Technician with Advanced Certificate for Argo Float Operations (M/F)

Job Offer

• Institute: EURO-ARGO ERIC, ZI du Technopôle Brest Iroise, 1625 route de St Anne, 29280 Plouzané, France.
• Supervisors: Yann-Hervé De Roeck – Director General; Romain Cancouët & Noé Poffa – Operations Managers, Euro-Argo & Argo France.
• Contract: Fixed term 18 month-contract, starting in November 2026. The creation of a permanent position at the end of the contract is being considered.

Context

The Euro-Argo ERIC is a European Research Infrastructure Consortium currently composed of 13 national members. Euro-Argo ERIC aims to ensure the sustainability of the overall European contribution to the Argo international programme — deploying and maintaining a global network of autonomous oceanic instruments (profiling floats) that measure essential ocean variables. This global fleet makes a vital contribution to monitoring climate change and ocean health, for both the scientific community and the operational users.

The Euro-Argo ERIC is in charge of: the overall European coordination of national Argo activities; the support to float deployment activities; the European fleet monitoring; and the supervision of the Argo data flows to European and international Data centres and repositories.

In the scientific domain, the missions of Euro-Argo ERIC are: to promote and coordinate the Euro-Argo strategy and to develop an implementation plan within the Argo international context; to promote the scientific results achieved by Euro-Argo members; and to coordinate joint scientific activities that have been defined by the Euro-Argo members, some of which are carried out within European projects.

Argo France coordinates all French contributions to the international Argo program, including scientific and technical coordination, the procurement and deployment of floats, data processing, and interfaces with the user community (operational oceanography, notably with Mercator Ocean International and the scientific community). In addition to monitoring and processing data from its own floats, France performs important data-processing functions for its European and international partners through the Coriolis Data Center, which manages the Argo DACs and GDACs.

A close collaboration between Argo France and the Euro-Argo ERIC has been in place since the latter's creation in 2014. The Euro-Argo ERIC Office is hosted by Ifremer, a French research institute dedicated to marine research. Several operational tasks related to the acquisition, receipt, testing, deployment, commissioning, data logging, and monitoring of floats acquired by the Euro-Argo ERIC and its members — including Argo France — as well as their eventual recovery, are carried out jointly and contribute to the success and smooth operation of the Euro-Argo ERIC's activities.

The Euro-Argo ERIC office is hiring a technician for operations on Argo floats, on a fixed-term position. The successful candidate will assist the operations managers at Euro-Argo ERIC and Argo France with the day-to-day management of their Argo floats: from preparing the floats for deployment to monitoring them at sea. The successful candidate will work under the supervision of the Executive Director of Euro-Argo ERIC and the operations managers of Euro-Argo and Argo France.

Missions

• The successful candidate will assist the operations managers at Euro-Argo ERIC and Argo France in organizing and carrying out management activities (receiving, qualification, and programming) for Argo floats, from the initial stages (purchase, handling, and storage) through to the final stages (transport logistics, deployment, in-ocean monitoring, network surveillance, potential reprogramming and recovery, and after-sales service).
• The candidate will be involved in managing the French floats acquired by SHOM, Ifremer, and IMEV (Institut de la Mer de Villefranche), as well as the floats managed by the Euro-Argo ERIC office (centralized purchases for European partners or funded by the European Union).

Activities

• Testing batches of floats (launching them in the Ifremer test basin, reviewing data, and drafting the acceptance report used to determine whether to accept the floats and their sensors).
• Helping manage the French and European float inventory (tracking deliveries, floats undergoing after-sales service at the supplier's facility, and assigning them to deployment campaigns).
• Implement and help update the documentation repository (float documentation, acceptance and launch protocols, tracking of technological developments), and contribute to the drafting of summary notes and technical reports.
• Contribute to the development of French and European deployment plans in collaboration with scientific teams, operations managers, and the international Argo program (identifying vessels, training teams, etc.).
• Prepare and coordinate shipments of float crates (packaging, safety data sheets, hazardous materials transport documents for lithium batteries, freight forwarders, customs) for oceanographic or opportunistic campaigns (sailing vessels, etc.).
• Potential assignments at ports of embarkation to conduct final tests on floats and sensors and load them aboard ships. Training ship personnel on deployment operations.
• Liaise with the Coriolis Data Center to prepare metadata and register the floats in the system.

Education Requirements

Advanced technician certificate in instrumentation, oceanography.

Experience Requirements

Successful initial professional experience is preferred in one or more fields related to the position (scientific instrumentation, metrology, monitoring of an operational network, oceanography — this list is not exhaustive). Experience in a scientific environment would be considered an asset, as would experience in a European or international environment. Experience with at-sea campaigns would also be an asset.

Skills / Technical Competencies / Knowledge

• Instrumentation, sensor metrology, computer science (Python), logistics.
• Proficiency in professional English, which is the official working language of Euro-Argo ERIC.
• Proficiency in professional French, which is the official working language of Argo France.
• Writing skills.
• Ability to respond quickly and adapt to deadlines, which can sometimes be very tight.
• Teamwork.

Personal Qualities

• A team player with strong interpersonal skills, able to work effectively within a small, multidisciplinary, and multicultural team.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• An interest in ocean/climate sciences and ocean observations is essential.
• Ability to manage the operational aspects of the position (increased workload during at-sea campaigns, ensuring continuity of programming).

Working Environment

A fixed term 18-month position, based at the Euro-Argo ERIC Office, Plouzané, France, in the premises of Ifremer, on the International Campus of the Sea. The possibility of extending the contract may be considered.

The candidate will integrate into a 12-person team devoted to the coordination of the Euro-Argo ERIC. Office work, warehouse duties, and testing facilities. Participation in meetings (may include business trips and teleconferences). Possible sea cruises.

Arrangements are in place for remote work (up to 2 days per week).

The employment contract is based on a fixed-hour rate defined in the company agreement. SYNTEC sectoral collective agreement; recruitment in ETAM category, position 2.2 or 2.3 depending on profile and experience.

Application

Please send a Resume and Cover Letter to contact@euro-argo.eu in English, with the following subject: TECH ARGO.

• Language: English.
• Format: PDF files.
• File naming: TECH-ARGO-nomdefamille-resume.pdf and TECH-ARGO-nomdefamille-letter.pdf.

Deadline for application: 1 September 2026. Start: November 2026.

If the candidate is being made available through a secondment by a member of ERIC Euro-Argo, the application must include confirmation of the current employer's consent.

More information: Yann-Hervé DE ROECK, Euro-Argo ERIC Director General, email contact@euro-argo.eu, tel +33 (2) 98 22 44 92, www.euro-argo.eu