Sr. Reliability and Maintenance Engineer- (DoD US Citizen Required)

Location: Richardson / Plano, TX

The Ranger Group’s Direct Hire Search practice has been engaged by a leading Defense & Advanced Systems OEM in the Richardson/Plano area to identify a Senior Reliability & Maintainability Engineer for a high-visibility role within their Specialty Engineering organization.

This position plays a critical part in ensuring the performance, survivability, and maintainability of ruggedized, mission-critical electro-mechanical and embedded computing systems deployed in harsh operating environments.

Engineers in this group collaborate across hardware, systems, embedded software, test, and specialty engineering disciplines to optimize system performance throughout the full product lifecycle—from concept and bid through design, development, production, deployment, and sustainment.

As a Senior Reliability & Maintainability Engineer, you will work as part of a multidisciplinary systems engineering team and serve as the program’s subject-matter expert for reliability, maintainability, and durability engineering.

This includes developing and assigning R&M requirements, performing reliability predictions, creating and reviewing analyses, leading failure investigations, and participating in internal and external design reviews.

Success in this role requires strong communication skills, the ability to translate complex technical findings to diverse audiences, and the experience to guide less-senior engineers in R&M best practices.

• Derive, develop, allocate, and manage R&M requirements across all phases of the program lifecycle.

• Apply R&M engineering principles within a systems engineering framework, including production systems and support equipment.

• Perform reliability predictions at the component, subsystem, and system level (mechanical, electrical, and electro-mechanical).

• Conduct MTBF, MTBCF, MTTR, and Operational Availability analysis.

• Generate and review analysis artifacts and documentation consistent with US Military DIDs.

  Failure Analysis & Corrective Action

  • Lead FRACAS activities, driving root-cause investigations and determining corrective actions.

  • Perform Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Failure Mode, Effects, and Criticality Analysis (FMECA), and severity assessments.

  • Conduct failure trend analysis at component, interface, subsystem, and system levels.

    Testing & Screening

    • Support or lead Environmental Stress Screening (ESS) and Highly Accelerated Life Testing (HALT).

    • Assess reliability impacts of design updates and changes; approve or recommend modifications as needed.

    • Review engineering designs across mechanical, structural, and electrical domains for R&M impacts.

      Documentation & Design Reviews

      • Prepare R&M documentation, analyses, guidelines, and technical reports.

      • Participate in internal and external design reviews as the program’s R&M authority.

        Leadership, Training & Collaboration

        • Mentor engineers on reliability and maintainability methodologies and best practices.

        • Actively contribute to a collaborative, cross-functional engineering culture.

          Minimum Qualifications

          • BS in Mechanical, Aerospace, or related technical field 10 years of relevant experience

            — OR —

            MS 8 years of experience.

          • Active DoD Secret (or higher) clearance with investigation within the last 6 years.

          • Minimum 5 years of hands-on reliability engineering including root-cause analysis and reliability prediction per MIL-HDBK-217 and related standards.

          • Experience with MIL-HDBK-338, MIL-HDBK-1629A, FMEA, FMECA, FRACAS processes.

          • Broad working knowledge across mechanical, structural, and electrical reliability.

          • Comfortable operating in fast-paced, dynamic product development environments.

            Preferred Qualifications

            • Experience with DoD/aerospace development practices, BOEs, RFPs, and ROM estimates.

            • Familiarity with probability, statistics, mathematical modeling, and mechanical modeling.

            • Experience with Windchill, approved reliability prediction methodologies, or simulation tools.

            • Electrical circuit and schematic literacy.

            • Background in aircraft system reliability or environmental testing.

            • Exposure to MBSE tools (e.g., Cameo).

            • Ability to determine the appropriate evaluation method (quantitative vs. qualitative) for various R&M challenges.