Aerospace Engineer, AST, Safety & Mission Assurance

Duties

Provide day-to-day leadership of the Office of Planetary Protection within NASA's Office of Safety and Mission Assurance; lead or support the development of planetary protection policy, technical standards, and protocols.

Maintain planetary protection policies and standards and oversight of their implementation by space flight missions; ensure the coordination of mission oversight activities and reporting with relevant Technical Authority personnel.

Provide flight program and project oversight, technical assessments, and implementation reviews of NASA's planetary protection policies and guidelines by spaceflight missions of national or international significance.

Identify and propose solutions to management problems which are of major importance to planning program direction and compliance with international treaty obligations; evaluate the acceptability of planetary protection plans and reports.

Facilitate collaborative projects involving planetary protection personnel from multiple NASA centers and commercial spaceflight industries to advance biological cleanliness technology and share best practices for spacecraft assembly and launch.

Offer expert technical advice and serve as an authoritative source of information for decisions and guidance concerning the management of the total planetary protection program effort.

Publish and present on lessons learned and technical advances in the field of planetary protection; keep pace with current scientific methods, emerging technologies and mission objectives in collaboration with NASA and external stakeholders.

Serve as an expert consultant providing technical engineering advice on planetary protection policies and practices regarding flight projects with NASA involvement and commercial space activities.