Aerospace Engineer (Direct Hire)

All Aviation Jobs; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

FAA is seeking an Aerospace Engineer to perform safety reviews and support licensing for commercial space transportation activities in the United States. The role involves data analysis, field inspections, and cooperative work with government and industry stakeholders.

Candidates should have an engineering degree (ABET-accredited preferred) and experience in safety analyses, regulatory processes, and system integration for complex aerospace programs.

Qualifications

• Degree in engineering with ABET accreditation or equivalent.
• Experience in safety analysis for aerospace systems is preferred.
• Ability to review and develop regulatory requirements.

Responsibilities

• Conduct safety evaluations for commercial space transportation activities.
• Support licensing, permits, and safety approvals processes.
• Assist inspections to ensure regulatory and environmental compliance.
• Prepare technical reports and data analyses for stakeholders.
• Coordinate with government and industry applicants during licensing.

Skills

Safety analysis

Regulatory compliance

Field inspections

Data analysis

Stakeholder coordination

Project management

Systems integration

Risk assessment

Education

Engineering degree

ABET-accredited program

Tools

Regulatory frameworks

Job description

Summary

As an Aerospace Engineer your work will directly impact the safety of expendable and reusable launch/reentry vehicles, launch/reentry sites, and their integration into the National Airspace System. You will apply engineering principles, theories, and concepts to support safety evaluations and analyses for proposed commercial space transportation activities.

This job is open to

U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.

Clarification from the agency

This notice is issued under direct-hire authority to recruit new talent for occupations for which FAA has a severe shortage of candidates.

Duties

Core Duties And Responsibilities

• Safety Analysis & Evaluations: Conduct technical reviews and safety evaluations for commercial space transportation activities, focusing on public safety, system/component reliability, and organizational safety procedures.
• Regulatory & Licensing Support: Review contractor work, technical documents, and applications for licenses, permits, or safety approvals. Assist in developing regulatory requirements for new and existing commercial space technologies.
• Field Inspections & Compliance: Support safety inspections of commercial launch, reentry, and site operations to ensure compliance with safety, environmental, and regulatory requirements.
• Data & Technical Reporting: Collect and analyze operational data, perform trend analyses, conduct engineering testing, and author comprehensive technical and management reports.
• Stakeholder Coordination: Assist with the initial interface for government and industry stakeholders, as well as new commercial space transportation applicants requiring licensing.

Key Areas of Expertise Sought

Candidates should possess background experience or transferable skills in one or more of the following areas:

• Project Management & Systems Integration: Experience managing or participating in complex, multi-phase space engineering projects through certification, approval, or compliance. Background in systems engineering and integration, ensuring different technical disciplines (software, hardware, safety) align within a single project.
• Physics-Based Flight Safety & Hazard Analysis: Experience performing advanced calculations, trajectory modeling, orbital mechanics, aerodynamics, or ballistics. Background or familiarity with Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA), system safety engineering (e.g., MIL-STD-882), software reliability, explosives/blast effects, structural dynamics, or toxic hazard modeling.
• Operational Monitoring & Field Inspections: Hands‑on operational experience in flight testing, mission control, military flight operations, or aerospace manufacturing floors. Experience with quality assurance, field inspections, compliance monitoring, or conducting/participating in mishap, accident, and anomaly investigations.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

• US Citizenship is required.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Designated or Random Drug Testing required.
• This position has a positive education requirement. Transcript(s) required.
• Travel Required: 25% (Domestic)

Qualifications

IN ADDITION TO MEETING THE BASIC EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS BELOW:

To qualify for this position at the FV-I level: Candidates must have one year (52 weeks) of SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (FV-H or FG/GS-12) that is typically related to the line of work of the position to be filled and which has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been at least equivalent to the next lower level in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE At The Next Lower Level‑ FV-H/GS-12

• Experience related to the design, development and evaluation of launch vehicles; conducting safety analysis related to commercial space flight systems and operations; applying investigative techniques and procedures related to space transportation operations.

To qualify for this position at the FV-J level:

Candidates must have one year (52 weeks) of SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (FV-I or FG/GS-13) that is typically related to the line of work of the position to be filled and which has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been at least equivalent to the next lower level in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE At The Next Lower Level‑ FV-I/GS-13

• Experience related to the design, development and evaluation of launch vehicles; conducting various safety analyses related to commercial spaceflight systems and operations; applying investigative techniques and procedures related to launch/reentry operations.

You should include relevant examples of the specialized experience in your work history. Errors or omissions may impact your rating or may result in you not being considered.

Answer all questions to the best of your ability. DO NOT ASSUME THAT BECAUSE YOU HOLD OR HAVE HELD THIS POSITION, YOU WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE FOUND ELIGIBLE. You may be asked to provide evidence or documentation that you have this type of experience later in the selection process. Your responses are subject to verification through job interviews, or any other information obtained during the application process. Any exaggeration of your experience or any attempt to conceal information can result in disqualification.

Eligible applicants meeting the minimum qualification requirements and/or selective placement factor(s) (SPF) may be further evaluated on the Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA) and/or Quality Ranking Factor (QRF) listed in the announcement. Based on this evaluation, applicants will be placed in one of the following categories: (1) score order; (2) category grouping; (3) alphabetical; or (4) priority grouping, and referred to the selecting official for selection consideration.

• Applicants who fail to demonstrate possession of any of the above criteria AND who do not provide the required documentation will receive no further consideration for this position.*

Applicants may be asked to verify information on your application for employment with the FAA.

All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this vacancy announcement.

Education

This position has a positive education requirement: Applicants must submit a copy of their college or university transcripts(s) and certificates by the closing date of announcement to verify qualifications. If selected, an official transcript will be required prior to appointment. You may upload these documents with your application in USAJOBS or fax it to fax number provided in the announcement (please include announcement number on each page).

Failure to do so will result in loss of consideration.

Schools must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Accreditation may be verified at the following website: www.ed.gov/accreditation.

Foreign education must be evaluated by a private professional organization specializing in interpretation of foreign education credentials or an accredited U.S. educational institution in terms of equivalence to a degree acquired at an American college or university. A copy of the evaluation results must be included, otherwise your foreign education will not be considered.

Basic Requirements

Degree: Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET; or (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first‑year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress‑strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics.

OR

B. Combination of education and experience - college-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering.

The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following:

• Professional registration or licensure - Current registration as an Engineer Intern (El), Engineer in Training (EIT) or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. Absent other means of qualifying under this standard, those applicants who achieved such registration by means other than written test (e.g., State grandfather or eminence provisions) are eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their registration. For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State Board's eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions.
• Written Test - Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination or any other written test required for professional registration by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
• Specified academic courses - Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and that included the courses specified in the basic requirements under paragraph A. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A.
• Related curriculum - Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in an appropriate scientific field, e.g., engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a bachelor's degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. Ordinarily should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions. (The above examples of related curricula are not all-inclusive.)

Note: An applicant who meets the basic requirements as specified in A or B above, except as noted under B.1., may qualify for positions in any branch of engineering unless selective factors indicate otherwise.

Additional Information

We may use this vacancy to fill other similar vacant positions.

Position may be subject to a background investigation.

A one‑year probationary period may be required.

The person selected for this position may be required to file a financial disclosure statement within 30 days of entry on duty. FAA policy limits certain outside employment and financial investments in aviation‑related companies. www.faa.gov/jobs/workinghere/financial-disclosure-requirements

This position is covered by the Department of Transportation's Drug and Alcohol Testing Program. Any applicant tentatively selected for this position will be subject to pre‑employment or pre‑appointment drug screening. Persons occupying a "testing designated position (TDP)" will be subject to random drug and/or alcohol testing.

Applications will be accepted from any U.S. citizen. On‑the‑Spot will be used to fill this position. The 'Rule of Three', Veterans Preference and traditional rating and ranking of applicants does not apply to this vacancy.

All qualified applicants will be considered regardless of political affiliation, race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, age, disability, or other non‑merit factors. DOT provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency contact listed in the Agency Contact Information section of this announcement or the hiring manager. An employee with a disability must notify the decision‑maker of the accommodation request. Job applicants and employees are required to follow up oral requests in writing. Decisions on granting reasonable accommodation will be made on a case‑by‑case basis. Additional information on reasonable accommodations procedures or on EEO Programs is available on Office of Civil Rights (ACR) or by contacting the local FAA Civil Rights Office.

Benefits

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding.

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full‑time, part‑time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

IMPORTANT: Applicants may be rated on the extent and quality of experience, education, and training relevant to the duties of the position(s). All answers provided in the online process must be substantiated. Ensure that your application package/resume supports your responses.

Agency contact information

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