Chief Engineer, Armstrong Flight Research Center

Chief Engineer, Armstrong Flight Research Center

Department: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Location(s): Edwards AFB, California

Salary Range: $151661 - $217332 Per Year

Job 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.

Major 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.

Qualifications: 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

How to Apply: To apply for this position, you must complete the online application and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section and submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. To begin, click Apply to access the online application. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account to apply. If you do not have a USAJOBS account, you will need to create one before beginning the application. Follow the prompts to select your resume to be included with your application package. Your uploaded resume may take several hours to clear the virus scan process. After acknowledging you have reviewed your application package, complete the "Include Personal Information" section as you deem appropriate and click to continue with the application process. You will be taken to the online application which you must complete in order to apply for the position. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation is included with your application package, and submit the application. It is applicant's responsibility to verify that information entered and uploaded, (i.e., resume) is complete, accurate, and submitted by the closing date. Human Resources will not modify or change any part of your application. To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account, all of your applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit:https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to/application/status. Faxed, emailed, and/or mailed application materials will not be accepted for this announcement. NASA provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. If you are an applicant with a disability and need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency contact center listed on the job vacancy announcement. The decision on granting reasonable accommodations will be on a case-by-case basis.

Application Deadline: 2026-03-23