Principal Engineer

The Aerospace Corporation is the trusted partner to the nation’s space programs, solving the hardest problems and providing unmatched technical expertise. As the operator of a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC), we are broadly engaged across all aspects of space— delivering innovative solutions that span satellite, launch, ground, and cyber systems for defense, civil and commercial customers. When you join our team, you’ll be part of a special collection of problem solvers, thought leaders, and innovators. Join us and take your place in space.

Building on The Aerospace Corporation's reputation as a trusted, impartial advisor with integrity and dedication to mission success, the Civil Systems Group (CSG) combines deep technical expertise with market-leading innovation to help our customers solve complex systems engineering and integration challenges. CSG is organized by core customer-facing lines of business to manage and grow programs within NASA, NOAA, and the NNSA, while extending our capabilities to other civilian federal government agencies fully integrated within Aerospace rules, regulations, processes, values, and behaviors.

The Human Spaceflight Development & Operations (HSD&O) division seeks a Principal Engineer- (Technical Project Management) dedicated to working across organizational boundaries to provide solutions at the intersection of human spaceflight needs and advanced technology identification/research and development with the goal of maturing human in the loop capabilities supporting Aerospace’s customers’ missions. As a Principal Engineer (PE), you will provide technical leadership for HSD&O in system development matters focused on capabilities critical to sustain human life on long duration missions. You will work collaboratively with NASA senior managers and staff, other civil agencies, university partners, commercial customers, as well as our Aerospace engineering and program development staff to advance Aerospace Corporation’s human spaceflight capabilities and expanding our growing human spaceflight portfolio. The PE will be responsible for developing strategies responsive to customer needs, develop and cultivate customer relationships and coordinate with Aerospace’s Engineering and Technology Group (ETG) to provide specialized analyses.  The primary objective of this position is to influence the direction of the NASA customer in areas of research and development, prototyping, and technology development while also aligning Aerospace technology, modeling, and simulation capabilities with customer priorities.      

Work Model

This is a full-time position based in El Segundo, CA, offering a hybrid work model that combines 4 regular onsite workdays and remote flexibility as the business needs allow. 

What You’ll Be Doing

• Provide technical leadership across NASA Technology and Chief Technologist offices, with the goal of establishing contractual relationships for Aerospace ETG analyses and support.
• Serve as technical advisor to senior NASA Senior Executive Service leaders and other Texas key government / university partners, including direct interaction and support of NASA Mission Directorate Associate Administrators.
• Lead the HE&SF IR&D portfolio and partnership development to develop and maintain a healthy pipeline of technology initiatives that will aid HE&SF, NASA, and Texas government / university partners.
• Provide technical leadership to subject matter experts and engineering support across interdisciplinary and geographically distributed teams to the NASA EVA and Human Surface Mobility Program (EHP) System Engineering & Integration departments.
• Lead strategic planning and establishing external strategic relationships with potential partners, customers, and collaborators associated with a defined NASA programmatic theme or area of emphasis across the various NASA centers.
• Lead and evaluate processes, techniques, and performance; design and implement more effective and efficient processes.
• Work with the NASA customer, partner organizations, and Aerospace technical experts in formulating overall strategy, defining requirements, and evaluating capabilities, in developing and broadening Aerospace’s reach into the human space flight arena.
• Apply Aerospace technical leadership expertise in structuring support objectives, plans (scope, cost, schedule, resource) for on-going support efforts and strategic studies.

What You Need to be Successful - Principal Engineer- Technical Project Management

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field or equivalent
• 15 years or more of relevant engineering/scientific experience, including multi-disciplinary systems engineering and program management.
• Knowledge of NASA missions, technologies, development lifecycle, development requirements, and guidelines.
• Experience in space systems engineering, risk assessment, modeling and analysis, and leading and executing technical programmatic and architecture-level studies, such as Analysis of Alterative studies.
• Experience in technology related disciplines and roadmap development.
• Proven ability to collaborate with multiple government stakeholders with vastly different interests and be able to find collaborative solutions that will be adopted.
• Demonstrated task management, execution, analysis and product development capabilities, as evidenced through examples of recent integrated products.
• Demonstrated experience recognizing and defining the customer’s broad scope space problems.
• Experience building and leading engineering teams to solve customer problems.
• Strong, communication and interpersonal skills, as evidenced through recent interaction and presentations to customers.
• Experience interacting with GS-15/SES level customer counterparts
• Ability to travel up 10% to other customer and Aerospace locations.
• This position may require the ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance, which is issued by the U.S. government. U.S. citizenship is required to obtain a security clearance.

How You Can Stand Out

It would be impressive if you have one or more of these:

• Advanced degree in engineering or science
• Direct experience with managing R&D initiatives with laboratory experience.
• Deep familiarity with ETG capabilities and the ETG matrix, forward deploy model, as well as laboratory and independent research capabilities.
• Experience working across the space enterprise in developing space partnerships.

We offer a competitive compensation package where you’ll be rewarded based on your performance and recognized for the value you bring to our business.  The grade-based pay range for this job is listed below.  Individual salaries within that range are determined through a wide variety of factors including but not limited to education, experience, knowledge and skills. 

(Min - Max)

$185,200 - $277,800

Pay Basis: Annual

Leadership Competencies

Our leadership philosophy is simple: every employee, regardless of level and role, can demonstrate leadership. At Aerospace, our commitment is our people. To cultivate our talent and ensure that we have a strong pipeline of future leaders, we want individuals who:

• Operate Strategically
• Lead Change   
• Engage with Impact   
• Foster Innovation   
• Deliver Results  

Ways We Reward Our Employees

During your interview process, our team will provide details of our industry-leading benefits.

Benefits vary and are applicable based on Job Type.  A few highlights include:

• Comprehensive health care and wellness plans

• Paid holidays, sick time, and vacation

• Standard and alternate work schedules, including telework options

• 401(k) Plan — Employees receive a total company-paid benefit of 8%, 10%, or 12% of eligible compensation based on years of service and matching contributions; employees are immediately eligible and vested in the plan upon hire

• Flexible spending accounts

• Variable pay program for exceptional contributions

• Relocation assistance

• Professional growth and development programs to help advance your career

• Education assistance programs

• An inclusive work environment built on teamwork, flexibility, and respect

We are all unique, from various backgrounds and all walks of life, yet one thing bonds all of us to each other—the belief that we can make a difference. This core belief empowers us to do our best work at The Aerospace Corporation.

Equal Opportunity Commitment

The Aerospace Corporation is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, color, religion, genetic information, marital status, ancestry, national origin, protected veteran status, physical disability, medical condition, mental disability, or disability status and any other characteristic protected by state or federal law. If you’re an individual with a disability or a disabled veteran who needs assistance using our online job search and application tools or need reasonable accommodation to complete the job application process, please contact us by phone at 310.336.5432 or by email at peoplemangmnt.mailbox@aero.org . You can also review Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal, as well as the Pay Transparency Policy Statement.