Project Manager

Are you passionate about human space exploration, understanding the origins of the universe, and working with a passionate and diverse team to make a difference? If you are, we need you! We need your talent, teamwork, and energy to help us achieve great things that inspire people all over the globe. We need you to bring creative ideas and diverse backgrounds to help us envision, shape, and deliver systems that will enable the exploration of space while benefiting people here on Earth. We are excited about what we do, and we need you on our team as we take on exciting challenges for NASA's pursuits in deep space exploration. We have an exciting opportunity for a Project Manager to join our JETS II contract team at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX . Responsibilities Lead the overall planning and execution of a quick‑turn design‑build‑certify‑integrate project supporting HLS / Blue Origin vehicle integration milestones. Develop and maintain the integrated project plan, including scope, schedule, budget, staffing, procurement, design maturity, test readiness, certification, delivery, and integration milestones. Coordinate project execution across mechanical design, drafting, electrical design, avionics/data acquisition, project engineering, systems engineering, test, safety/certification, and customer stakeholders. Drive early definition and closure of project fundamentals, including team structure, funding path, interface ownership, technical authority path, certification approach, minimum viable test program, and delivery expectations. Establish and manage the project's critical path, with particular focus on design maturity, long‑lead procurements, instrumentation/DAQ approach, vehicle power and C&DH interfaces, fabrication lead times, qualification/protoqualification testing, and integration readiness. Lead regular project status reviews, risk reviews, action tracking, interface coordination, and decision forums. Coordinate with vehicle interface owners, suit‑system stakeholders, vehicle integration teams, and internal engineering organizations to ensure project decisions remain aligned with vehicle launch and integration needs. Ensure the mass simulator design can accommodate evolving suit mass properties, including center of gravity, moment of inertia, ballast strategy, and fidelity trade decisions. Manage technical, schedule, cost, and interface risks associated with changing suit design data, uncertain load environments, evolving mass‑property targets, and late‑breaking certification or integration requirements. Support definition of the appropriate test and certification approach, including functional testing, design review, mass‑properties verification, vibration testing, data acquisition verification, and environmental test rationale. Ensure project documentation, design artifacts, certification products, interface agreements, risk posture, and delivery records are maintained at a level appropriate for flight integration hardware. Escalate issues early when technical uncertainty, resource gaps, funding delays, or external interface dependencies threaten the project's ability to meet delivery and integration commitments. Qualifications Typically requires a minimum of a bachelor's degree in Engineering and normally possess 5‑10 years of related experience. License and certification may be required. Demonstrated experience leading complex technical projects involving hardware design, build, test, certification, and delivery. Experience managing rapid‑turn or schedule‑constrained aerospace, defense, flight hardware, test article, ground support equipment, or vehicle integration projects. Strong technical literacy across mechanical design, electrical/avionics interfaces, instrumentation, test planning, hardware certification, and integrated system delivery. Demonstrated ability to lead multidisciplinary teams through ambiguous early project definition while maintaining execution momentum. Experience building and maintaining integrated schedules, risk registers, action trackers, staffing plans, and project status products for technical leadership and customer stakeholders. Ability to manage interface‑heavy projects involving multiple organizations, evolving requirements, and external customer dependencies. Experience coordinating design reviews, test readiness reviews, certification readiness, hardware delivery, and integration planning. Ability to identify when a project requires systems engineering discipline, project engineering ownership, formal requirements closure, or additional technical authority engagement. Strong communication skills, including the ability to translate technical uncertainty into clear schedule, cost, risk, and decision impacts. Demonstrated ability to operate with urgency while preserving sound engineering judgment and disciplined configuration control. Preferred Qualifications NASA, JSC, Artemis, HLS, EVA, spacesuit, vehicle integration, or human spaceflight project experience. Experience supporting flight hardware, flight‑like test articles, mass simulators, structural test articles, payload integration, or instrumented hardware. Experience with load environments, vibration testing, mass properties, CG/MOI verification, protoqualification or qualification test planning, or minimum certification approaches. Experience coordinating vehicle power, C&DH, data acquisition, telemetry, instrumentation, or avionics interface work. Experience working with various NASA engineering organizations and/or commercial spaceflight partners. Experience managing projects with compressed funding windows, evolving CLIN/task‑order structures, or incremental authorization to proceed. Experience leading teams where design, procurement, test, certification, and integration activities must overlap due to schedule constraints. Experience/familiarity within the EA‑WI‑023 framework for project execution. Benefits Competitive pay Positive work‑life balance 100% Employer paid insurance including Medical, dental, vision, life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, short‑term disability, and long‑term disability 11 paid holidays annually Generous PTO 401k after 12 months of service with employer match Education assistance Relocation assistance (if applicable) US Citizenship and the ability to pass a comprehensive security background investigation is required. Mclaurin is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status or other characteristics protected by law. #J-18808-Ljbffr Socket.dev