Project Manager

Mclaurin Aerospace • Houston, TX

3d • Onsite

About The Position

We are seeking a passionate Project Manager to join our JETS II contract team at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. This role is crucial for leading quick-turn design-build-certify-integrate projects supporting Human Landing System (HLS) / Blue Origin vehicle integration milestones. You will be instrumental in shaping and delivering systems that enable space exploration while benefiting people on Earth, working with a diverse and energetic team on exciting challenges for NASA's deep space pursuits.

Requirements

• Minimum of a bachelor's degree in Engineering.
• Normally possess 5-10 years of related experience.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex technical projects involving hardware design, build, test, certification, and delivery.
• Experience managing rapid-turn or schedule-constrained aerospace, defense, flight hardware, test article, ground support equipment, or vehicle integration projects.
• Strong technical literacy across mechanical design, electrical/avionics interfaces, instrumentation, test planning, hardware certification, and integrated system delivery.
• Demonstrated ability to lead multidisciplinary teams through ambiguous early project definition while maintaining execution momentum.
• Experience building and maintaining integrated schedules, risk registers, action trackers, staffing plans, and project status products for technical leadership and customer stakeholders.
• Ability to manage interface-heavy projects involving multiple organizations, evolving requirements, and external customer dependencies.
• Experience coordinating design reviews, test readiness reviews, certification readiness, hardware delivery, and integration planning.
• Ability to identify when a project requires systems engineering discipline, project engineering ownership, formal requirements closure, or additional technical authority engagement.
• Strong communication skills, including the ability to translate technical uncertainty into clear schedule, cost, risk, and decision impacts.
• Demonstrated ability to operate with urgency while preserving sound engineering judgment and disciplined configuration control.
• US Citizenship and the ability to pass a comprehensive security background investigation is required.

Nice To Haves

• NASA, JSC, Artemis, HLS, EVA, spacesuit, vehicle integration, or human spaceflight project experience.
• Experience supporting flight hardware, flight-like test articles, mass simulators, structural test articles, payload integration, or instrumented hardware.
• Experience with loads environments, vibration testing, mass properties, CG/MOI verification, protoqualification or qualification test planning, or minimum certification approaches.
• Experience coordinating vehicle power, C&DH, data acquisition, telemetry, instrumentation, or avionics interface work.
• Experience working with various NASA engineering organizations and/or commercial spaceflight partners.
• Experience managing projects with compressed funding windows, evolving CLIN/task-order structures, or incremental authorization to proceed.
• Experience leading teams where design, procurement, test, certification, and integration activities must overlap due to schedule constraints.
• Experience/familiarity within the EA-WI-023 framework for project execution.

Responsibilities

• Lead the overall planning and execution of quick-turn design-build-certify-integrate projects supporting HLS / Blue Origin vehicle integration milestones.
• Develop and maintain the integrated project plan, including scope, schedule, budget, staffing, procurement, design maturity, test readiness, certification, delivery, and integration milestones.
• Coordinate project execution across mechanical design, drafting, electrical design, avionics/data acquisition, project engineering, systems engineering, test, safety/certification, and customer stakeholders.
• Drive early definition and closure of project fundamentals, including team structure, funding path, interface ownership, technical authority path, certification approach, minimum viable test program, and delivery expectations.
• Establish and manage the project's critical path, with particular focus on design maturity, long-lead procurements, instrumentation/DAQ approach, vehicle power and C&DH interfaces, fabrication lead times, qualification/protoqualification testing, and integration readiness.
• Lead regular project status reviews, risk reviews, action tracking, interface coordination, and decision forums.
• Coordinate with vehicle interface owners, suit-system stakeholders, vehicle integration teams, and internal engineering organizations to ensure project decisions remain aligned with vehicle launch and integration needs.
• Ensure the mass simulator design can accommodate evolving suit mass properties, including center of gravity, moment of inertia, ballast strategy, and fidelity trade decisions.
• Manage technical, schedule, cost, and interface risks associated with changing suit design data, uncertain load environments, evolving mass-property targets, and late-breaking certification or integration requirements.
• Support definition of the appropriate test and certification approach, including functional testing, design review, mass-properties verification, vibration testing, data acquisition verification, and environmental test rationale.
• Ensure project documentation, design artifacts, certification products, interface agreements, risk posture, and delivery records are maintained at a level appropriate for flight integration hardware.
• Escalate issues early when technical uncertainty, resource gaps, funding delays, or external interface dependencies threaten the project's ability to meet delivery and integration commitments.

Benefits

• Competitive pay
• Positive work-life balance
• 100% Employer paid insurance including: Medical, dental, vision, life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, short-term disability, and long-term disability
• 11 paid holidays annually
• Generous PTO
• 401k after 12 months of service with employer match
• Education assistance
• Relocation assistance (if applicable)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level