Lead System Engineer (m/f/d) for the NEW ATHENA-WFI satellite project

The Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) in Garching (near Munich), Germany, is a world-leading institute for developing and operating state-of-the-art astronomical instruments. Over the past years, MPE has taken a leading role in the development of instrumentation for several international space- and ground-based projects, for example XMM-Newton, Herschel, SRG/eROSITA, EUCLID, the VLT telescopes (e.g. KMOS, GRAVITY) and Einstein Probe. The MPE High-Energy group, led by Prof. K. Nandra, carries out major space hardware programs including the development of X-ray detectors and X-ray optics in support of its astrophysics research program.

Within the framework of ESA's future large-class space mission New Athena, MPE leads the international consortium developing the Wide Field Imager (WFI), one of the two instruments aboard the X-ray satellite. Further details about the WFI, which is based on the Max Planck Society's unique Silicon DEPFET technology, can be found here: https://www.mpe.mpg.de/ATHENA-WFI/

The MPE High Energy group is seeking an experienced Lead System Engineer for the WFI project, who should in addition have in their earlier career stages been an accomplished design engineer in any of the primary engineering disciplines (electronics, optical, mechanical, control and/or software engineering). As electronics forms the technical core of the instrument, a design background in electronics engineering is considered a particular asset.

As the Lead System Engineer for the New Athena WFI, you will be part of the Project Management Team. Working as a senior member of the WFI team, reporting to the Principal Investigator and the Project Manager, you will have ample opportunities to innovate and develop new technical solutions.

Lead System Engineer (m/f/d)
for the NEW ATHENA-WFI satellite project

Job Code: 18/2026