Would you like to contribute to a better understanding of the inner working of supermassive black holes and stellar mass black holes? Then you have a part to play as a system engineer. You will work on the Africa Millimetre Telescope, the new state-of-the-art telescope from the scientific collaboration that realised the first ever picture of a black hole.

Together with the project's PI's, the Project Manager and Project Scientist and other stakeholders, you will develop system concepts and define and track system requirements up to their verification. To achieve this, you will develop models to estimate system performance, track error and tolerance budgets, and carry out trade-off analyses to support decision making. In addition it is the System Engineer's task to manage engineering artefacts (system concept, requirements, design, interfaces (internal and external), procurement, assembly, integration and verification documents (test plans) and operations) throughout the project, and maintain traceability between artefacts. You will work closely with the project manager to assist in project planning and control (work breakdown, schedule and budget, risks). Your own coordination tasks are focused on engineering activities and support definition of system development processes. Furthermore you will participate in regular project, system and subsystem reviews.

• You have a Master's degree in engineering, physics, astronomy or equivalent experience.
• You have experience in scripting languages or modelling tools (Python, Matlab/Simulink).
• Knowledge or experience in the application of system engineering standards or best practices (e.g. INCOSE, ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288, ECSS-E-10) is a plus.
• Knowledge of mm-wave astronomical instrumentation or research is also a plus.
• You are motivated and able to work independently.
• You  have strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• You have excellent organisational skills and attention to detail.
• You have proven experience of project management.
• You have demonstrable proficiency in spoken and written English.

Fixed-term contract: you will be employed on the basis of a temporary contract for 3 years.

• It concerns an employment for 1.0 FTE.
• The gross monthly salary amounts to a minimum of €4,332 and a maximum of €5,929 based on a 38-hour working week, depending on previous education and number of years of relevant work experience (salary scale 11).
• You will receive 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus.
• You will be employed on the basis of a temporary contract for 3 years.
• You will be able to use our Dual Career and Family Care Services. Our Dual Career and Family Care Officer can assist you with family-related support, help your partner or spouse prepare for the local labour market, provide customized support in their search for employment and help your family settle in Nijmegen.
• Working for us means getting extra days off. In case of full-time employment, you can choose between 30 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the legally allotted 20.

Work and science require good employment practices. This is reflected in Radboud University's primary and secondary employment conditions. You can make arrangements for the best possible work-life balance with flexible working hours, various leave arrangements and working from home. You are also able to compose part of your employment conditions yourself, for example, exchange income for extra leave days and receive a reimbursement for your sports subscription. And of course, we offer a good pension plan. You are given plenty of room and responsibility to develop your talents and realise your ambitions. Therefore, we provide various training and development schemes.

In 2019, the first ever picture of a black hole was published by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, and in 2022 the first picture of the black hole in the centre of our Milky Way. Heino Falcke (Radboud University) was one of the founding members of EHT and a leader in making those images. To build upon the current science with EHT, Falcke and co-PI's Sera Markoff (University of Amsterdam) and Rob Fender (Oxford University), together with the University of Namibia and Turku University, received a €14m Synergy grant from the European Research Council 2023. The project 'BlackHolistic, making colour movies of black holes' focuses on better understanding the inner working of supermassive black holes and stellar mass black holes. To achieve these goals the EHT network has to be expanded with a new mm-wave radio telescope in Africa, more specifically, in Namibia: the Africa Millimetre Telescope (AMT).

The AMT project is embedded in the Radboud Radio Lab (RRL). With funding secured for the next decade, RRL is leading the effort to realise the telescope in Namibia in close collaboration with the University of Namibia and many international partners such as the institute for mm-wave radio astronomy in Grenoble, IRAM. RRL is a dedicated lab of the department of Astrophysics at Radboud University whose main aim is to develop instrumentation for astronomical research. Other projects for which RRL offers expertise are BlackGem, the Pierre Auger Observatory, NCLE and ESA's moon programme.

The AMT team is now expanding its effort to realise the AMT and is gearing up to the formal start of construction mid-2024. To lead the design and engineering efforts of the AMT project, the AMT team is seeking an experienced System Engineer. You will report to the AMT Project Director and PI and work closely together with colleagues from other projects who are involved in the development of astronomical instrumentation for other wavelength domains (both ground-based and space-based applications).

The AMT team is a diverse team in terms of skills, experience, background, abilities and gender. We encourage everyone who thinks they are suitable for this position to apply.


Radboud University
We are keen to meet critical thinkers who want to look closer at what really matters. People who, from their expertise, wish to contribute to a healthy, free world with equal opportunities for all. This ambition unites more than 24,000 students and 5,600 employees at Radboud University and requires even more talent, collaboration and lifelong learning. You have a part to play!