2027 Risk and Reliability Graduate Intern

The Aerospace Corporation•El Segundo, CA

9d•Onsite

About The Position

The Aerospace Corporation’s Systems Engineering Division provides systems engineering expertise across the space-system lifecycle. The Acquisition Risk and Reliability Engineering Department (ARRED) supports risk management, reliability engineering, and system safety for national security and civil space programs. The Graduate Intern Risk and Reliability Engineer will work with government customers and technical specialists to help develop reliable space-based systems, identify and mitigate hazards throughout the system lifecycle in line with MIL-STD-882E principles, and support risk-informed decisions through risk processes and assessments. The position supports Department of Defense, intelligence community, NASA, and other government customers in planning and executing risk and reliability activities. It provides risk, reliability, and system-safety guidance and analysis for space and ground systems, and develops assessments that give senior decision-makers insight in a fast-paced environment. The intern will also contribute to the department’s risk and reliability capabilities and approaches for evolving space architectures and customer needs. The selected candidate must work full time on-site at the facility in El Segundo, California, or Chantilly, Virginia, and be available for occasional travel to a work location or customer site, approximately 10% of the time. The internship requires a minimum of 10 weeks outside the university term, followed by a return to a full-time graduate degree program.

Requirements

Be currently enrolled full time in a graduate degree program in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, reliability engineering, systems engineering, or a similar field at a recognized institution.
Complete a bachelor’s degree in a relevant engineering major before the internship begins and enter a graduate program.
Be available to work full time for at least 10 weeks outside the university term and return to a full-time master’s or Ph.D. program after the internship.
Understand statistics and their application to evaluating failures and anomalies.
Have strong communication skills to convey insights and recommendations effectively.
Demonstrate the ability to work both independently and as a team member.
Be willing to travel occasionally to a work location or customer site, approximately 10% of the time.
Be eligible to obtain a U.S. government security clearance; U.S. citizenship is required to obtain a clearance.

Nice To Haves

Experience working with the U.S. Space Force, NASA, NRO, FAA, or other government agencies involved in the Space Enterprise.
Experience contributing effectively to or leading technical teams, tracking project progress, proposing and implementing project schedules, budgets, and resources, and communicating project needs.
Familiarity with applying system-safety engineering and management principles and techniques to achieve acceptable mishap risk within lifecycle time, cost, and mission-effectiveness constraints.
Familiarity with reliability analysis, including software reliability, reliability testing, reliability modeling and prediction, failure analysis, root-cause analysis, FMEA, FTA, PRA, and FRACAS.
Familiarity with system-safety-based engineering approaches such as STAMP, STPA, and CAST.
Familiarity with DoD standards and guidance on risk, reliability, and system safety, such as MIL-STD-882E, MIL-HDBK-217F, MIL-STD-1629, and the NASA System Safety Handbook.

Responsibilities

Help government customers plan and execute risk and reliability activities.
Provide risk, reliability, and system-safety guidance and analysis for national security space and ground systems.
Work with program-office customers to perform assessments that provide insights to senior decision-makers.
Engage with subject-matter experts to deliver assessments for senior program managers.
Help shape risk and reliability capabilities and develop approaches for new space architectures as industry and customer needs evolve.
Identify and mitigate hazards throughout the system lifecycle in accordance with MIL-STD-882E principles.

Benefits

Comprehensive health care and wellness plans.
Paid holidays, sick time, and vacation.
Standard and alternate work schedules, including telework options.
401(k) plan with company-paid contributions based on years of service and matching contributions; employees are immediately eligible and vested upon hire.
Flexible spending accounts.
Variable pay program for exceptional contributions.
Relocation assistance.
Professional growth and development programs.
Education assistance programs.
Inclusive work environment built on teamwork, flexibility, and respect.