Spacecraft Contamination Control Engineer

Aegis Aerospace, Inc.; Florida; On-site; USD 130,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Paid time off

Education assistance

Job summary

Aegis Aerospace, Inc. is hiring a Spacecraft Contamination Control Engineer to support advanced spaceflight programs at Kennedy Space Center.

The role delivers SME guidance on contamination requirements, budgets, and verification across the spacecraft lifecycle, including testing, storage, and operations. The position emphasizes collaboration with multidisciplinary teams and requires senior-level experience; candidate must be a U.S.

Qualifications

• Ten or more years in spacecraft contamination control or related aerospace discipline.
• Experience determining contamination sensitivities and evaluating requirements.
• Experience across design, manufacturing, integration, testing, and inspection.
• U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident and able to pass background checks.
• Strong technical communication and collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate contamination sensitivities, requirements, controls, budgets, and mitigation strategies for spacecraft and hardware.
• Analyze contamination sources, transport, deposition, and potential effects on systems and docking surfaces.
• Review and assess contamination control plans, analyses, verifications, and documentation across lifecycle stages.
• Support development and refinement of contamination-related requirements and verification methods.
• Evaluate risks related to materials, cleaning, storage, and vacuum systems.
• Participate in qualification, acceptance, and testing activities and assess results.
• Investigate contamination issues and perform root-cause analyses with corrective actions.

Skills

Contamination control

Spacecraft systems

Molecular contamination

Particulate contamination

Cleanroom practices

Test & verification

Root-cause analysis

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

B.S. in Engineering

M.S. in Engineering

Tools

Thermal Desktop

MATLAB

Contamination analysis software

Job description

Spacecraft Contamination Control Engineer

Location: Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899

Remote/Telework: No – Full-time onsite position at Kennedy Space Center

Level: Senior Engineer / Subject Matter Expert

Clearance Required: Must be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (green card holder) and successfully complete the required U.S. government background investigation.

Work Schedule: Full-Time

Position Summary

Aegis Aerospace is seeking an experienced Spacecraft Contamination Control Engineer to support advanced spaceflight programs under the LENS contract at Kennedy Space Center. The engineer will provide subject matter expertise in the analysis, assessment, and verification of spacecraft contamination requirements and controls throughout the spacecraft lifecycle. The role includes contamination sensitivity assessments, contamination budgets and mitigation strategies, molecular and particulate transport analysis, and evaluation of contamination controls for flight hardware, payloads, instruments, docking surfaces, and mission operations. This position may be filled at the Senior Engineer or Subject Matter Expert level, depending on the selected candidate’s qualifications. Compensation will be commensurate with experience and the assigned position level.

Key Responsibilities

The candidate will:

• Evaluate contamination sensitivities, requirements, controls, budgets, and mitigation strategies for spacecraft, payloads, instruments, and associated hardware.
• Analyze molecular and particulate contamination sources, transport, and deposition, including potential effects on spacecraft systems, payloads, instruments, and docking surfaces.
• Review and assess contamination control plans, analyses, verification approaches, and technical documentation throughout design, manufacturing, integration, testing, transportation, storage, and operations.
• Support the development, review, and refinement of contamination-related requirements and verification approaches, including assessment of proposed compliance methods and verification evidence.
• Evaluate contamination risks associated with materials, hardware processing, cleaning, inspection, storage, transportation, vacuum systems, and cleanroom environments.
• Participate in qualification, acceptance, and other testing activities and evaluate test results and demonstrated hardware performance.
• Investigate contamination issues and anomalies, perform or support root-cause analyses, and evaluate proposed corrective actions.
• Apply flight and test experience, lessons learned, and engineering analysis to assess contamination risks, hardware acceptance criteria, and proposed design or process changes.
• Collaborate with thermal, fluids, propulsion, materials, systems engineering, mission design, and other disciplines to evaluate contamination interactions and integrated spacecraft performance.
• Provide independent technical assessments, identify risks and uncertainties, and develop recommendations for engineering and program leadership.
• Participate in technical reviews and engineering activities with spacecraft developers, test organizations, and other technical partners.
• Provide technical guidance and mentoring in spacecraft contamination control methods, analyses, standards, and practices.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• BS degree in Engineering or a related technical discipline from an accredited institution plus ten (10) or more years of relevant experience; or an MS degree in Engineering or a related technical discipline plus seven (7) or more years of relevant experience.
• Seven (7) or more years of experience in spacecraft contamination control or a closely related aerospace discipline, preferably involving flight hardware.
• Experience determining contamination sensitivities and evaluating or developing contamination requirements based on instrument, payload, hardware, or system performance characteristics.
• Experience evaluating contamination controls across spacecraft design, manufacturing, integration, testing, and inspection activities.
• Experience with molecular and particulate contamination, outgassing, transport and deposition, cleanroom practices, materials, vacuum systems, and hardware cleaning and inspection methods.
• Experience applying aerospace contamination control processes to spacecraft, launch systems, payloads, instruments, or other contamination-sensitive flight hardware.
• Ability to review technical analyses, test results, requirements-verification evidence, and engineering documentation and develop supportable technical recommendations.
• Strong technical communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively across multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Must be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (green card holder) and successfully complete the required U.S. government background investigation.

Preferred Qualifications

• MS or PhD degree in Engineering or a related technical discipline.
• Experience with spacecraft docking contamination control, the International Space Station, or other contamination-sensitive spaceflight systems.
• Experience applying NASA and industry contamination control standards, requirements, and accepted practices.
• Experience with contamination testing and characterization methods, including ASTM E595, ASTM E1559, ASTM E1216, or ASTM E1235.
• Experience with molecular and particulate contamination modeling and analysis using Thermal Desktop, MATLAB, or specialized contamination analysis software.
• Experience supporting spacecraft or commercial spaceflight hardware through design, integration, qualification, testing, or operations.
• Experience evaluating hardware acceptance criteria, requirements-verification evidence, technical risks, anomalies, and corrective actions.
• Experience providing independent technical assessments or serving as a technical authority or subject matter expert.
• Experience mentoring engineers or providing technical guidance in spacecraft contamination control.

Compensation and Benefits

Salary Range: $130,000–$160,000 annually

The salary range provided is a general guideline. Actual compensation will be determined based on relevant experience, education, specialized skills, assigned position level, internal equity, contractual requirements, and market conditions.

Aegis Aerospace offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Employer-paid and voluntary life insurance
• Short-term and long-term disability coverage
• Paid time off and company holidays
• Employee assistance program
• Education or professional-development assistance
• Additional voluntary benefits

Benefits eligibility and specific plan provisions are governed by the applicable plan documents and company policies.

About Aegis Aerospace

We are a woman-owned space and technology company headquartered in Houston, TX. Our primary objective is to support the Department of Defense and NASA in achieving their missions to defend the security of our country, reach new heights and to discover the unknown. We employ some of the brightest, most experienced engineering and technology experts in the U.S.

To learn more about Aegis Aerospace, visit our website at http://www.AegisAero.com

Aegis Aerospace is an Equal Opportunity Employer /M/F/disability/protected veteran employer.