Chief Engineer, Armstrong Flight Research Center

NASA•California, MD 20636, US• Full Time

Posted 5 days ago• Business & Finance• Mechanical

Compensation

$151,661–$217,332/year

Job Description

Summary

The incumbent serves as the Chief Engineer at Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC), providing independent oversight and guidance to the Center's mission focused work. This includes defining operational requirements, researching, developing, performing analysis, integrating, and evaluating aerospace and aeronautical flight systems, vehicles, and payloads as a part of the development of flight systems, programs, and/or projects.

Open & closing dates

03/09/2026 to 03/23/2026

Salary $151,661 to - $217,332 per year Pay scale & grade SL 00

Location

Who Can Apply

The area of consideration for this position is open to current NASA civil service employees on career, career conditional, or NASA term appointments with conversion eligibility. A person is considered to be in the civil service only if occupying a civil service position at the time of application.

Duties

The Chief Engineer, Armstrong Flight Research Center:

Chairs Armstrong Airworthiness and Flight Safety Review Boards to review results of Flight Readiness Reviews and to direct changes to assure management risk acceptance. Recommends flight clearance to the Center Director for first flights or flights after major modifications.
Chairs project Pre-Flight Technical Briefs on behalf of the Center Director to ensure flight projects operate according to Armstrong procedures. Conducts independent engineering reviews to assure safe adherence to flight research engineering principles.
Serves as an expert consultant on the most challenging problems in aerospace engineering, having responsibility for an engineering program of national or international scope and impact. Participates as a presenter in national and international symposia relating to fields of expertise in engineering technology or research.
Assures that sound engineering principles are used in the conduct of experimental flight research programs. Responsible for evaluating risk management parameters of each proposed and ongoing flight research project and directing changes to ensure adherence to center and agency risk level policies.
Leads teams to investigate engineering/operations/project/facility problems, incidents, or conflicts which threaten safety, mission accomplishment or technical validity of experiments.
Assigns study, analysis, and/or test tasks to secure data or evidence of engineering correctness of a design, assembly, or system. Reviews adequacy of inter-divisional project team communications, processes, and training for effective mission accomplishment.
Evaluates flight rate versus productivity in achieving technical objectives to assure proper balance between risk management and technical achievements. Analyzes integrated engineering and flight operations functions to develop new approaches which reduce cost, development or test time, and which increase safety of flight.

Requirements

The individual selected will be required to file an 'Executive Branch Personnel Financial Disclosure Report' (OGE-278e) within 30 days of appointment and annually from then on.
Successful completion of a background investigation commensurate with the risk and sensitivity level of the position.
Successful completion of random drug screening may be required.
Must be able to obtain and maintain a security clearance as required by the position.
Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
Must meet qualifications requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE:
Candidates must be a recognized subject matter expert with at least 1 year of directly related experience equivalent to the GS-15 level in complex aerospace vehicle flight testing and flight research, with in depth technical insight into NASA programs and projects, to evaluate technical decisions and rationale. Experience also includes senior-level leadership capabilities sufficient to lead multi-discipline engineering teams to identify, detect, analyze, and mitigate risks, both technical risks and flight safety risks, associated with the programs and projects.

Your resume must include a clear and detailed narrative description, in your own words, of how you meet the required specialized experience. Experience statements copied from a position description, vacancy announcement, or other reference material constitutes plagiarism and may result in disqualification and losing consideration for the position. NASA strictly prohibits the use of artificial intelligence (AI) or AI-assisted tools to draft application or assessment responses. For more information, please refer to NASA's guidance: https://www.nasa.gov/careers/how-to-apply/#Artificial-Intelligence

To meet the minimum qualification requirements for this position, your resume must also address each of the Senior Level (SL) Evaluation Criteria listed below. Failure to address these criteria will result in your application being rated ineligible. For the full definition of the SL Evaluation Criteria please visit https://www.nasa.gov/careers/executiveleadership/#SL-Evaluation-Criteria. Please include your full name on all documents submitted.

SL EVALUATION CRITERIA:

1. Technical Excellence and Contributions

Experience/Accomplishments
Technical and Strategic Problem Solving
Information Transfer

2. Corporate Cooperation and Technical Leadership Skills

This position has a positive education requirement. To be eligible, you must clearly state in your resume the following: degree, major and/or minor, and college/university. A college or university degree generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools which meet these criteria, please refer to Department of Education Accreditation page.

A bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with major study in engineering, physical science, mathematics, life sciences, computer science, or other field of science.

An official transcript will be required if you are selected.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs. These education credentials must be deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, click here.

Evaluation

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

All qualifications requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement.

Applicants that meet minimum eligibility requirements outlined in the Qualifications and Education (if applicable) sections of the vacancy announcement will be referred to an executive panel for further evaluation. The panel reviews and evaluates the candidate's resume against each SL criterion. Candidates may receive an interview for further evaluation and/or be asked to provide a list of references. The panel will make a recommendation to the appropriate approving authority.

These competencies will be assessed using technical assessments. They may also be evaluated during a structured interview:

Creativity and Innovation
Partnering
Planning and Evaluating
Problem Solving
Teaching Others
Technical Competence
Technical Work and Team Management

Required Documents

A complete application includes items described below. Please note that if you do not provide all required information, as specified in this announcement, you may be removed from consideration for this position (or may not receive the special consideration for which you may be eligible). Human Resources will not modify or change any part of your application.

RESUME: All applicants are required to submit a resume limited to two (2) pages showing all relevant experience (start/end dates stated in month/year, description of duties), applicable education at a minimum, and your contact information. Your 2-page resume should also address the SL Evaluation Criteria. For current or previous Federal employees, it should also include the Pay Plan, Series and Grade for each work experience entry.

Please see this guidance: . Note: if any of the following types of information are included on your resume, your application package may be disqualified:

Classified or government sensitive information.
Social Security Number (SSN)
Photos of yourself
Personal information, such as age, gender, religious affiliation, etc.
Encrypted and digitally signed documents.

If your resume contains any of the above information, you must redact that information prior to the submission of your application.

VACANCY QUESTION/ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONSES: Responses are automatically submitted through USAJOBS when you apply to this vacancy.

You may be asked to provide additional documentation to support your eligibility and the information provided in your application package. For example, we may request transcripts, SF-50s, etc. Therefore, we encourage you to have these documents prepared and ready when requested. If you fail to provide the required documents within the stated time period, we may withdraw a job offer and/or remove you from further consideration.