Section Manager, Mechanical Design for Space Exploration Applications

Amentum•Houston, TX

3d•Onsite

About The Position

Amentum is seeking a passionate and innovative Mechanical Design Section Manager to join their team supporting NASA's human space exploration programs. This role involves managing a team of approximately 40 individuals responsible for various aspects of Mechanical System Development for NASA's deep space exploration initiatives, including the International Space Station (ISS), Orion spacecraft, and Gateway. The position is based at Johnson Space Center (JSC) and contributes to critical systems, advanced development, and the curation of astromaterials. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in mechanical design, project management, and personnel management, with a commitment to quality, safety, and innovation.

Requirements

Minimum of a bachelor's degree in Engineering.
Related masters degree may be expected.
Normally possess 10-15 years of related experience.
Experience with ASME Y14.5 Dimensioning and Tolerancing Standards.
Experience with ASME Y14.100 Engineering Drawing Practices Standards.
Experience with tolerance stackup analysis.
Familiarity with mechanisms design.
Familiarity with electronics packaging and cabling.
Previous project management experience required.
Must be able to perform management duties associated with approximately 40 people.
Familiarity with NASA Work Instruction EA-023, JSC Policy Directive 7120 (Class 1E), along with flight hardware certification and other flight hardware processes.
Excellent oral and written communication and organizational skills with the ability to work in a team environment and a history of effectively interacting with senior managers at all levels.
Experience planning and establishing work priorities.
Proficient in MS Office programs, particularly MS Project, Excel, PowerPoint, Word and Outlook.
Must be a U.S. Citizen and successfully complete a U.S. government background investigation.

Nice To Haves

Minimum of 5 years’ experience with NASA/JSC Mechanical flight intravehicular and extravehicular hardware development processes.
BS degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering.
Prior experience using solid modeling CAD software including PTC CREO or Pro Engineering.
Familiarization with JSC Engineering Drawing System Manual (JPR 8500).
Familiarization with JSC Fabrication Tolerances and Practices (SKZ36103755).
Familiarity with mechanical design for EMI/EMC and electrical bonding methods.
Familiarity with mechanical design for fluid and pressure systems.
Familiarity with Finite Element Analysis (FEA) programs.
Prior experience with CREO simulation tools.
Understanding of surface finishes and material selection.
Exposure to Pro/CABLING.
Prior experience designing.

Responsibilities

Direct management of approximately 40 people involved in various aspects of Mechanical System Development.
Ensure employees follow established procedures and generate finished work products under time and budgetary constraints.
Ensure products yield the expected outcome and established quality levels.
Ensure Project Managers have adequate Mechanical design personnel to accomplish associated tasks.
Conduct meetings with Project Managers to provide status and obtain feedback.
Perform routine mechanical design reviews for cost, schedule, risk management, and deliverable adherence.
Conduct oversight, mentorship and guidance to individual mechanical design task leads.
Work with mechanical design task leads to track and maintain efficient task performance.
Maintain an active list of lessons learned to actively inform section members.
Conduct failure investigations on mechanical systems as required.
Maintain active related risk management (technical, cost, and schedule) on all associated mechanical tasks.
Communicate design status to senior management.
Conduct periodic section meetings to review personnel work safety.
Conduct periodic face to face meetings with employees to obtain status, ensure efficiency and provide solutions where needed.
Review and approve employee time cards, overtime requests and travel.
Review resource requests and conduct interviews to identify and attain necessary personnel.
Document and perform personnel performance evaluation reviews.
Generate award nominations for associated personnel.
Establish and monitor personnel training plan.
Work with colleagues to coordinate issue resolution across multiple JETS organizations.
Establish a framework and oversight for technical correctness on all work performed by section.
Understand and be capable of generating comprehensive design concepts based on a given set of requirements.
Provide rough orders of magnitude (ROM's) and basis of estimates (BOE's) for project and tasks.
Review, develop or update Mechanical Design and Development processes as required.
Perform other duties as required.