems, etc.) or equivalent.

LANGUAGES:
Candidates must be able to work effectively in English.

Responsibilities

- Create and maintain a rolling roadmap for the innovation, enhancement and evolution of the EUMETSAT consolidated communication network;
- Design and develop scalable and sustainable network concepts, architectures and infrastructure for the implementation of the agreed roadmap;
- Derive and specify network requirements from specific business needs of internal customers, particularly those responsible for the development of ground segments for future satellite systems;
- Specify and support the deployment and testing of network customer solutions, to be integrated into the consolidated EUMETSAT network;
- Design and specify a suite of commercial tools for network management and analysis, to meet the common use cases associated with monitoring and maintaining high availability networks;
- Interact with suppliers of network products and service providers;
- Lead industry support and service providers in order to achieve the above tasks;
- Support procurements and management of service contracts.

Other info

Employment Conditions
The initial contract will be of 4 years’ duration, with subsequent 5 year contracts being awarded thereafter, subject to individual performance and organisation requirements. There is no limit to the amount of follow-up contracts a staff member can receive up to the EUMETSAT retirement age of 63 and there are certainly opportunities to establish a long career perspective at EUMETSAT.
This post is graded A2/A4 on the EUMETSAT salary scales. The minimum basic salary for this post is EURO 7,553 per month (net of internal tax but excluding pension contribution and insurances) which may be negotiable on the basis of skills and experience. The salary scale provides for increments on the anniversary of taking up employment, and scales are reviewed by the EUMETSAT Council with effect from 1 January each year. In addition to basic salary, EUMETSAT offers attractive benefits. Further information, including salary details, is available on the EUMETSAT web site.

Benefits

• Medical subscription
• Dental subscription
• Medical insurance
• Life insurance
• Gym membership
• Private pension