Engineering Configuration Manager

Penn State University•University Park, IL

4d•$75,408 - $152,004•Onsite

About The Position

Penn State’s Applied Research Laboratory (ARL) is seeking a self-motivated Engineering Configuration Manager for the Project Management and Controls Department within its Undersea Systems Office (USO). USO designs, develops, validates, and maintains large-scale undersea warfare models and simulations used by technology developers, analysts, the Navy, and its allies. The office conducts research in undersea weapons, unmanned undersea vehicles, and advanced sonars. The role manages and maintains hardware and software configuration items and related engineering documentation, supports product development and manufacturing handover and takeover, and helps guide product life-cycle activities. The work location is fully onsite in State College, Pennsylvania. The position works with internal and external stakeholders, provides technical leadership on configuration management issues, and supports orderly management of engineering changes. It also supports engineering departments adopting new technologies, environments, and processes, and works with ARL IT to maintain configuration tools, licenses, automation, and access controls. The manager helps select appropriate technologies, define processes and standards, and maintain documentation for the Undersea Systems Office. For the higher-level position, responsibilities additionally include overseeing complete Technical Data Packages; ensuring configuration documentation meets sponsor, federal, cybersecurity, and laboratory requirements; using or recommending configuration management tools; conducting configuration audits; publishing status and compliance reports; and supporting engineering change control, repositories, documentation reviews, and configuration management guidance. The role may supervise staff, including hiring, development, and performance management. ARL supports the Navy, the Intelligence Community, and other federal government customers. Applicants must be U.S. citizens and eligible to obtain a government security clearance. Employment requires background checks, participation in ARL’s drug testing program, and compliance with monitoring requirements applicable to federal contractors. The position may require a government background investigation to upgrade clearance eligibility, if required.

Requirements

Engineering Configuration Management experience or skills.
Experience with Siemens TeamCenter.
Experience with Confluence.
Experience with Jira.
For the Senior Professional level: bachelor’s degree and 6 or more years of relevant experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
For the Advanced Professional level: bachelor’s degree and 3 or more years of relevant experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Must be a U.S. citizen.
Must be eligible to obtain a government security clearance.
May be subject to a government background investigation to upgrade clearance eligibility, if required.
Must complete required University background checks and comply with ARL drug testing and applicable electronic and physical monitoring requirements.

Nice To Haves

Change Management.
Document Management.
Process Development.
Past experience working within a Software, Electrical, or Mechanical Engineering environment.
Bachelor’s degree, preferably in a technical discipline.
Three or more years of experience working in a Research & Development environment.
Current eligibility for access to classified information at the Secret level or higher.

Responsibilities

Work with internal and external stakeholders and participate in customer meetings.
Provide technical leadership to resolve configuration management issues throughout product and project life cycles.
Evaluate and facilitate orderly management of technical and engineering changes to hardware, software, and technical data.
Develop and provide training, advice, and guidance on integrating new technologies, environments, and processes into engineering departments.
Work with ARL IT personnel to maintain and configure tools on servers and clients, manage licenses, establish automation where possible, and manage access controls.
Assist in selecting and evaluating technology to support program development, defining processes and standards, and maintaining documentation for the Undersea Systems Office.
For the higher-level position, facilitate creation, maintenance, and delivery of complete Technical Data Packages, including accurate and controlled design documentation, specifications, drawings, software artifacts, and supporting records.
Ensure configuration documentation aligns with sponsor requirements, applicable federal standards, cybersecurity requirements, and laboratory policies, including CUI handling where applicable.
Use or recommend configuration management tools and systems for configuration identification, change control, status accounting, and audit reporting.
Conduct functional and physical configuration audits and reviews to verify configurations, deliverables, and documentation against approved baselines and contractual requirements.
Develop, maintain, and publish configuration status accounting reports, audit findings, and compliance documentation for internal stakeholders and sponsor reporting.
Collaborate with engineers and project teams to define, track, and update configuration items throughout development, integration, and delivery.
Review engineering, software, and system documentation for configuration consistency, completeness, and compliance with CM standards and program requirements.
Support development and enforcement of engineering change control processes, including evaluation, approval, implementation, and verification of changes to system baselines.
Maintain configuration management documentation repositories, controlled access, version integrity, and archival in accordance with audit and retention requirements.
Provide configuration management guidance and subject matter expertise to support project execution and delivery.
May supervise staff, including hiring, development, and performance management.