Electrical Engineer, AST, Electrical Systems

NASA•California, MD 20636, US• Full Time

Posted 1 week ago• Electrical• Mechanical

Compensation

$124,085–$161,313/year

Job Description

Summary

As an Electrical Engineer, you will perform professional engineering work involving the design, analysis, testing, and compliance assessment of Flight Termination Systems (FTS) in support of NASA's research, test, and development activities. You will be responsible for developing, evaluating, and/or establishing technical requirements for the application and integration of low voltage, electro-mechanical systems into aerospace vehicles (primarily on unmanned aircraft systems).

Open & closing dates

02/20/2026 to 02/26/2026

Salary $124,085 to - $161,313 per year Pay scale & grade GS 13

Location

Who Can Apply

Current NASA federal employees serving on a career, career-conditional, VRA, Schedule A for individuals with disabilities, or NASA term appointment that provides eligibility to convert to a permanent appointment.

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Duties

Lead engineering efforts to determine and tailor applicable Flight Termination System (FTS) design and testing requirements for flight projects.
Ensure compliance with tailored FTS design and testing requirements, including developing and processing FTS waivers.
Provide flight projects with guidance on FTS design and testing requirements compliance, including associated components and/or assemblies. Assist in the development, integration, and operation of the flight vehicle's FTS to ensure compliance.
Ensure discrepancies, anomalies, and failure of FTS components and subsystems during testing are appropriately addressed in accordance with government regulations.
Lead the planning and coordination on assigned flight projects as the FTS Point of Contact to government organizations and commercial companies to ensure full integration of technical and operational requirements.

Requirements

Current Federal employees must meet qualifications, time in grade, and 90 days after competitive appointment requirements by the closing date of the announcement.
Position subject to pre-employment background security investigation.

In addition to the Basic Education Requirement (in the Education section below), to qualify for this position you must meet the requirements below and have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade, which has equipped you with the particular competencies needed to successfully perform the duties of the position described above.

NASA utilizes OPM-approved qualification and rating requirements specific for Aerospace Technology (AST) positions which recognizes NASA's unique aerospace work. The specific qualifications and minimum education requirements are further described below and within the education section of the job announcement.

To qualify for GS-13, you must have one year of directly related specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 level:

Implementing electrical engineering design and testing requirements for aeronautical application;
Analyzing electrical circuits and developing engineering solutions during design, implementation and/or troubleshooting phases;
Applying government and industry environmental testing standards throughout the lifecycle of a project.

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 job.

NASA prohibits the use of artificial intelligence (AI) or AI-assisted tool in drafting application and assessment responses. Please visit https://www.nasa.gov/careers/how-to-apply/#Artificial-Intelligence to review NASA's guidance on the use of AI tools during the application process.

Basic Education Requirement: You must have successfully completed a bachelor's degree with a major in one of the following:
a) Engineering from a college or university that has ABET accredited engineering programs
b) Physical Science, Mathematics, Life Science or other field of Science
c) Computer Science that included 30 semester hours or 45 quarter hours of course work in any combination of mathematics, statistics and computer science with at least half of those hours in mathematics and statistics courses that included differential and integral calculus; and that provided an in-depth knowledge of theoretical and practical applications of computer science, including digital computer system architecture and system software organization, the representation and transformation of information structures, and the theoretical models for such representations and transformations.

If you did not complete a qualifying bachelor's degree, you may be eligible if you have obtained a graduate degree in an AST qualifying field, as listed above.

Degrees in engineering technology are not considered qualifying for this position.

Engineering degrees earned within the United States: Engineering degrees earned within the United States must be from a college or university that has at least one ABET accredited engineering program. To find out if a school has at least one ABET accredited program, please visit http://www.abet.org.

Engineering degrees earned outside the United States: Engineering degrees earned outside the United States must be recognized by a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA), often known as accords. These are non-governmental agreements among organizations that accredit academic degree programs. MRAs recognize the substantial equivalence of mature accreditation systems and programs accredited by signatory organizations within their jurisdictions. For a listing of Signatories, please visit, https://www.abet.org/global-presence/mutual-recognition-agreements/is-your-program-recognized/.

Science and other related degrees earned within the United States: Science and other related degrees must have been awarded from colleges or universities that are accredited by recognized accrediting organizations. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, go to http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/.

Science and other related degrees earned outside the United States: 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, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

All degrees must have been received in the year of, or any year subsequent to the original date of accreditation.

Evaluation

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

You will be evaluated for this position based on how well you meet the qualifications and eligibility requirements outlined in this vacancy announcement. Your resume and supporting documentation will be reviewed in conjunction with your responses to the assessment questionnaire. As part of the assessment, your responses to the Written Interview prompts will be scored and used to place you into one of three quality groups. These scores, along with your qualifications and supporting materials, will determine your referral status. Please ensure your application materials and responses accurately reflect your experience and competencies, as misrepresentation may result in removal from consideration.

Assessment preview link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12891226

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

Electrical Design and Development Engineering
Electrical Test Engineering
Technical Competence
Problem Solving

NASA considers paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Under NASA's quality grouping process, applicants will be assessed on the position competencies and placed in one of three groups identified and defined below:

Best Qualified Group - Applicants who demonstrate a superior level of all evaluation criteria.
Highly Qualified Group - Applicants who demonstrate a satisfactory level of the evaluation criteria.
Qualified Group - Applicants who demonstrate the basic qualifications, with general knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Candidates eligible for ICTAP/CTAP, reemployment priority or priority consideration will be referred before other candidates, as necessary. If no such candidates apply or are eligible to be referred, the following candidates will be sent to the hiring official for employment consideration:

Best Qualified merit promotion candidates. Highly Qualified merit promotion candidates may also be referred, if additional candidates are needed.
Qualified candidates eligible for consideration under Schedule A or VRA in accordance with veterans' preference rules, as applicable.
Qualified candidates that are eligible for special hiring authorities or non-competitive hiring authorities.

NASA will not ask you to disclose criminal history record information during the application process or before we make a conditional/tentative offer of employment. If you apply for this position and are selected, NASA will conduct a suitability/security background investigation after you accept a tentative job offer. If you feel you are asked to disclose your criminal history before you accept a tentative offer and wish to file a complaint within 30 days, please contact: [email protected].

Required Documents

All submitted resumes must not exceed two (2) pages in length. Resumes longer than two pages will be rejected by USAJOBS. Applicants are strongly encouraged to prioritize including experience and relevant qualifications that directly align with the position advertised. All work experience and accomplishments must be associated with dates (month/year) to allow for accurate qualification assessment.

A complete application package includes a resume, required documents and completion of the vacancy announcement questionnaire. Please see this guidance: . Your resume should describe your specialized experience and support your answers to the vacancy announcement questionnaire. If you are using a Curriculum Vitae (CV) as a resume, it must meet all requirements listed above for a complete resume package.

Please note: if any of the following types of information are included on your resume, your application package will 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.

The following documents are required:

Resume
SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
Transcript

As listed in the Education section above, this position has a basic education requirement.

To be found qualified, you must provide a copy of your college transcript that fully demonstrates you meet the requirements listed in the Education section. You may provide either an unofficial transcript or a copy of an official transcript. Failure to provide a complete copy of your college transcript that shows you have completed a required degree program or coursework may result in you being found not qualified.

You may need to submit other supporting documents (Notification of Personnel Action SF-50, licenses, certification, veterans preference, etc.), depending on your answers to the questionnaire and job announcement description, that you may have to submit, please verify your application. Do not submit an OF-306 with your application.

If you are a surplus or displaced employee (CTAP and ICTAP), submit proof that you meet the requirements for CTAP/ICTAP. This includes copies of your agency notice, most recent Performance Rating and most recent Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) noting current position, grade level, and duty location.

If you are a veteran and you are claiming veterans' preference, you must submit a DD214, Certificate of Release from Active Duty, which shows dates of service and discharge under honorable conditions. For more information on veterans' preference and possible other supporting documents that you may have to submit, please visit FedshireVets.