The Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate, Institutional Division, Technical Integration Branch at Kennedy Space Center is seeking two aerospace engineers for range flight safety positions. Selectees will assess flight vehicles, flight systems, and planned trajectories for rockets and unmanned aerial vehicles; perform flight hazard analyses; provide launch support; and develop risk mitigation strategies, such as setting abort limits, to protect people and critical assets on the ground.

Duties

Generates and applies theories, principles, practical concepts, and processes related to aeronautics and astronautics safety, engineering design standards for aviation technology, critical inquiry and problem solving. Performs analysis and modeling of flight hazards such as debris impact, toxic dispersion, and distant focusing overpressure. Assesses flight vehicle performance characteristics, including aerodynamics, mass moments of inertia, center of gravity, and others. Assess structural breakup limits and breakup dynamics of flight vehicles, including resulting debris characteristics. Performs failure trajectory simulations, including guided and unguided modes using either 3 degree of freedom or 6 degree of freedom tools. Performs probability of failure assessments of flight vehicles using probability and statistics methods, including Bayesian statistics. Performs assessments of safety systems, including the use of Failure-Modes-Effects-and-Criticality-Analysis, reliability block diagrams, fault trees, etc. Oversees sufficiency of safety system testing and requirements compliance. Reviews design verification or certification plans for milestone events. Assures compliance with established safety, reliability, maintainability, and quality engineering design requirements. Identifies deficiencies and recommend enhancements. Provides console support during launches and utilize expert range flight safety knowledge to help manage risks to people and critical assets. Supports mishap responses.

Requirements

• This position is open to U.S. citizens, nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.
• Position subject to pre-employment background security investigation.
• You must meet qualifications requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
• If selected, you will be required to complete a financial disclosure statement.
• This position may require a one year probationary period.

Qualifications

In addition to the Basic Education Requirement (in the Education section below), to qualify for this position you must meet the requirements below. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the particular ability, skill, and knowledge to successfully perform the duties of this position and is typically in or related to this line of work. NASA utilizes OPM-approved qualification and rating requirements specific for Aerospace Technology (AST) positions which recognizes NASA's unique aerospace work. The specific qualifications and minimum education requirements are further described below and within the education section of the job announcement. To qualify for GS-13, you must have one year of directly related specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 level in the federal sector: Providing technical expertise on spacecraft or launch vehicle systems to identify areas of risk; Performing work involving systems engineering or system safety practices; Using quantitative analysis techniques such as trajectory dynamics, computational fluid dynamics, finite element analysis, reliability block diagrams or fault trees, Bayesian networks, or other methods. Your resume must include a clear and detailed narrative description, in your own words, of how you meet the required specialized experience. Experience statements copied from a position description, vacancy announcement or other reference material constitutes plagiarism and may result in disqualification and losing consideration for the job.

Education

Basic Education Requirement: You must have successfully completed a bachelor's degree with a major in one of the following:
a) Engineering from a college or university that has ABET accredited engineering programs
b) Physical Science, Mathematics, Life Science or other field of Science
c) Computer Science that included 30 semester hours or 45 quarter hours of course work in any combination of mathematics, statistics and computer science with at least half of those hours in mathematics and statistics courses that included differential and integral calculus.

If you did not complete a qualifying bachelor's degree, you may be eligible if you have obtained a graduate degree in an AST qualifying field, as listed above.

Degrees in engineering technology are not considered qualifying for this position.

Engineering degrees earned within the United States: Engineering degrees earned within the United States must be from a college or university that has at least one ABET accredited engineering program. To find out if a school has at least one ABET accredited program, please visit http://www.abet.org.

Engineering degrees earned outside the United States: Engineering degrees earned outside the United States must be recognized by a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA), often known as accords. These are non-governmental agreements among organizations that accredit academic degree programs. MRAs recognize the substantial equivalence of mature accreditation systems and programs accredited by signatory organizations within their jurisdictions. For a listing of Signatories, please visit, https://www.abet.org/global-presence/mutual-recognition-agreements/is-your-program-recognized/.

Science and other related degrees earned within the United States: Science and other related degrees must have been awarded from colleges or universities that are accredited by recognized accrediting organizations. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, go to http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/.

Science and other related degrees earned outside the United States: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs. These education credentials must be deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

All degrees must have been received in the year of, or any year subsequent to the original date of accreditation.

Contacts

• Address Kennedy Space Center Space Commerce Way Titusville, FL 32899 US
• Name: NASA Shared Services Contact Center
• Phone: 1-877-677-2123
• Email: [email protected]