Zachary Piper Solutions is seeking a Flight Assurance Mechanisms Engineer to join a mission‑critical team supporting the quality, reliability, and mission assurance of spacecraft mechanisms across their full lifecycle located onsite in TX.
This role is quasi-quality/mission assurance focused, with a strong emphasis on process rigor, inspections, and anomaly resolution rather than hands‑on design work. The position plays a key role in ensuring flight hardware meets stringent safety, reliability, and regulatory requirements for a high‑cadence satellite production environment.
Key Responsibilities:
- Own and execute flight assurance methods, plans, and processes across the full mechanisms lifecycle, including design, manufacturing, assembly, test, and integration, ensuring alignment with program schedule, cost, quality, and safety requirements.
- Perform independent inspections at defined hold and witness points during assembly, test, and integration of high‑complexity flight mechanisms.
- Review and approve assembly work instructions and test procedures prior to execution across functional and environmental test campaigns.
- Track qualification and verification activities, including test readiness reviews (TRR), TVAC testing, life testing, and final test completion sign‑off.
- Execute mechanisms buyoff at key lifecycle stages with objective evidence, while defining and maintaining audit and acceptance criteria.
- Own the nonconformance process end‑to‑end, including documentation, dispositioning, and leading root cause corrective action investigations across design, manufacturing, and test.
- Prepare and maintain assurance documentation such as assurance plans, risk mitigation strategies, nonconformance reports, waivers, deviations, and compliance reports.
- Conduct and support vendor surveillance activities for critical mechanism suppliers, including review of build records and acceptance test data.
- Track fleet‑wide reliability trends and in‑family performance data across production lines; participate in anomaly reviews and ensure corrective actions are fully implemented and verified.
- Maintain mechanisms‑specific lessons learned and ensure corrective actions are physically verified on subsequent builds (not documentation‑only closure).
- Represent Flight Assurance in major program milestones and reviews (PDR, CDR, TRR, FRR), acting as an independent authority on quality and mission readiness.
Qualifications:
- 3+ years of experience in flight/mission assurance, quality engineering, or reliability engineering supporting aerospace hardware programs.
- Demonstrated experience with anomaly investigations, nonconformance disposition, and corrective action implementation.
- Experience supporting qualification and verification testing, including witnessing environmental or functional tests (TVAC, vibration, shock, or life testing preferred).
- Strong understanding of quality processes, documentation control, and hardware lifecycle assurance practices.
- Familiarity with aerospace standards such as AIAA, ECSS, NASA, or MIL specifications is preferred.
- Experience in high‑volume or production‑focused aerospace environments is a plus.
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related field.
- Proficiency with PLM/document control systems (e.g., Windchill, Jira, Autodesk), MS Office, and CAD viewing tools (SolidWorks, CATIA, etc.).
- Strong analytical, organizational, and problem‑solving skills with a detail‑oriented mindset.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, particularly in technical documentation and reporting.
- Ability to independently manage assurance responsibilities and interface cross‑functionally with engineering, manufacturing, and test teams.
Compensation:
- Salary Range: ~$85,000-$100,000 for mid‑level engineers, $100,000-$140,000+ for senior engineers (based on experience)
- Comprehensive Benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision, PTO, Sick Leave as required by law, and Holidays
- Additional Benefits: 10K Relocation bonus, $5K Temporary housing stipend, RSUs: 750-5000 units, monthly stipend: $750-$1000, and Unlimited PTO (after 90 days)
- Must be eligible to work in the United States and pass a background check
- Location: 100% onsite in West TX
Key words:
flight assurance, mission assurance, quality engineering, reliability engineering, aerospace hardware, spacecraft mechanisms, nonconformance management, root cause analysis, corrective actions, failure investigation, anomaly resolution, quality systems, process improvement, inspection planning, witness points, hold points, hardware verification, validation testing, qualification testing, test readiness review (TRR), flight readiness review (FRR), preliminary design review (PDR), critical design review (CDR), assembly integration and test (AIT), environmental testing, thermal vacuum (TVAC), vibration testing, shock testing, life cycle testing, mechanical systems, electromechanical assemblies, configuration management, document control, compliance reporting, waiver and deviation processing, audit and surveillance, supplier quality, vendor oversight, build record review, acceptance testing, production quality, high-volume manufacturing, fleet data trending, lessons learned tracking, risk assessment, risk mitigation, standards compliance, AIAA standards, ECSS standards, NASA standards, MIL-STD, PLM systems, Windchill, Jira, CAD review, SolidWorks, CATIA, data analysis, technical documentation, cleanroom operations, inspection execution, test witnessing, hardware buyoff, regulatory compliance, subsystem assurance, cross-functional collaboration, manufacturing quality, systems engineering support, defect tracking, continuous improvement, aerospace production environment