IRIS² PA/QA Manager – EU Communication Gateway (Ground Segment)

This role is critical to safeguarding programme delivery, ensuring that quality, safety, and compliance risks are identified, controlled, and resolved before they impact acceptance or operations.

In this role, you will hold independent authority over Product Assurance and Quality Assurance across SSC’s IRIS² ground segment scope. You will ensure that products, processes, suppliers, and programme deliverables meet demanding contractual, and regulatory requirements throughout the full lifecycle—from design to operational handover.

You operate with independent assurance authority within the programme governance structure, including the authority to hold, pause, or stop work and to prevent acceptance or release where evidence is insufficient.

This is a senior programme-level role requiring strong credibility with both engineering teams and executive stakeholders.

This role is for you if you:

• Have led Product Assurance, Quality Assurance, or mission assurance in complex, regulated programmes
• Are confident exercising independent authority and challenging delivery decisions when required
• Have deep experience with quality standards and frameworks such as ISO9001 and ECSS or equivalent
• Are comfortable working across engineering, V&V, safety, security, and supply chain environments
• Thrive in structured, evidence-driven environments with high expectations for compliance and traceability

Responsibilities

• Own and drive the programme-level PA/QA framework, ensuring full lifecycle quality assurance across the IRIS² ground segment
• Establish and maintain independent assurance governance, ensuring objectivity from delivery pressures
• Drive compliance with ESA/ECSS, contractual, and regulatory requirements, ensuring full traceability and evidence
• Lead audits, nonconformance management, corrective and preventive actions across internal teams and suppliers
• Enforce quality and compliance across suppliers through structured surveillance, reviews, and performance oversight
• Provide formal PA/QA authority and acceptance recommendations at lifecycle reviews including SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, QR, and release/acceptance boards
• Own quality reporting, KPIs, and escalation processes to programme leadership and governance bodies

What success looks like:

• A robust, credible, and independent assurance framework fully embedded in programme delivery
• High confidence in compliance, quality, safety, and acceptance readiness across all deliverables
• Transparent and controlled handling of nonconformances, risks, and quality issues
• Strong audit readiness and complete traceability of all quality and assurance evidence

Requirements

• Significant experience in Product Assurance, Quality Assurance, or mission assurance in space, defence, telecommunications, or critical infrastructure programmes
• Strong hands-on experience with ECSS, ESA-style lifecycle reviews, verification, qualification, acceptance, and release governance
• Proven experience with audit programmes, NCR management, corrective action systems, and supplier quality assurance
• Experience coordinating assurance activities across engineering, V&V, safety, operations, and supply chain functions
• Demonstrated ability to exercise independent quality authority and escalate issues based on objective evidence
• Strong communication skills, including structured reporting, review documentation, and executive briefing

Highly Valuable:

• Experience in satellite communications, ground segment, or secure infrastructure programmes
• Experience with RAMS, safety assurance, or dependability analysis
• Familiarity with EU institutional programmes or ESA environments
• Experience with configuration management, documentation control, and evidence management systems

Benefits

Welcome to SSC Space (formerly Swedish Space Corporation), the perfect workplace for those passionate about technology in general and space in particular.

With space organizations, research institutes, institutional and commercial actors as customers, we offer specialist expertise in satellite communications, spacecraft consulting services, rocket and balloon systems, and much more.

SSC Space also has one of the world’s largest global networks of ground stations for satellite communications. We own and operate the Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, northern Sweden, with the aim of launching satellites in the near future.

• Are you driven by quality, integrity, and the ambition to ensure mission-critical systems meet the highest standards?
• Are you ready to take an independent assurance leadership role in one of Europe’s most ambitious space programmes?

If you answer yes, we invite you to make a significant impact as IRIS² PA/QA Manager – EU Communication Gateway (Ground Segment). We are looking for someone who shares our core values of Customer passion, Care, Collaboration, Curiosity, and Courage.