Aerospace Engineer (Direct Hire)

AIAA; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

The FAA seeks an Aerospace Engineer (Direct Hire) to support safety evaluations for commercial space transportation, applying engineering principles to assess risk and ensure regulatory compliance for licenses and safety approvals.

You will conduct safety analyses, participate in field inspections and data reporting, and coordinate with government and industry stakeholders to advance safe operations within the National Airspace System.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering from an ABET-accredited program.
• Experience applying safety analysis to space transportation operations.
• Familiarity with regulatory requirements for licensing and flight safety.

Responsibilities

• Safety analysis & evaluations for commercial space activities.
• Regulatory & licensing support for licenses and safety approvals.
• Field inspections & compliance monitoring of launch sites and operations.
• Data collection, trend analysis, and technical reporting.
• Stakeholder coordination with government and industry for licensing.

Skills

Safety analysis

Systems engineering

Regulatory compliance

Project management

Data analysis

Education

Engineering degree ABET accredited

Job description

Aerospace Engineer (Direct Hire)

Department of Transportation

Federal Aviation Administration

Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation, Office of Operational Safety

Summary

As anAerospace 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.

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.

You may be eligible for an FAA recruitment incentive of up to $20,000, with a two-year service commitment, when needed to support AST workforce growth and meet the increasing demands of the commercial space transportation industry. Recruitment incentives may be used as a hiring tool for all grades/bands (FV-G through FV-K and equivalent) as needed to meet hiring goals. Recruitment incentives may not exceed 25% of the employee's annual rate of basic pay. This blanket authorization expires on September 30, 2026.

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 criteriaANDwho 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.

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:

1. 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.
2. Written Test -- Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) 2examination 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.
3. Specified academic courses -- Successful completion of a course load 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.
4. 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 there 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.