Head of Science — Space Weather and Space Environment

Augura Space develops operational space weather monitoring, forecasting and diagnostic services to help operators and critical infrastructure anticipate and mitigate its impacts.

We combine space physics, data science and artificial intelligence to transform scientific observations and models into actionable information for operators, including risk levels, tailored forecasts, alerts and post-event analyses.

Our initial developments focus on:

• the satellite radiation environment in LEO, MEO and GEO;
• the thermosphere and atmospheric drag in LEO/VLEO;
• ionospheric disturbances affecting GNSS and communications;
• anomaly attribution and the assessment of operational impacts.

Building on research conducted at CNES, Augura Space already works with space agencies, satellite operators, industrial companies and institutional stakeholders. The company is supported by Agoranov and 50 Partners and received the Sovereignty Grand Prize at the 2025 i-PhD competition.

We are now building our scientific team and are looking for the person who will lead it.

As Head of Science, you will build and lead Augura Space's scientific team.

You will define the company's scientific roadmap, ensure the quality and robustness of our models, and help turn cutting-edge research into operational services used by our customers.

The position combines scientific leadership, team management and direct contributions to research and development. During the first few years, it will remain strongly hands-on.

You will work directly with the CEO, the scientific team and the engineering team.

Define the scientific roadmap

• Define and prioritise Augura Space's scientific directions based on the underlying physics, operational needs and product strategy.
• Structure our work on radiation, the thermosphere and atmospheric drag, followed by the ionosphere and GNSS disturbances.
• Balance exploratory research, improvements to existing models and the development of new capabilities.
• Monitor emerging scientific and technological developments in models, datasets, instruments and methodologies.

Ensure the scientific quality of our products

• Define the datasets, benchmarks and metrics used to evaluate our models.
• Organise backtesting and comparisons with reference models and services.
• Quantify the uncertainties and confidence levels associated with our forecasts.
• Establish the criteria used to determine when a model is sufficiently robust for integration into an operational service.
• Implement shared methods for validation, documentation and scientific review.

Build and manage the scientific team

• Manage the scientists and data scientists currently working with Augura Space, as well as future hires.
• Define objectives, allocate work and organise scientific reviews.
• Support the technical and scientific development of team members.
• Contribute to recruitment within the scientific team.
• Help supervise PhD projects, particularly through CIFRE industrial PhDs and academic collaborations.

Connect science, technology and operational use cases

• Translate operator and customer needs into tractable scientific problems.
• Work with the engineering team to industrialise models and deploy them in production.
• Define product inputs, outputs, performance levels, uncertainties and limitations.
• Contribute to complex scientific analyses and post-event diagnostics.
• Ensure that developments carried out within specific projects strengthen Augura Space's shared scientific and product foundations.

Represent Augura Space within the scientific community

• Develop relationships with laboratories, space agencies and scientific partners.
• Represent Augura Space at technical meetings, conferences and scientific events.
• Contribute to scientific discussions with customers and industrial partners.
• Oversee scientific publications and communications while respecting confidentiality and intellectual property requirements.
• Contribute to strategic R&D proposals and programmes.

During your first twelve months, your objectives will include:

• formalising an 18-24-month scientific roadmap;
• establishing a shared model-validation framework covering benchmarks, metrics and uncertainty estimation;
• structuring the scientific team's organisation and responsibilities;
• accelerating the transfer of advanced radiation-environment and atmospheric-density forecasting capabilities into production;
• strengthening the connection between Augura Space's scientific projects and its product roadmap;
• contributing to recruitment and capability-building within the scientific team;
• expanding Augura Space's scientific visibility and collaborations in France and across Europe.

We are looking for someone with:

• a PhD in space physics, heliophysics, space weather, magnetospheric physics, ionospheric physics, upper-atmosphere physics or a closely related field;
• strong scientific expertise in at least one of the following areas: the radiation environment, magnetospheric physics, the thermosphere and atmospheric drag, the ionosphere, or space weather impacts;
• significant experience in applied research, the space industry or the leadership of scientific projects;
• strong skills in data processing and quantitative model validation;
• a solid understanding of machine-learning methods applied to the physical sciences;
• the ability to develop, understand and assess scientific code, particularly in Python;
• initial experience in team management, scientific coordination or scientific leadership;
• the ability to communicate effectively with scientific, technical and operational stakeholders;
• excellent professional English. Knowledge of French is appreciated but not required.

Experience in one or more of the following areas would be particularly valuable:

• developing operational space weather services;
• working with satellite or heliophysics datasets;
• flight dynamics and satellite operations;
• deploying scientific or machine-learning models into production;
• projects involving CNES, ESA, satellite operators or space-sector companies;
• supervising PhD candidates;
• participating in European or international projects.

You do not need to be an expert in every phenomenon studied by Augura Space. We are looking for someone with genuine scientific depth who can lead multidisciplinary work and progressively build a complementary team.

This position may be a good fit if you want to:

• remain directly involved in scientific work while taking on leadership responsibilities;
• build a team and establish its working methods;
• bring scientific research closer to operational needs;
• work on complex physical problems and datasets;
• see the concrete use and impact of your work;
• join a young scientific company where key technical and organisational decisions are still being shaped.

We value scientific rigour as highly as the ability to prioritise, make decisions, share knowledge and collaborate.

• Full-time permanent position with executive status under French employment law.
• Based in Paris, with regular remote working possible.
• Occasional travel within France and Europe.
• Start date as soon as possible, ideally in late 2026 or early 2027.
• Fixed salary based on experience.
• French tax-advantaged stock options (BSPCE), providing the opportunity to share in the company's long-term value creation.
• Opportunity to progress towards a Chief Science Officer position as the team and company grow.
• Participation in conferences, scientific collaborations, and French and European research programmes.

The process will generally include:

1. an initial conversation with Augura Space's founders;
2. a scientific and technical discussion with several team members;
3. a discussion about the scientific roadmap, team management, and the relationship between research and product development;
4. a meeting with the rest of the team.

Please send the following to contact@auguraspace.com:

• your CV;
• a few lines explaining your interest in the position and in Augura Space;
• optionally, an example of a scientific or technical project you are particularly proud of, such as a publication, codebase, model, software tool or project.

Both formal applications and informal enquiries are welcome.

Augura Space considers every application regardless of gender, origin, age, disability or beliefs.