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Facilities and Instrumentation Department Head

Penn State University
Penn State University Park, United States, United Statesfull_timeVerifiedPosted 7 Oct 2025
💰 $219,600/yr($109,300/yr$219,600/yr)

About the role

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:

Approval of remote and hybrid work is not guaranteed regardless of work location. For additional information on remote work at Penn State, see Notice to Out of State Applicants.

 

 

POSITION SPECIFICS

We are searching for an experienced fluids and acoustics researcher to lead the Facilities and Instrumentation Department in the Fluid Dynamics and Acoustics Office (FDAO) at The Applied Research Laboratory (ARL) at Penn State.  Facilities Support maintains all Garfield Thomas Water Tunnel (GTWT) testing facilities and testing assets, while Instrumentation Support maintains and develops electronic and data acquisition assets and sensor applications for all GTWT facilities and test articles.  This position may be filled as either a Research and Development Engineer or a non-tenure Research Faculty.

ARL is an authorized DoD SkillBridge partner and welcomes all transitioning military members to apply.

You will:

  • Oversee the maintenance and operations of FDAO research testing facilities, including water tunnels, rotor balancing facility, instrumentation and calibration devices, flow-through anechoic chamber, pump loop, and reverberation tank; assist with planning and budgeting for facility needs and department funds including data acquisition equipment, facility upgrades, and maintenance
  • Manage aspects of mechanical/electrical design, fabrication, inspection, testing; Provide guidance and collaborate with engineers and technicians throughout the experimental evaluation process, including delivery of prototype mechanical systems to be tested in ARL facilities or in field testing programs
  • Collaborate with Principal Investigators (PI), test engineers, and sponsors to coordinate and conceptualize solutions for experimental evaluations data acquisition plans, data resources, programming, and test implementation
  • Lead conversations with vendors regarding fabrication costs and schedules to facilitate the manufacture of hardware and equipment for facility-related maintenance and improvements
  • Interact and collaborate regularly with program management, program sponsors, and stakeholders; Provide project updates to sponsors
  • Recruit, define performance expectations and goals, provide mentorship, and regularly evaluate and offer constructive feedback through conversation and performance reviews in order to support professional growth and effectively retain department staff
  • Perform as a Principal Investigator (PI) on sponsored projects
  • Lead and provide engineering support

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Company

Penn State University

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