ALMA Radio Frequency Maintenance Engineer

To fulfil the roles and responsibilities of the ESO ALMA Support Center (EASC), in collaboration with the Directorate of Operation at its Headquarters in Garching, near Munich, Germany, ESO is advertising the position of ALMA Radio Frequency Maintenance Engineer.

We are seeking a Maintenance Radio Frequency Engineer to join our team with a minimum of five (5) years of relevant work experience. You will act as the off-site technical lead, coordinating and supporting off-site maintenance activities for ESO deliverables to the ALMA Observatory. You will also be responsible for proposing and managing obsolescence mitigation and upgrade projects, providing or coordinating training and support to ALMA Observatory teams, identifying and implementing improvements to weaker systems.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

Your main tasks include:

• Review maintenance and obsolescence and as necessary propose mitigation plans, for the ESO Front End deliverables to ALMA.
• Conduct thorough assessments to identify weaknesses in Front End systems delivered by ESO. Develop and implement strategies to improve their reliability, efficiency, and performance.
• Provide tier-3 maintenance support off-site in Europe.
• Coordinate with the Joint ALMA Observatory ( JAO)in Chile and external contractors the commissioning, integration and verification on site of upgrades/retrofits for the Front End systems and subsystems.
• Analyse failures and recommend improvements to prevent recurrence.
• Provide remote diagnostic and troubleshooting support for Radio frequency issues in systems delivered by ESO.
• Collaborate with on-site engineers and technicians to guide and support hands-on maintenance tasks.
• Develop technical documentation and Statement of Work for hardware development and service procurement
• Interface with the vendors for the execution of the specific deliverables/services.
• Stay updated with the latest advancements in Radio Frequency technology and apply them to improve system performance.
• Coordinate and support the preparation of technical reports and support reviews of specific ESO deliverables to ALMA as needed.
• Document maintenance activities and update technical manuals as needed

Reports to:

Head of the ALMA Technical Team (EASC/ATT) in the ESO Directorate of Operations.

Key Competences and Experience:

Essential Competences and Experience

• Strong communication and documentation skills, essential to effectively work within the world-wide ALMA partnership.
• Proven experience in Radio Frequency engineering, preferably in a research or support centre environment.
• Proven ability to coordinate activities/requests and effective communication within multi-cultural teams
• Strong knowledge of Radio Frequency systems, including photomixers, and cryogenic receivers.
• Strong diagnostic and critical thinking skills, with an ability to anticipate/identify problems and provide workable solutions.
• Ability to work independently and manage multiple tasks efficiently.

Desirable Competences and Experience

• Experience in working with formal multi-cultural and distributed industrial partnerships.
• Experience with commissioning/operations/maintenance/obsolescence.
• Experience with large multi-cultural scientific collaborations.

Qualifications:

Essential educational level Master's degree in Radio Frequency Engineering (or equivalent). Minimum 5 years of relevant working experience.

Language skills:

The position requires a strong command of the English language. Spanish language skills would be an advantage.

Remuneration and Contract:

We offer an attractive remuneration package including a competitive salary, comprehensive pension scheme and medical, educational and other social benefits, as well as financial help in relocating your family and support to place your child/children in daycare.

Our Salary Structure.

ESO's salary structure is based upon a range of career paths which reflect the nature and level of our jobs. Each career path is made up of two or three grades which are used to further reflect experience.

Please follow this attached link for more details https://www.eso.org/public/jobs/conditions/intstaff/salary-structure/

ESO aims to support members of personnel in maintaining a good work-life balance (https://www.eso.org/public/jobs/conditions/intstaff/#work-life-balance) between their professional and private life. ESO is also committed to offering family-friendly support (https://www.eso.org/public/jobs/conditions/intstaff/#family-friendly-support), creating a work environment and policies which allow staff to balance their professional and private responsibilities through flexible working arrangements and financial support for families.

The contract is for a fixed term duration of three years and is subject to successful completion of the probation period. There may be a possibility of extension(s) subject to individual performance and organisational requirements, and as defined in the applicable policies and staff rules and regulations. For any further information, please visit ESO's conditions of employment (https://www.eso.org/public/jobs/conditions/). Please note that the contract policy and in particular the regulations concerning fixed-term and indefinite contracts are currently under review which may lead to changes in the contractual conditions applicable to this position.

Duty Station:

The position is based at the ESO headquarters in Garching bei Muenchen, Germany. The position requires at least 20% of the time spent at the ALMA Operations Facility and Array Operations Site (5000m above sea level), on a yearly basis. It is a requirement that the employee undertakes a temporary transfer and/or long mission to the ALMA sites in Chile for a period of between three and six months during the first year of their appointment. This may also be necessary in subsequent years.

Career Path: V

Application:

If you are interested in working in areas of frontline science and technology and in a stimulating international environment, please visit http://www.eso.org for further details.

Applicants are invited to apply online at http://jobs.eso.org/. Applications must be completed in English and should include a motivation letter and CV. Within your CV, please provide the names and contact details of three persons familiar with your work and willing to provide a recommendation letter upon request. Referees will not be contacted without your prior consent.

Deadline for applications is 8 March 2025.

Interviews are expected to start soon after this date.