Technical Fellow Loads and Dynamics

About the role

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.

What you will do

• 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.

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.

How you will be evaluated

All qualifications requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. To determine your qualifications and referral status, we may review your resume and compare it against your responses to the vacancy questionnaire. As part of the assessment, your resume will be assessed on SL Evaluation Criteria and used to place you into one of three quality groups.

These scores, along with your qualifications and supporting materials, will determine your referral status. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. These competencies will be assessed using technical assessments.

They may also be evaluated during a structured interview: Structural Dynamics Structural Impact Dynamics Characterization, Evaluation and Test Capability Technical Management Technical Work and Team Management Technical Competence Creativity and Innovation Developing Others Partnering Problem Solving Leadership Oral Communication Teamwork Under NASA's category rating process, applicants will be assessed on the position competencies and placed in one of three categories identified and defined below: Best Qualified Category - Applicants who demonstrate a superior level of all evaluation criteria.

Highly Qualified Category - Applicants who demonstrate a satisfactory level of the evaluation criteria. Qualified Category - Applicants who demonstrate the basic qualifications, with general knowledge, skills, and abilities. The panel reviews the resumes against each SL criterion.

Names of all qualified applicants in the Best Qualified category will be referred. Candidates may receive an interview for further evaluation and/or be asked to provide a list of references. The panel will make a recommendation to the appropriate approving authority.

Documents you must provide

• You must provide a complete application package.
• If you do not provide all required information, you will not be considered for this position.
• Only provide the following: RESUME: All applicants are required to submit a resume limited to two (2) pages (recommend PDF file) showing all relevant experience (start/end dates stated in month/year, description of duties), applicable education at a minimum, and your contact information.
• Your 2-page resume should also address the SL Evaluation Criteria.
• For current or previous Federal employees, it should also include the Pay Plan, Series and Grade for each work experience entry.
• Please see this guidance: What to include in your resume.
• Note: if any of the following types of information are included on your resume, you may be disqualified: Classified or government sensitive information.
• Social Security Number (SSN) Photos of yourself Personal information, such as age, gender, religious affiliation, etc. Encrypted and digitally signed documents.
• If your resume contains any of the above information, you must redact that information prior to the submission of your application.
• VACANCY QUESTION/ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONSES: Responses are automatically submitted through USAJOBS when you apply to this vacancy.
• You may be asked to provide additional documentation to support your eligibility and the information provided in your application package.
• For example, we may request transcripts, SF-50s, etc. Therefore, we encourage you to have these documents prepared and ready when requested.
• If you fail to provide the required documents within the stated time period, we may withdraw a job offer and/or remove you from further consideration.

What to expect next

Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification email. Your application will be evaluated by the Human Resources Office to determine your eligibility for the position. After the evaluation is complete, you will receive another notification regarding the status of your application.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact NASA Executive Staffing at ***.

Additional information

This position is concurrently advertised on USAJOBS and open to the public via announcement LaRC-27-SL-13099864, and only one selection will be made.

Only current federal employees on career, career conditional; NASA term appointments with conversion eligibility; current permanent federal employees of an excepted service agency with an OPM interchange agreement; and Veterans eligible under Veterans Employment Opportunity Act, are considered for this vacancy.

All other interested applicants should apply to announcement LaRC-27-SL-13099864. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may 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.

Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA): To be eligible for a VEOA appointment under Merit Promotion procedures, the veteran must be a preference eligible or a veteran separated after 3 years or more of continuous active service performed under honorable conditions.

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.