Senior Mechanical Engineer (Sounding Rocket Program)

Peraton•Wallops Island, VA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

Peraton is seeking a Mechanical Engineer with a focus on pneumatics to work in the Guidance, Navigation, & Control (GNC) section at Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, VA. This position supports NASA’s Sounding Rocket Operations Contract (NSROC) at the Wallops Flight Facility, which supports approximately 18 sounding rocket missions per year for a range of scientific and government experiments. Missions are flown from various launch sites globally. The role involves being the S-19 Boost Guidance engineer for sounding rocket missions, supporting system development throughout the entire mission life cycle, including launches at remote sites. Travel is required, typically for 4 to 6 weeks at remote launch sites. The position requires local residency to support efforts on base. You will work on multiple projects concurrently, requiring the ability to work both individually and in a team environment. The role demands understanding and applying a broad range of technical disciplines germane to GNC problems, including pneumatic design and analysis, certification requirements, maintenance, basic power systems, mechanical systems, and cold gas pneumatics. You will apply fluid dynamic and stress analysis to the pneumatic systems of sounding rocket payloads, troubleshoot and maintain existing custom pneumatic system designs for flight and GSE parts and assemblies, and develop new parts and systems. You will also support and guide the development of new vendor-designed pneumatic parts, perform testing on vendor parts, and collaborate with vendors on design issues. Effective communication of pneumatic concepts to the program and customer in written, oral, and presentation formats is essential, as you will be working with high-pressure pneumatics systems. Additionally, you will support the group's manufacturing function, including ordering raw materials, fabrication, component testing, and planning build efforts.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree (BA/BS) in Mechanical Engineering; other Engineering or relevant technical degree with related electrical experience
8+ years engineering experience
Ability to understand and apply basic kinematics and dynamics
Pneumatic design and high-pressure safety protocols
MATLAB experience
MS Office experience

Nice To Haves

MS or higher in related discipline (may reduce experience requirement)
10 or more years relevant experience
Demonstrated control system capability
Real-time system development
GNC related experience

Responsibilities

Perform analyses of new and existing pneumatic support hardware
Applies comprehensive knowledge of engineering concepts, procedures and practices to GNC problems
Participate in technical design/modification negotiations with customers
Present system designs and analyses to customers and a variety of technical disciplines
Performs system integration and testing of in-house and subcontractor-supplied ACS and BGS systems
Analyze post-flight data and redesign or modify equipment to improve performance
Perform integration tests to validate assemblies
Contribute to the development of new engineering products or specialty products and develop engineering specifications for applicable projects
Design, development, manufacturing, refurbishment and evaluation of hardware relevant to ACS Sensors and Pneumatic Attitude Control Systems
Support the design of hardware and support equipment
Coordinate the efforts of multiple engineers, technicians, and fabrication areas
Test control systems which include high-pressure hardware and electro-mechanical components relevant to the control payload attitude