Sr. Specialist, Systems Engineer (Environmental Qualification)

Responsibilities:

• Own the environmental qualification approach for assigned avionics products and programs in accordance with RTCA DO-160 and applicable customer, regulatory, and internal requirements.

• Develop and maintain environmental qualification plans, compliance matrices, test procedures, test readiness packages, configuration records, discrepancy documentation, and final qualification reports.

• Define applicable DO-160 sections, categories, methods, levels, operating modes, test configurations, monitoring requirements, and pass/fail criteria in coordination with design and certification stakeholders.

• Lead qualification planning and schedule integration, including test sequencing, laboratory reservations, article availability, instrumentation, fixtures, support equipment, staffing, and contingency planning.

• Chair or lead test readiness reviews and confirm that the test article, hardware and software baselines, procedures, laboratory capabilities, calibrated instrumentation, interfaces, and safety controls are ready before test start.

• Provide onsite or remote technical leadership during testing and serve as the primary engineering interface to internal laboratories and third-party qualification facilities.

• Assess test anomalies and failures, determine whether results are attributable to the product, test method, instrumentation, fixture, software, or laboratory setup, and lead containment and recovery planning.

• Coordinate and complete root-cause investigations, corrective actions, procedure updates, retest scope, regression testing, and certification impact assessments.

• Review laboratory data, plots, photographs, logs, calibration records, deviations, and draft reports for accuracy, completeness, traceability, and consistency with approved procedures.

• Maintain configuration control and traceability for qualification articles, modifications, software loads, test equipment, instrumentation, procedures, raw data, and final evidence.

• Provide environmental design guidance and lessons learned during requirements development, architecture reviews, detailed design reviews, and product change assessments.

• Communicate qualification status, schedule risk, failures, recovery plans, and compliance impacts to engineering and program leadership, customers, suppliers, and certification stakeholders.

• Mentor engineers and technicians in DO-160 planning, laboratory execution, data review, anomaly disposition, and qualification documentation.

• Coordinate and execute Environmental Test Campaigns.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.

• Bachelor's degree with a minimum of 9 years of relevant experience, or a graduate degree with a minimum of 7 years of relevant experience; avionics or aerospace experience is preferred.

• Demonstrated experience planning, executing, witnessing, or documenting environmental qualification testing to RTCA DO-160.

• Experience developing and executing qualification plans, test procedures, acceptance criteria, readiness-review material, discrepancy documentation, and formal test reports.

• Ability to interpret equipment requirements, system requirements, interface control documents, electrical schematics, mechanical drawings, and certification plans.

• Experience coordinating environmental laboratories, instrumentation, test fixtures, monitoring equipment, schedules, and technical support.

• Experience leading test anomaly investigations and making technically sound recommendations for corrective action and retest scope.

• Ability to manage several qualification activities simultaneously and communicate concise status, risks, decisions, and recovery plans.

• Ability to work independently with minimal oversight and lead cross-functional technical teams.

Additional Qualifications:

• Experience across several DO-160 (or MIL-STD-810) disciplines, including temperature and altitude, temperature variation, humidity, operational shock and crash safety, vibration, waterproofness, fluids susceptibility, sand and dust, fungus, salt fog, magnetic effect, power input, voltage spike, audio-frequency conducted susceptibility, induced signal susceptibility, radio-frequency susceptibility, emissions, lightning-induced transients, lightning direct effects, icing, electrostatic discharge, or flammability.

• Experience qualifying airborne surveillance or avionics products such as transponders, TCAS, ADS-B, displays, flight data recorders, or related Line Replaceable Units.

• Knowledge of ARP4754A, DO-178, DO-254, FAA or EASA certification practices, configuration management, and compliance evidence development.

• Experience reviewing third-party laboratory procedures, instrumentation lists, calibration records, raw data, plots, photographs, deviations, and final reports.

• Experience with requirements-management, configuration-control, data-analysis, and issue-tracking tools.