Senior Engineer Technical Lead and Project Manager

Analytical Mechanics Associates•Hampton, VA

4d•Onsite

About The Position

AMA is seeking an experienced Aerospace Engineer to provide support for NASA Langley Research Center on our RSES contract. This position is concerned with development engineering and management using specific professional experience with a combination of approaches, including arc-jet facility testing and execution, computational fluid dynamics and thermal analysis of these facilities and associated test articles, and systems-level management and analysis of hypersonic materials/structures and spacecraft reentry systems, advancing the state of the art and producing new or substantially improved products and processes. Using subject matter expertise as a senior aerospace engineer, technical lead, and project manager, the position includes duties to support NASA Langley’s High-Speed Flight (HSF) project in the Aeronautics Research Directorate and the Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) Portfolio in the Space Technology Exploration Directorate.

Requirements

Sufficient knowledge and experience analyzing catalytic heating behavior of various material systems, including high-temperature alloys and high-temperature refractory composites with various surface/coating technologies.
The ability to obtain a Top Secret clearance.
U.S. Citizenship or Permanent Residence is required.

Nice To Haves

Active TS/SCI clearance
10+ years of experience in arc-jet testing
10+ years of multidisciplinary systems engineering experience in computational fluid dynamics and thermal analysis of high-temperature materials, aeronautical structures, and spacecraft reentry systems
Experience in program/project management

Responsibilities

Associate project management of core functions in HSF and HIAD Portfolio projects.
Serve as a technical liaison for coordinating, facilitating, drafting, reviewing, and project approval of public private partnership contractual actions and agreements for implementation in a timely manner.
Technical point of contact and/or contracting representative for government contracts in materials research, development, and testing and will verify contributions and partnerships align within scope and strategies of each project.
Lead and works alongside contract and civilian aerospace engineers to perform various duties to incorporate new technologies, improve reliability, and extend the life of an aerospace vehicle.
Serve as the HIAD Portfolio and HSF lead thermal engineer, managing thermal engineering support for structures, systems, instrumentation, assembly, integration, and test (AI&T) based on mission requirements, budget, schedule, and risk posture.
Work closely with project management and technical leadership teams to define scope and priorities of activities and personnel associated with all tasks which require support from the thermal team. Generally, this includes tasks associated with development and verification of thermal requirements, thermal design/modeling/analysis, AI&T support, thermal testing, and project-level reviews.
Serve as the primary interface between the thermal team and project management and other project technical leads as well as outside stakeholders such as contractors, partners, and review boards.
Perform multiple functions in planning, research, design, development, test and evaluation, cost analyses, and technical management.
Monitor contracted work either externally or on-site in the facility of the contractor.
Serve as the subject matter expert involving work with theoretical, computational, or experimental studies utilizing various techniques and equipment with arc jet test facilities and support associated with verification of studies and design activities with this specialty to include test planning, computational fluid dynamics and thermal analyses (pre/post-test) and real-time monitoring with the responsibility of assuring appropriate environmental test conditions have been attained.
Conduct research or specialized studies related to and impacting flight vehicles, including uncertainty quantification and evaluation of radiation, convection, and conduction heat transfer within solids and fluids and computational fluid dynamics.
Study the time-dependent radiative, convective, and conductive heating variables affecting temperature distribution, heat transfer, and the study of means of controlling or minimizing the flow of heat or dissipating/absorbing heat through techniques such as radiation, transpiration cooling, mass transfer, chemical reactions, heat sinks, and selective surfaces/finishes/coatings.
Study heat transfer in high-speed flow, mechanical components, propulsion systems, ground test articles (arc-jet and environmental), calibration probes, space structures, spacecraft and spacecraft components, optical systems, and ground systems including ground support equipment and test facilities, etc.