Space Mission Concepts Engineer

Job Description

Analytical Mechanics Associates (AMA) is seeking to add an energetic and dynamic Space Mission Concepts Engineer to our Research, Science and Engineering Services (RSES) technical support team. This individual will bring multi-disciplinary analysis experience to research activities at the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) within the AMA Space Concepts group. The technical support role requires the ability to configure relevant analysis models from various analytic, computational, parametric, and multi-disciplinary tools. The selected candidate will extract insights from those results to substantiate independent assessments of space vehicle systems, mission architectures, and concepts of operations. 

The candidate’s writing skills must allow for capable editorial review and authorship, documentation of the research findings will in some cases take the form of technical publications. Other deliverables will require creating professional and refined slide packages and interactive dashboards for presentation to audiences of high-level NASA decision makers who influence the future direction of human and scientific space exploration at NASA. Part of this role requires the ability to offer technical leadership and mentorship within the AMA group and blended AMA-NASA technical teams. 

An ideal candidate will have a strong background in systems modelling within the human spaceflight and science exploration contexts, experience developing analysis tools and the use of tools in mission, campaign, and portfolio analysis. The ideal candidate will have excellent communication skills combined with an entrepreneurial and ambitious energy. 

Overall responsibilities include: 

• Perform space systems modeling and analysis of science and human exploration portfolios for NASA.
• Select and apply tools and methods to characterize, assess, and optimize strategies defined within these portfolios.
• Aid in the design, development, and maintenance of tools and methods for continuance of future assessments of exploration portfolios.
• Produce/maintain documentation and report on development, management needs and observations, and configuration control of tools and analysis produced.
• Embrace and enhance knowledge management and innovation within a diverse team of colleagues and external customers. 

 
Education and Qualifications:

• B.S. or M.S. in engineering or equivalent.
• Minimum of 5 years of engineering and concept development experience.
• Experience in aerospace engineering that imparts a level of expertise sufficient for creating, modifying, and executing multi-disciplinary design and analysis models.
• Proficient use of programming tools such as MATLAB, Python.
• Excellent written and oral technical communication skills.
• Demonstrated experience mentoring, teaching, leading small teams.
• Demonstrated leadership roles within projects or teams.
• Ability to address technical and personnel concerns, together with AMA managers.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a hybrid work environment.  Must work locally onsite at NASA LaRC with the LaRC/HQ team.  Periodic travel needed to support integration activities. 

Desired Qualifications:

• Familiarity with NASA space and human exploration portfolios.
  
• Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) experience.
• Multidisciplinary Design Analysis and Optimization (MDAO) experience. 

 
Must be a US Citizen or Permanent Resident.

Analytical Mechanics Associates (AMA) is proud of our customer relationships, our diverse and dynamic work environment, and our employees' career satisfaction. AMA is a small business with a wide reach; headquartered in Hampton, VA, AMA has operations in Greenbelt, MD; Huntsville, AL; Dallas and Houston, TX; Denver, CO; Mountain View, CA; and Edwards Air Force Base, CA. With over 60 years of experience, AMA specializes in aerospace engineering, science, analytics, information technology, and visualization solutions. AMA combines the best of engineering, science, and mathematics capabilities with the latest in information technologies, visualization, and multimedia to build creative solutions. We offer competitive salaries and a substantial benefits package, including but not limited to paid personal and federally recognized holiday leave, salary deferrals into a 401(k)-matching plan with immediate vesting, tuition reimbursement, short/long term disability plans, and a variety of medical, dental, and vision insurance options. 

AMA is committed to the professional growth of every employee, understanding that the successes of our employees drive our success. We provide a work environment that is engag