Senior Loads & Dynamics Engineer

Senior Loads & Dynamics Engineer

NASA Spacecraft & Launch Vehicles

Kennedy Space Center, FL

U.S. Citizenship is required by Federal Law

We are hiring a Senior Loads & Dynamics Engineer at Kennedy Space Center, FL, to support NASA's Transportation Engineering Support (TENS) effort and Moon Base Transportation (MBT) Office. This role focuses on spacecraft and launch vehicle structural dynamics, coupled loads analysis, finite element analysis (FEA), modal analysis, vibration and acoustic testing, mechanical shock, and flight hardware qualification using NASTRAN, FEMAP, MATLAB, Python, and related engineering tools.

This position supports NASA's lunar transportation initiatives through independent engineering assessments of spacecraft, payloads, launch vehicles, and integrated transportation systems. Responsibilities include evaluating structural loads, dynamic environments, analytical models, hardware test results, model correlation, and verification evidence to determine flight readiness. Candidates must bring extensive aerospace structural analysis experience and practical flight hardware testing expertise. The position may be filled at the Senior Engineer or Subject Matter Expert (SME) level based on experience and technical qualifications.

Responsibilities:

• Perform independent technical assessments of spacecraft, payload, launch vehicle, and integrated transportation system loads and structural dynamics, including analytical methods, assumptions, models, margins, and engineering conclusions.
• Conduct and evaluate coupled loads analysis (CLA), finite element analysis (FEA), modal analysis, and structural dynamics assessments for aerospace flight hardware.
• Develop and review finite element models, evaluating mass properties, stiffness, damping, boundary conditions, load paths, interfaces, model fidelity, and sensitivities.
• Analyze modal, transient, frequency response, sine vibration, random vibration, acoustic, and mechanical shock environments associated with launch and spaceflight operations.
• Evaluate quasi-static loads, inertial acceleration (g-loads), structural responses, and dynamic amplification affecting spacecraft, payloads, components, and interfaces.
• Assess acoustic loading environments and test results, including sound pressure levels (SPL), frequency-dependent acoustic spectra, and structural responses.
• Evaluate random vibration power spectral density (PSD), acceleration responses, test tolerances, notching strategies, response limits, and qualification or acceptance criteria.
• Analyze mechanical shock environments using shock response spectra (SRS), time-history data, hardware response measurements, and applicable verification requirements.
• Identify critical structural modes, load paths, dynamic sensitivities, interface loads, acceleration levels, and potential structural failure mechanisms.
• Manipulate mass and stiffness matrices and develop reduced-order dynamic models using Component Mode Synthesis, Craig-Bampton reduction, and related analytical techniques.
• Support and independently assess flight hardware structural and environmental testing, including modal surveys, vibration, acoustic, shock, and other dynamic qualification tests.
• Review test requirements, plans, procedures, instrumentation, input environments, response limits, acceptance criteria, and technical reports to evaluate hardware qualification and flight readiness.
• Perform pre-test analytical predictions, post-test data evaluations, and structural model correlation using measured flight hardware or flight-like hardware responses.
• Investigate test anomalies, exceedances, unexpected structural responses, and verification discrepancies; assess root causes, hardware impacts, corrective actions, retest requirements, and flight rationale.
• Identify bounding test environments, critical modes, sensitive interfaces, off-nominal conditions, and potential failure modes to improve analytical and verification coverage.
• Develop and review structural test plans, qualification and acceptance criteria, engineering procedures, verification documentation, and technical reports.
• Participate in NASA technical reviews, design reviews, test readiness reviews, test activities, and engineering assessments with spacecraft providers, launch vehicle providers, and contractors.
• Coordinate with structures, mechanical systems, mechanisms, guidance, navigation and control (GN&C), propulsion, thermal, mission design, and systems engineering teams to evaluate integrated vehicle performance.
• Present technical findings, structural margins, test results, analytical sensitivities, qualification risks, and engineering recommendations to NASA and multidisciplinary program stakeholders.
• Use commercial and internally developed engineering analysis tools, including Python, MATLAB, C, C , and related programming languages, to perform and automate structural dynamics analyses.
• Maintain configuration control, technical documentation, peer reviews, and traceability of analytical models, engineering assumptions, test data, and verification results.
• Travel as required to support engineering reviews, structural testing, and NASA program activities.

Qualifications:

• U.S. Citizenship required by law or government contract
• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or another applicable engineering discipline from an accredited engineering school.
• Minimum 10 years of relevant professional experience in aerospace loads analysis, structural dynamics, structural testing, finite element analysis, or spacecraft and launch vehicle structural analysis.
• Demonstrated experience performing or independently reviewing dynamic finite element analysis, coupled loads analysis, modal analysis, and structural dynamics assessments.
• Experience using structural analysis and finite element modeling software such as NASTRAN, FEMAP, or comparable engineering tools.
• Experience using Python, MATLAB, C, C , or similar engineering analysis and scripting tools.
• Experience supporting structural or environmental testing of flight hardware or flight-like aerospace hardware, including test planning, execution, data evaluation, or analytical model correlation.
• Knowledge of acoustic loading, random vibration, mechanical shock, quasi-static loads, inertial acceleration environments, and aerospace structural response.
• Experience interpreting random vibration PSDs, shock response spectra, acoustic sound pressure levels, acceleration responses, dynamic amplification, and structural modes.
• Ability to independently evaluate complex analytical models, including assumptions, inputs, boundary conditions, methodologies, fidelity, sensitivities, and engineering conclusions.
• Ability to translate structural dynamics analyses and test results into engineering assessments of hardware risks, structural margins, qualification status, and flight readiness.
• Demonstrated technical judgment in evaluating complex aerospace engineering issues and independently assessing structural analysis and test evidence.
• Ability to communicate technically defensible engineering findings, risks, and recommendations to multidisciplinary engineering teams, customers, and program leadership.
• Ability to collaborate across engineering disciplines while maintaining the independent technical judgment required for objective engineering assessments.
• Ability to work full-time onsite at Kennedy Space Center, FL, and travel as required.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• Additional directly relevant aerospace loads and structural dynamics experience and demonstrated technical depth suitable for a Subject Matter Expert (SME) role.
• Experience analyzing spacecraft, launch vehicles, lunar landers, payloads, or other flight hardware exposed to launch and spaceflight dynamic environments.
• Demonstrated experience performing coupled loads analysis for spacecraft, launch vehicles, payloads, or integrated aerospace systems.
• Experience planning, conducting, witnessing, or independently evaluating flight hardware qualification, protoflight, and acceptance testing.
• Experience with modal surveys, sine vibration, random vibration, acoustic testing, mechanical shock testing, and structural model correlation.
• Experience developing and evaluating test input levels, response limits, vibration notching strategies, instrumentation plans, abort criteria, and acceptance criteria.
• Experience assessing launch acoustic environments, random vibration PSDs, shock response spectra, inertial acceleration environments, and quasi-static flight loads.
• Experience correlating finite element and structural dynamics models with measured test data from flight hardware or flight-like aerospace structures.
• Experience supporting spacecraft or launch vehicle development through design reviews, verification, qualification, acceptance testing, anomaly resolution, and flight readiness.
• Proficiency with MSC Nastran, Simcenter Nastran, FEMAP, or equivalent finite element and structural dynamics software.
• Experience with Component Mode Synthesis, Craig-Bampton reduction, superelements, and reduced-order structural modeling.
• Experience using multibody or nonlinear dynamic analysis software such as LS-DYNA, Adams, or comparable tools.
• Experience developing, customizing, or automating structural engineering analysis processes through scripting or software development.
• Experience independently evaluating engineering analyses, qualification testing, and verification evidence produced by spacecraft manufacturers, launch vehicle providers, or other aerospace organizations.
• Familiarity with NASA structural loads, dynamics, environmental testing, verification, qualification, and flight readiness practices and standards.

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