{"id":3358844,"url":"https://alion.io/job/european-space-agency-hardware-security-evaluation-engineer","title":"Hardware Security Evaluation Engineer","company":{"id":40193,"name":"European Space Agency","domain":"esa.int","url":"https://alion.io/company/esa","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"SuccessFactors","truth_index":null},"role":"Security","role_family":"Security","seniority":"middle","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"explicit","locations":["Belgium"],"countries":["BE"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":49000,"max_usd":120000,"period":"year","method":"global_role_cell_scaled_by_country","sample_n":854},"experience_years_min":4,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-27T20:39:09Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-27","last_verified_at":"2026-11-02T01:25:26Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":6,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":6},"description":"This is a non-renewable post for a limited duration of 4 years and open for the specific needs of a National Project. Accordingly, the external candidate selected for this post will continue to be considered an external candidate for the purposes of any future applications to the Agency.\nLocation\nESEC, Redu, Belgium\nDescription\nHardware Security Evaluation Engineer in the System Security Section (TEC-SES), End-to-End Systems Division, Systems Department, Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality.\nThe System Security Section is responsible for end-to-end system security engineering for the Agency’s missions, projects and activities across space, ground and user segments and communication links, at system, subsystem, element and equipment levels. Its responsibilities span the mission lifecycle from the study phase and definition of requirements to design, development, security integration and verification, and security service preparation, across the full stack, from the physical to the application layer.\nTo fulfil these functions, the System Security Section defines and conducts the associated research and development (R&D) activities and studies and implements the necessary security engineering standards.\nUsing its security laboratory facilities, the System Security Section performs vulnerability assessments across all areas within its remit and proposes detection methods and mitigation and protection measures using security assessment tools and equipment.\nThis position will support a third-party activity aimed at developing a national hardware security evaluation capability.\nDuties\nYour tasks and responsibilities will include:\nsupporting the Project Manager by providing recommendations, guidance and plans for test and evaluation laboratory capability development and technologies for hardware security evaluation;\nregular reporting to the Project Manager on the status of the duties assigned under the project;\nengaging directly with and advising national customers and ESA experts on options for developing and maturing hardware security evaluation capabilities;\nderiving technical requirements and reviewing, assessing and evaluating project proposals, including the security design, development, implementation, qualification and validation;\nfostering new security application areas for multidisciplinary activities, placing emphasis on innovative concepts, cutting-edge technologies and system architectures in the field of hardware security evaluation;\nsupporting laboratory activities as required;\ncontinuously following technological and scientific developments relevant to the position, particularly emerging threats, exploits and industry trends;\ncontributing, as requested, to other technical activities beyond the main project within your area of expertise. \nTechnical competencies\nHardware attacks and fault injection\nSide-channel analysis and physical security testing\nEmbedded systems and hardware security architecture\nCryptographic hardware security\nHardware security evaluation and certification standards\nHardware evaluation laboratory technologies and technical analysis\nBehavioural competencies\nResult Orientation\nOperational Efficiency\nFostering Cooperation\nRelationship Management\nContinuous Improvement\nForward Thinking\nFor more information, please refer to the ESA Core Behavioural Competencies guidebook\nEducation and professional experience\nA master’s degree in a relevant field and, in principle, three years of relevant professional experience are required for this post. Alternatively, candidates with a bachelor’s degree and an additional four years of relevant professional experience may be considered.\nAdditional requirements\nHands-on experience in hardware hacking, exploitation and security assessment across IT and embedded-system technologies, including but not limited to:\nside channel attacks;\nvoltage fault injection;\nclock fault injection;\nelectromagnetic fault injection;\noptical fault injection;\ntiming attacks;\nsimple, differential and correlation power analysis;\ndebug port attacks.\nIn-depth knowledge of:\nembedded system characterisation, hardware component imaging and probing techniques;\nfault characterisation and fault model development;\nboot loaders and their weaknesses;\ntrusted platform modules, trusted execution environments and other similar technologies, including attacks and mitigations.\nUnderstanding of design principles for hardware analysis purposes, including:\nsymmetric cryptographic algorithms;\nasymmetric pre-quantum cryptographic algorithms;\nasymmetric post-quantum cryptographic algorithms.\nIn-depth knowledge of:\napplying relevant security and certification standards, including FIPS 140-3, Common Criteria, ENISA, ISO and ETSI, for testing and certification purposes;\nembedded systems and their interfaces and protocols;\nsoftware programming.\nExperience of firmware extraction and reversing techniques is desirable.\nDiversity, Equity and Inclusiveness\nESA is an equal opportunity employer, committed to achieving diversity within the workforce and creating an inclusive working environment. We therefore welcome applications from all qualified candidates irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religious beliefs, age, disability or other characteristics.\nAt the Agency we value diversity, and we welcome people with disabilities. Whenever possible, we seek to accommodate individuals with disabilities by providing the necessary support at the workplace. The Human Resources Department can also provide assistance during the recruitment process. If you would like to discuss this further, please contact us via email at .\nImportant Information and Disclaimer\nIn principle, recruitment will be within the advertised grade band (A2-A4). However, if the selected candidate has less than four years of relevant professional experience following the completion of the master’s degree, the position may be filled at A1 level.\nApplicants must be eligible to access information, technology, and hardware which is subject to European or US export control and sanctions regulations & eligible to acquire the security clearance by their national security administrations.\nDuring the recruitment process, the Agency may request applicants to undergo selection tests. Additionally, successful candidates will need to undergo basic screening before appointment, which will be conducted by an external background screening service, in compliance with the European Space Agency's security procedures.\nNote that ESA is in the process of transitioning to a Matrix setup, which could lead to organisational changes affecting this position.\nThe information published on ESA’s careers website regarding working conditions is correct at the time of publication. It is not intended to be exhaustive and may not address all questions you would have.\nNationality and Languages\nPlease note that applications are only considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Canada, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia.\nAccording to the ESA Convention, staff shall be recruited on the basis of their qualifications, taking into account an adequate distribution of posts among nationals of the Member States.\nThe working languages of the Agency are English and French. A good knowledge of one of these is required. Knowledge of another Member State language would be an asset.","description_format":"text","description_chars":7639,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":4,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[{"language":"English","level":"All levels","optional":false}]},"benefits":["Equity"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"Austria","iso":"AT","kind":"country"},{"name":"Belgium","iso":"BE","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["IoT Security","Launch Services","Space Services"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-27T20:39:09Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":90,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.903,"p_room":1,"age_days":5,"expected_fill_days":23,"reasons":["conf:4","velocity","win:early","comp:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-11-02T06:13:15Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/european-space-agency-hardware-security-evaluation-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/european-space-agency-hardware-security-evaluation-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-03T01:30:22Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":2024,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-04T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":40193},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=40193"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Feuropean-space-agency-hardware-security-evaluation-engineer"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Feuropean-space-agency-hardware-security-evaluation-engineer"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Feuropean-space-agency-hardware-security-evaluation-engineer"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/european-space-agency-hardware-security-evaluation-engineer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Feuropean-space-agency-hardware-security-evaluation-engineer"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":3358844}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"esa.int","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":3358844},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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