Summary
The NASA Technical Fellows Program recognizes Agency-wide technical excellence and leadership, with Fellows serving within the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC); advising the Office of the Chief Engineer, NASA programs and Mission Directorates. Also serves as a voting member on the NESC Review Board. Fellows perform value-added testing, analysis, and assessments of NASA's high-risk projects to ensure safety and mission success.
Duties
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The Technical Fellow Loads and Dynamics:
- Serves as the Agency's authoritative technical resource in Loads and Dynamics, applying advanced engineering theory and operational expertise, frequently leading teams and providing the technical foundation for evaluating and reducing mission risk.
- Provides Agency-wide technical leadership and collaboration in Loads and Dynamics, leading independent assessments and partnering with recognized researchers and engineers across NASA centers, academia, national laboratories, industry, and the Department of Defense to conduct and sponsor work that informs Loads and Dynamics mission risk.
- Communicates and fosters Loads and Dynamics knowledge, publishing engineering findings through NASA channels, journals, seminars, NESC Academy courses, or domestic/international universities; serve as an invited presenter at conferences and promote participation in engineering academies.
- Provides senior technical leadership for independent technical reviews, serving as the national/international expert in Loads and Dynamics.
- Establishes, leads, and stewards a Technical Discipline Team (TDT) of the Agency's foremost Loads and Dynamics experts, and augmenting by external specialists-to support independent assessments and ensure discipline stewardship across NASA.
- Provide advanced static and dynamic structural analysis expertise, including strength/stiffness evaluation, nonlinear behavior, thermal mechanical integration, optomechanical and tribology assessments, joint analysis, vibroacoustics, modal/frequency response, shock, aeroelastic effects, and coupled loads environments.
- Develop, review, and independently validate structural models and simulations, ensuring sound assumptions, boundary conditions, and analytical methods for hardware performance across mission scenarios.
- Leads Agency-wide Loads and Dynamics discipline stewardship activities, including technical workshops, knowledge-sharing forums, identification and cataloging of critical skills and facilities, assessment of emerging technical challenges, and periodic reporting of discipline health, capability, and risk to Agency leadership.
Requirements
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Conditions of employment
- The individual selected will be required to file an 'Executive Branch Personnel Financial Disclosure Report' (OGE-278e) within 30 days of appointment and annually from then on.
- Successful completion of a background investigation commensurate with the risk and sensitivity level of the position.
- Successful completion of pre-employment and random drug testing may be required.
- Must be able to obtain and maintain a security clearance as required by the position.
- Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
- Must meet qualifications requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
- You may be required to serve a probationary period. See additional information section.
- Complete a Declaration for Federal Employment to determine your suitability for Federal employment, at the time requested by the agency.
Qualifications
Candidates must be a recognized subject matter expert with at least 1 year of directly related experience equivalent to the GS-15 level in leading independent technical reviews and serving as an authoritative expert in loads and dynamics for high-risk aerospace programs. Must have experience developing, evaluating, and applying advanced structural dynamics methods such as vibroacoustics, shock, nonlinear behavior, aeroelasticity, and coupled-loads modeling to strengthen mission performance and reduce risk. Must also demonstrate national leadership through collaboration and technical knowledge sharing across government, industry, academia, and national laboratories.
Your application package must be in your own words. Experience statements copied from a position description, vacancy announcement, or other reference material constitutes plagiarism and may result in disqualification and losing consideration for the job. Please visit and review NASA's guidance on the use of super intelligence (SI) or SI-assisted tools during the application process.
To meet the minimum qualification requirements for this position, your resume must also address both Senior Level (SL) Evaluation Criteria listed below. Failure to address these criteria will result in your application being rated ineligible.
SL EVALUATION CRITERIA:
- Technical Competence and Leadership
Led technical/discipline teams to advance or enable state-of-the-art solutions in science, engineering, or mission enabling functions. Developed or implemented innovative methodologies or technologies to solve complex scientific, engineering or mission enabling problems. Led or supported collaborative partnerships with industry, academic, or government organizations to advance scientific, engineering, or mission enabling technical capabilities at national or international levels.
- Professional Contributions and Influence
Leveraged expertise and integration skills to resolve technical/discipline challenges for complex systems. Demonstrated impact in technical discipline to solve issues or improve operational effectiveness. Chaired or presented at professional conference sessions or technical forums to share expertise and influence field development. Developed or mentored students or professional practitioners in scientific, engineering or mission enabling communities. Shared technical knowledge or innovations that were adopted by outside organizations with documented results.
Please refer to the "How you will be evaluated" section for a list of competencies that you will be evaluated on.
Education
This position has a positive education requirement. To be eligible, you must clearly state in your resume the following: degree, major and/or minor, and college/university. A college or university degree generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools which meet these criteria, please refer to Department of Education Accreditation page.
An official transcript will be required if you are selected.
A bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with major study in engineering, physical science, mathematics, life sciences, computer science, or other field of science.
SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR FOREIGN EDUCATION:
If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs. These education credentials must be deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, click here.
Additional information
As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:
- Your performance and conduct;
- The needs and interests of the agency;
- Whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
- Whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.
Upon completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.
This position is concurrently advertised on USAJOBS and open to current federal civil servant career or career conditional employees via announcement LaRC-27-SL-13100836 and only one selection will be made. Civil service career or career conditional employees should apply to vacancy announcement LaRC-27-SL-13100836.
NASA may discuss and consider candidate duty station location after selection, which means that the duties can be performed at any NASA location. The selected candidate will need to relocate and report to an on-site NASA location or duty station, which may be different from where he/she currently resides.
Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
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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. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
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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.
