Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Deputy Project Lead Engineer

The Aerospace Corporation is the trusted partner to the nation’s space programs, solving the hardest problems and providing unmatched technical expertise. As the operator of a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC), we are broadly engaged across all aspects of space— delivering innovative solutions that span satellite, launch, ground, and cyber systems for defense, civil and commercial customers. When you join our team, you’ll be part of a special collection of problem solvers, thought leaders, and innovators. Join us and take your place in space.

At Aerospace, we are committed to providing an inclusive and diverse workplace for all employees to share in our common passion and aspiration – to carry out a mission much bigger than ourselves.

Building on The Aerospace Corporation's reputation as a trusted, impartial advisor with integrity and dedication to mission success, the Civil Systems Group (CSG) combines deep technical expertise with market-leading innovation to help our customers solve complex systems engineering and integration challenges. CSG is organized by core customer-facing lines of business to manage and grow programs within NASA, NOAA, and the NNSA, while extending our capabilities to other civilian federal government agencies fully integrated within Aerospace rules, regulations, processes, values, and behaviors.

JSC is home to America’s astronauts and primary location for human space flight.  Aerospace’s Human Exploration and Space Flight (HESF) Division has a primary role in supporting NASA’s Extravehicular Activity (EVA) missions for the International Space Station (ISS) and future missions to the moon and Mars. This position provides direct support to the NASA EVA Project Lead Engineer in the EVA and Human Mobility Program’s (EHP) Chief Engineer Office.

This is a full-time position located at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. This role is hybrid requiring 3-4 days on site, 1-2 days telework

What You’ll Be Doing

• Support all programs (i.e., EHP, International Space Station, Gateway, Human Landing System) as deputy engineering technical authority for EVA in conjunction with NASA EVA Project Lead Engineer.
• Ensure good communication with all program chief engineers and project lead engineers.
• Balance meeting support with the NASA EVA Project Lead Engineer to ensure represented at priority meetings.
• Serve as a board member at all EVA hardware review boards (requirements, preliminary design, and critical design) and the EVA Development Control Board (CB).
• Support all EVA hardware safety reviews and function as board member when needed.
• Elevate risks and guide dissenting opinions to programs.
• Aid in communication across JSC Engineering organizations to help projects find needed answers.
• Integrate, through Program Offices overall technical, engineering, and contractor implementation of anomalies and failure analysis and corrective action identification, design modifications, test requirements and operational procedural changes to ensure flight readiness of all EVA systems.
• Remain cognizant of activities within all EA EVA organizations, EVA dedicated facilities and associated task plans, and all other JSC Engineering organizations that own EVA-related hardware.

This position is available as a Project Engineer or Project Leader

What You Need to be Successful

Minimum Requirements: 

Project Engineer

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited program in applicable STEM areas
• 8 years of NASA/spaceflight experience, including 3-5 years of experience as a project lead, project manager, or other equivalent technical role
• Ability to work within a team environment, where the team is distributed across multiple NASA Organizations, Projects, and Programs
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to identify and communicate concerns to leadership in a diplomatic manner
• Willing to travel domestically approx. 10%

Project Leader

Same requirements as a Project Engineer noted above, in addition to: 

• Experience leading or organizing technical efforts or project teams

How You Can Stand Out

It would be impressive if you have one or more of these: 

Project Engineer or Project Leader

• Advanced degree from an accredited program in applicable STEM areas
• More than 8 years of NASA/spaceflight experience, including 3-5 years of experience as a project lead, project manager, or other equivalent technical role
• Proactive ability to learn on the job

Leadership Competencies

Our leadership philosophy is simple: every employee, regardless of level and role, can demonstrate leadership. At Aerospace, our commitm