Software Assurance Engineer

APT Research is hiring a Software Assurance Engineer for our SMAS III contract. This position supports the ARES Safety and Mission Assurance Support (SMAS) III contract to provide onsite software safety assurance support for the NASA Safety & Mission Assurance (S&M) Division at Wallops Flight Facility (WFF). This work involves expertise and skills related to software safety engineering, hazard analyses, and software engineering process review with a focus on Commercial launch AFTU checks, WFF safety-critical software analysis updates, oversight of Wind Weighting and Balloons avionics development, and evaluation of control systems modifications.

APT offers competitive salaries, advancement opportunities that match your professional development interest, and excellent benefits including being voted as the best place for working parents. Our employees are owners, each share in the commitment to deliver safe, reliable, and innovative Analysis, Planning, & Test Solutions and services that exceed expectations, build employee pride of ownership, and optimize shareholder value.

• Provide software assurance and safety engineering support for NASA mission and project software, with emphasis on safety-critical systems and Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) operations.
• Support multiple small projects with compliance verification, hazard analysis, and lifecycle oversight in accordance with NASA standards (NPR 7150.2, NASA-STD-8739.8) and Range Commanders Council (RCC) requirements.
• Software Assurance & Safety Analysis:
• Classify software and assess criticality using NASA engineering requirements (NPR 7150.2, NASA-STD-8739.8)
• Develop and maintain software assurance plans, hazard analyses, and risk assessments
• Perform requirements, design, and implementation analyses for safety-critical systems, including code coverage, complexity metrics, and static analysis verification
• Maintain bi-directional traceability between requirements, design, implementation, tests, and hazard analyses
• Verification & Validation:
• Conduct process audits for compliance with NASA and safety-critical software standards
• Analyze test plans, procedures, and verification activities; witness safety-critical tests
• Monitor product integration and confirm test sufficiency
• Track non-conformances, perform root cause analysis, and maintain risk/concern logs
• WFF Flight Safety Support:
• Maintain safety-critical software inventory and support commercial launch provider evaluations
• Review and assess RCC 319 document tailoring and compliance plans
• Participate in Autonomous Flight Termination Unit (AFTU) development and provide launch operations support
• Evaluate proposals for flight systems modifications and new developments
• Program Support:
• Participate in milestone and peer reviews representing software safety
• Collect and analyze software assurance metrics; report task progress
• Coordinate with government on project schedules and deliverables

• Education:Bachelors degree in computer science or related
• Experience:A minimum of seven years of related experience
• Technical Knowledge:
  
  NASA software engineering standards and directives (NPR 7150.2, NASA-STD-8739.8, GSFC policies)
• Active DOD Clearance Required
• Software safety criticality assessment methodologies
• Hazard analysis techniques and risk assessment frameworks
• Software development lifecycle (SDLC) processes and best practices
• Core Competencies:
• Requirements analysis and traceability management
• Verification and validation (V&V) methodologies
• Process audit execution and compliance verification
• Code quality analysis (code coverage, cyclomatic complexity, static analysis)
• Safety-critical software identification and classification
• Analytical & Communication:
• Technical writing (software assurance…