Senior Mechanical Engineer (Sounding Rocket Program)

Peraton is seeking a Mechanical Engineer with a focus on pneumatics to work in the Guidance, Navigation, & Control (GNC) section at Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, VA. Wallops Island, VA is a remote location.

This position supports NASA's Sounding Rocket Operations Contract (NSROC) at the Wallops Flight Facility. NSROC supports approximately 18 sounding rocket missions per year. This program supports a range of scientific and government experiments. Missions are flown from a variety of launch sites including but not limited to: Wallops, White Sands Missile Range, Poker Flats Rocket Range, Alaska, Kwajalein, Andoya, Norway, and Svalbard. Applicants are encouraged to read about the Sounding Rocket Program and familiarize themselves with the Wallops Island area prior to applying.

In this role, you will be the S-19 Boost Guidance engineer for sounding rocket missions and will support system development throughout the entire mission life cycle including launch at remote sites. Travel is required; typical travel to the remote launch site lasts 4 to 6 weeks. The position will require an individual to be living locally to support efforts on base. You will work on a variety of projects, typically multiple at any one time, and will require an individual able to work individually and in a team environment.

The position requires the ability to understand and apply a broad range of technical disciplines germane to GNC problems. These areas include but are not limited to pneumatic design and analysis as well as understanding of certification requirements and maintenance, basic power systems, mechanical systems, cold gas pneumatics. The position will require ability to understand and apply fluid dynamic and stress analysis to the pneumatic systems of sounding rocket payloads.

In this position you will troubleshoot and maintain existing custom pneumatic system designs for flight and GSE parts and assemblies, as well as develop new parts and systems to support sounding rocket missions. You will be expected to support and guide the development of new vendor-designed pneumatic parts and perform testing on vendor parts. You will work with those vendors as problems are found and as designs mature.

You must be able to adeptly communicate pneumatic concepts within the program and to the customer, in written, oral, and presentation formats. You will be working with high pressure pneumatics systems. Additionally, this group has a significant manufacturing function that you will support; this includes, but is not limited to ordering raw material, performing fabrication, testing components, and planning build efforts.

Description:

Perform analyses of new and existing pneumatic support hardware
• Applies comprehensive knowledge of engineering concepts, procedures and practices to GNC problems
• Participate in technical design/modification negotiations with customers
• Present system designs and analyses to customers and a variety of technical disciplines
• Performs system integration and testing of in-house and subcontractor-supplied ACS and BGS systems
• Analyze post-flight data and redesign or modify equipment to improve performance.
• Perform integration tests to validate assemblies
• Contribute to the development of new engineering products or specialty products and develop engineering specifications for applicable projects
• Design, development, manufacturing, refurbishment and evaluation of hardware relevant to ACS Sensors and Pneumatic Attitude Control Systems
• The ability to support the design of hardware and support equipment
• Coordinate the efforts of multiple engineers, technicians, and fabrication areas
• Test control systems which include high-pressure hardware and electro-mechanical components relevant to the control payload attitude

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree (BA/BS) in Mechanical Engineering; other Engineering or relevant technical degree with related electrical experience
• 8+ years engineering experience
• Ability to understand and apply basic kinematics and dynamics
• Pneumatic design and high-pressure safety protocols
• MATLAB experience
• MS Office experience

Preferred Qualifications:

• MS or higher in related discipline (may reduce experience requirement).
• 10 or more years relevant experience
• Demonstrated control system capability
• Real-time system development
• GNC related experience

Peraton is a next-generation national security company that drives missions of consequence spanning the globe and extending to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. As the world's leading mission capability integrator and transformative enterprise IT provider, we deliver trusted, highly differentiated solutions and technologies to protect our nation and allies. Peraton operates at the critical nexus between traditional and nontraditional threats across all domains: land, sea, space, air, and cyberspace. The company serves as a valued partner to essential government agencies and supports every branch of the U.S. armed forces. Each day, our employees do the can't be done by solving the most daunting challenges facing our customers. Visit peraton.com to learn how we're keeping people around the world safe and secure.