Payload Safety Engineer (BT-26083)

Bastion Technologies

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Payload Safety Engineer will support the NASA Space Launch System Program Payload Safety Review Panel located at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL. The SLS Program Payload Safety Review Panel is the NASA independent safety authority responsible for certifying safety of flight for payloads destined to fly on the Space Launch System. This position will provide senior-level payload safety engineering expertise, independent technical assessment, and safety process guidance in support of payload design, development, test, verification, integration, and flight readiness certification.

Requirements

This position requires U.S. Citizenship due to the sensitivity of customer related information.
Must have a bachelor's degree in engineering, physical science, aerospace systems, safety engineering, systems engineering, or a closely related technical discipline.
Must have 7 + years of recent and related technical experience in system safety engineering, payload safety, flight safety, launch vehicle safety, spacecraft safety, mission assurance, or related aerospace safety discipline.
Must have demonstrated experience performing or assessing hazard analyses, hazard reports, safety data packages, safety controls, verification plans, verification closure evidence, and safety certification products for complex aerospace systems.
Must have working knowledge of NASA safety and mission assurance processes, safety review panels, risk acceptance processes, design review milestones, flight readiness certification, and system safety engineering principles.
Must be capable of interpreting and applying technical safety requirements, design criteria, and process compliance expectations to payload design, integration, test, ground processing, and flight operations.
Must have the ability to develop technically sound safety positions, identify compliance gaps, recommend practical corrective actions, and clearly communicate risk-informed conclusions to NASA customers and program stakeholders.
Must have experience coordinating across engineering, safety, programmatic, and customer organizations to resolve technical safety issues and support formal review board or panel decisions.
Must have strong technical writing skills and the ability to produce clear, concise, and defensible review comments, action dispositions, safety assessments, meeting inputs, and certification recommendations.
Must have experience with Microsoft Office Suite, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and TEAMS.
All of Bastion's employees must be team players with strong work ethics and must be culture oriented.
Able to communicate effectively, verbally and in written form, with internal and external customers.
Able to follow company programs, processes, procedures, practices, requirements, goals, and objectives.
Must be organized with good time management skills and must be able to work outside normal schedule and adjust schedule to meet peak periods and surge requirements.

Nice To Haves

Experience directly supporting NASA payload safety, ISS safety, SLS safety, Orion safety, Exploration Ground Systems, Range Safety, launch vehicle integration, or human spaceflight safety certification activities.
Experience supporting a NASA safety review panel, payload safety review panel, program safety review board, readiness review, or independent technical authority function.
Familiarity with SLS Program requirements, payload integration processes, launch vehicle-to-payload interfaces, hazardous payload commodities, integrated test operations, ground processing, and flight certification products.
Experience with hazard causes and controls associated with pressure systems, propulsion systems, batteries, pyrotechnics, ordnance, hazardous materials, structural/mechanical hazards, electrical hazards, software-controlled hazards, inhibits, fault tolerance, and hazardous operations.
Advanced degree, professional certification, or specialized training in system safety, aerospace engineering, reliability, risk management, human spaceflight safety, or mission assurance.

Responsibilities

Review, evaluate, and provide independent technical assessment of payload hazard analyses, hazard reports, safety data packages, verification evidence, design compliance products, and related safety certification documentation.
Provide expert guidance to payload projects, engineering teams, and safety stakeholders regarding NASA payload safety requirements, hazard control strategies, verification approaches, safety risk acceptance, and compliance expectations.
Support development, implementation, interpretation, and application of payload safety technical design criteria, safety process requirements, and safety review panel procedures.
Evaluate payload designs, interfaces, operations, test configurations, ground processing activities, and flight integration products to identify hazards, assess safety controls, and determine adequacy of verification evidence.
Support SLS PSRP meetings, technical interchange meetings, working groups, design reviews, readiness reviews, and safety certification reviews by providing clear technical positions, recommendations, action tracking, and closure rationale.
Assess payload compliance with applicable NASA, SLS Program, Range Safety, ground processing, flight safety, and mission assurance requirements, including unique hazards associated with integrated payload and launch vehicle operations.
Coordinate with NASA customers, payload developers, program/project representatives, discipline leads, and other safety authorities to resolve safety issues, clarify requirements, and support timely certification decisions.
Provide mentoring, technical leadership, and quality review of system safety and payload safety engineering products prepared by less experienced engineers.
Support continuous improvement of payload safety review processes, lessons learned, technical checklists, review criteria, and standard work products used by the SLS PSRP.
Other duties as assigned.