Control Engineer/PLC Expert
Control Engineer/PLC Expert
ESO - European Southern Observatory
Garching, Germany
The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO) is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive ground-based astronomical observatory. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries.
ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in northern Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor (home to ALMA), and the ESO Headquarters are located in Garching, near Munich, Germany.
At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory, and will host and operate the southern array of the Cherenkov Telescope Array, the world's largest and most sensitive high energy gamma-ray observatory. ESO is a major partner in ALMA. On Cerro Armazones, ESO is building the 39-metre Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky" and whose operations will be fully integrated into the Paranal Observatory.
Due to the need for additional resources associated with the ELT programme, for its Control Software and Engineering Department (CSE), within the Directorate of Engineering (DoE) at its Headquarters in Garching, near Munich, Germany, ESO is advertising the position of Control Engineer/PLC Expert (2 positions).
ESO is looking for two suitably qualified Control Engineers to work in CSE Control Engineering group in the Directorate of Engineering. The department comprises about 50 software and control engineers, who work closely with other departments at ESO as well as many national and international institutes and industrial consortia to define and develop state-of-the-art research facilities for ESO's observatories in Chile, especially for the ELT. Ideally, the two candidates together cover the full list of topics listed below. There is no strictly defined work split between the two roles, especially the combination of a senior engineer with a junior engineer could well fit to the requirements.
Both positions:
The Control System of the ELT is largely based on PLCs. It consists of several local control systems of the ELT subsystems mainly delivered by industry contracts, and the central control system built ESO in house. The control engineering team is involved in all ELT projects, designing, analyzing, testing and optimizing control systems and standard server hardware.
After finishing your university degree in control engineering or equivalent, you have spent some years working on PLC based control systems over the full lifecycle, ideally in an industrial environment. You are familiar with PLC and HMI/SCADA systems and programming in some of: Siemens S7 TIA Portal, ProfiNet/ProfiBus, Beckhoff TwinCAT 3, EtherCAT, WinCC/WinCC OA. If you are familiar with PLC based safety applications (Siemens Safety Advanced, Beckhoff TwinSAFE), servodrive systems (Sinamics S120), electrical/electronics design or E-CAD Systems (EPLAN), this will be very much welcome. You are familiar with compliance checks, verification and acceptance procedures. Experience with hazard analysis, SIL/PL assignment, functional safety and the relevant standards IEC 62061/EN ISO 13849-1 are an asset.
You will be working closely with various ESO project teams in an international and multi-cultural team, in particular on the ELT programme. You will design, implement, test and optimize PLC based control systems within these projects. Likely, you will also follow up one or more industry contracts and support the suppliers on technical aspects, join reviews, check PLC code quality, perform tests and finally join the acceptance testing and onsite commissioning.
Qualifications:
University degree in control or electrical engineering or equivalent.
Language skills:
The position requires a working knowledge of English.
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 and Career 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. The roles of control engineer/PLC Expert are in Career Path V. Please follow this 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.
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:
Garching near Munich, Germany with regular duty trips to suppliers within Europe and ESO sites in Chile. At a later stage, during the ELT assembly, integration and verification phase, also longer duty trips to the ELT construction site in Chile are likely to be needed. If there is an operational need and the staff member is interested, also a temporary transfer to Chile for 1-3 years could be possible.
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. 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 22 September 2024.
Interviews are expected to start soon after this date.
ESO Values:
An important element in any successful employment relationship is harmony in values between an organisation and its people.
The ESO Values are:
ESO strives for excellence through innovation.
ESO provides outstanding services to its communities.
ESO fosters diversity & inclusion.
ESO believes in the key role of sustainability for its future.
Achieving the above are recognized as only possible on the basis of personal values and attitudes that we expect from our employees: respect, integrity, accountability, commitment, collaboration, and clear & open communication.
Applicants to any ESO role are asked to reflect on their affinity with these values and advised they may be asked about them if called for interview.
Diversity:
ESO has established diversity as an important value of the Organisation, is committed to providing an equal opportunities environment and is actively seeking to promote a diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce. Please visit https://www.eso.org/public/about-eso/sustainability/dei-at-eso/ for further details.
Nationality:
No nationality is in principle excluded from employment at ESO, however, recruitment preference will be given to nationals of our Member States, host states and strategic partners: Australia, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Chile, irrespective of gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity or religion.
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