Hardware Engineer

Science Systems and Applications, Inc. (SSAI) is seeking Hardware Engineer candidates for a potential opportunity to support NASA at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a federally funded research and development center located in California. Work may be performed at JPL or customer locations, or remotely, depending on contractual and operational requirements.

This role will will be responsible and maintain cognizance for all technical and programmatic aspects of the hardware product(s) being developed and delivered, reporting the status and performance to the appropriate organizations. The candidate will work in teams that apply research to the planning, design, development, and testing of mechanical and/or electromechanical systems, instruments, and/or machines such as planetary rovers, landers, motion control systems, and surface sampling systems. Work in a collaborative environment to design, analyze, build and test mechanical components, devices, structures and assemblies, including mechanical ground support equipment (MGSE) and tooling for a Flight Project. Interface with engineers, analysts, designers, manufacturing specialists, machine shop, flight techs, and project staff. Establish requirements, and specify interfaces for flight hardware under development. Work independently, and under the direction of the technical leads and project management. Develop procedures for build, test, assembly, and operation of mechanical hardware. Prepare, coordinate, and deliver formal and informal technical peer reviews.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Robotics, or related technical discipline with typically a minimum of 2 years of related experience or equivalent;
• Practical experience using advanced principles, theories, concepts and techniques in solving mechanical engineering problems, with the ability to perform trade studies, develop conceptual configurations, engineer piece-parts and mechanical systems, and facilitate the fabrication, assembly, and qualification of hardware.
• Expertise in mechanical engineering disciplines for the design, analysis and test of structures and mechanisms, including strength of materials, machine and structure design, structural/mechanical testing, manufacturing engineering, mechanical systems, and machine shop practices.
• Practical experience using Unigraphics/Siemens NX and or SolidWorks CAD modeling software, in a Product Delivery Management (PDM) or similar Concurrent Engineering environment.
• Demonstrated experience developing and delivering mechanical parts, assemblies or mechanical systems.
• Demonstrated experience performing stress analysis of structures and mechanical elements, using classical hand methods and Finite Element Modeling.
• Experience with computer aided design and drafting, and spacecraft flight hardware development and test.
• Ability to solve mechanical design problems, perform trade studies, develop design requirements, perform piece part design, and coordinate fabrication, assembly, and qualification of hardware.
• Good verbal and written communications skills with ability to work in a team environment.
• Demonstrated leadership abilities.