Early Career Plant Operations Engineer (Multiple Openings)

Beyond New Horizons; Tullahoma (TN); On-site; USD 75,000 - 96,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salaries

Continuing education assistance

Healthcare benefits packages

401K with employer matching

Paid time off and holidays

Job summary

Beyond New Horizons is seeking an Early Career Plant Operations Engineer to support the Arnold AFB test facilities. The role involves operating and maintaining large electromechanical systems and coordinating with a multidisciplinary team to ensure safe, reliable test operations.

The position requires a Mechanical or Electrical engineering background, the ability to obtain a Secret-level clearance, and willingness to work varied shifts as mission demands dictate.

Qualifications

• BS degree in mechanical engineering from an accredited college or university.
• U.S. Citizenship is required for employment at AEDC.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret-level security clearance and access to the AEDC LAN.

Responsibilities

• Support the safe and reliable operation and maintenance of assigned plant and test facilities.
• Coordinate with test programs, including equipment sequencing, schedules, risk assessments, and resource estimates.
• Provide technical direction during test operations across multiple shifts as required.
• Review equipment-condition assessments and support incident investigations and fitness-for-service evaluations.
• Serve as a point of contact among test operations, plant systems engineers, craft personnel, planners, schedulers and management.

Skills

Mechanical engineering

Electrical engineering

Troubleshooting

Communication skills

Team collaboration

Education

BS in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

CAE tools

CAD tools

Job description

Early Career Plant Operations Engineer (Multiple Openings)

Job Locations

US-TN-Arnold AFB

Requisition Information

Requisition Number: 2026-25060

Category: Engineering

Overview

Job Title: Plant Operations Engineer

Location: Arnold AFB, TN

Job Family Code: O-Engineering

Function/Branch: Engineering / Propulsion

Directorate: Test Operations

Position Type: Regular, Full-Time

Pay Type: Exempt

Grade: L06 (OA0624)-L07(OA0723)

Salary Range or Starting Hourly Rate: L06: $75,000 - $88,000; L07: $80,000 - $96,000/ per year

Beyond New Horizons, LLC (BNH) has an exciting opportunity for a Plant Operations Engineer, supporting the Test Operations and Sustainment contract at Arnold Engineering Development Complex at Arnold Air Force Base, TN. The Plant Operations Engineer will be working as a member of an integrated team responsible for operating and maintaining ground test facilities in support of the United States Air Force Test Operations and Sustainment efforts.

Open to internal and external candidates. The selected candidate for this role must be available to work any shift to support test needs as mission requires.

Job Summary

We are Seeking a Mechanical or Electrical Engineer to support national-defense propulsion ground-test facilities. This role works on a multidisciplinary team to plan, direct, operate, maintain, and improve the large electromechanical systems needed to create test conditions.

The engineer serves as a central technical coordinator during testing-similar to a control-room "quarterback"-and supports equipment ranging from major drive trains to motors, compressors, refrigeration systems, heaters, and dryers.

Job Duties:

As a Plant Operations Engineer:

• Support the safe and reliable operation and maintenance of assigned plant and test facilities.
• Plant support for test programs, including equipment sequencing, schedules, work instructions, risk assessments, and resource estimates.
• Provide technical direction during test operations, including support on multiple shifts, off-shift work, or extended hours as required.
• Coordinate use of qualified operators and support special security requirements for test programs.
• Participate in post-test meetings to identify equipment status, maintenance needs, plant availability, and schedule impacts.
• Serve as a point of contact among test operations, plant systems engineers, craft personnel, planners, schedulers, and management.
• Review equipment-condition assessments and support incident investigations and fitness-for-service evaluations.
• It is a condition of employment to wear company issued PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) in accordance with supervisory direction and company policy.
• Perform other related duties as required.

As a Plant Systems Engineer:

• Apply engineering principles involving mechanical, electrical, thermal, hydraulic, pneumatic, heat-transfer, and materials systems.
• Prepare and review engineering calculations, specifications, plans, drawings, reports, and data analyses.
• Support equipment design, upgrades, troubleshooting, maintenance, and improvement projects.
• Develop operating procedures, maintenance plans based on equipment condition and health
• Work with reliability engineers to develop maintenance plans based on equipment condition and health.
• Ensure needed materials and parts are available to prevent equipment failures.
• Coordinate with planners, schedulers, and craft supervisors to safely execute maintenance, upgrades, and test-support projects.
• Provide technical guidance to craft personnel during troubleshooting and maintenance activities.
• Conduct root-cause analyses and equipment-performance reviews following failures or process issues.
• Recommend corrective actions and improvement and test-support projects.
• Work with controls, instrumentation, design, data-analysis, modeling and simulation, and other engineering teams to solve problems and prepare for future testing.
• It is a condition of employment to wear company issued PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) in accordance with supervisory direction and company policy.
• Performs other related duties as required.

Basic Qualifications:

• BS degree in mechanical engineering from an accredited college or university.
• Due to Air Force Security requirements, U.S. Citizenship is required for employment at AEDC.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret-level security clearance and maintain access to the AEDC local area network.

Preferred Qualifications

• At least one year of practical experience in the application of technical knowledge of mechanical engineering systems, applications of engineering methods and materials, and application of computer aided engineering (CAE)/computer aided design (CAD) tools to engineering problems.
• Willingness and ability to make decisions under pressure.
• Strong trouble-shooting skills.
• Ability to work in a dynamic environment with flexibility to accomplish mission objectives.
• Strong communication skills (including verbal and written).
• Demonstrated experience successfully building relationships with team across engineering and craft workforce.
• Strong organizational skills to track and facilitate progress on projects.
• Demonstrated proactiveness and initiate to drive to results.
• Exhibits strong level of technical curiosity and desire to seek understanding.
• Multi-disciplinary knowledge or experience (electrical engineering, mechatronics, control systems, etc.) is a plus.
• Participates in and fosters a work environment that is based upon openness, trust, communication, teamwork, empowerment, innovation, and satisfaction.
• Active Department of Defense Secret Security Clearance.

What We Offer

• Competitive salaries
• Continuing education assistance
• Multiple healthcare benefits packages
• 401K with employer matching
• Paid time off (PTO) along with a federally recognized holiday schedule

Who We Are

Beyond New Horizons (BNH) is a fully populated joint venture of Astrion and Fluor Federal Services, Inc. formed to provide unmatched Test Operations and Sustainment services for the Arnold Engineering Development Complex.

We chose our name to serve as an enduring reminder of our commitment to AEDC's rich aerospace research and development legacy anchored in AEDC's Toward New Horizons founding study and the unprecedented opportunities to greatly expand AEDC's capabilities and capacity Beyond those existing today. Leveraging the capabilities of our parent companies, BNH specializes in testing and evaluation for military and space systems combined with proven capability in large-scale Government program management, integration, engineering, and construction services for specialized and technically advanced high-hazard facilities.

Join our Team!

U.S. Citizenship is required. At this time BNH will not sponsor any applicants for employment authorization or offer any immigration related support for this position (i.e. H1b, F1 OPT, F-1 STEM OPT, F-1 CPT, J-1, E-2, E-3, L-1, or other forms of work authorization that require immigration support from an employer).

The minimum and maximum full-time annual salaries for this role are listed below, by location. Please note that this salary information is solely for candidates hired to perform work within one of these locations and refers to the amount BNH is willing to pay at the time of this posting. Salaries for part-time jobs will be adjusted based upon the number of hours agreed to work at location Tennessee: Arnold Air Force, TN.

L06: $75,000 - $88,000; L07: $80,000 -$96,000 / year at Arnold Air Force Base, TN.

BNH is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.