ADV000CPE Project Manager (A) in Houston, Texas at Aerodyne Industries

Aerodyne Industries is a dynamic, rapidly growing engineering and information technology services firm headquartered on Florida’s exciting Space Coast. With location throughout the US, we take pride in delivering small business agility with large corporation capabilities. Our list of clients count on us to prepare NASA’s Missions to the Moon and Mars and to defend our nation supporting the Missile Defense Agency and Department of Defense.  Join the adventure of a lifetime by becoming a teammate with Aerodyne Industries and work on projects that will define our future.

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 the team with Aerodyne Industries, a teammate company.

Position Summary

We are seeking a Project Manager to lead a rapid-turn design, build, certification, test, and integration effort for a Suit Mass Simulator supporting a vehicle launch campaign planned for 2027. This project is expected to move quickly from concept refinement through hardware delivery and vehicle integration, with a near-term target of approximately five months for design maturity, fabrication, test, certification, and delivery.

The Suit Mass Simulator will represent the mass properties of the flight suit system in a stowed launch configuration and will mechanically interface with the vehicle's don/doff station. The hardware is expected to support launch-loads characterization by capturing loads/environmental data during vehicle operation. The final configuration may include mechanical mass-simulator hardware, adjustable ballast or mass-property refinement features, instrumentation, data acquisition, vehicle power interfaces, and C&DH/telemetry interfaces.

This role requires a technically fluent PM who can lead across mechanical design, electrical/avionics design, project engineering, systems engineering, test, certification, procurement, customer/interface management, and schedule execution in a highly compressed timeframe. The successful candidate must be comfortable operating in an environment where requirements, interfaces, funding path, technical margins, and certification approach are still being clarified while execution is already underway.

The ideal candidate is not simply a project administrator. This role requires a PM who can understand the engineering conversation well enough to know when a mechanical design concern, avionics interface issue, certification gap, test limitation, or evolving mass-property target is becoming a project-level risk.

This person should be comfortable leading a fast-moving team where the plan is being built while the project is already in motion. They should be able to impose structure without slowing the team down, force clarity on interfaces and decision ownership, and keep the project moving toward delivery without allowing unresolved technical assumptions to quietly become schedule debt.

Key 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.

Resumes, in month and year format, must be submitted with application in order to be considered for the position.

Qualifications

Requisition Qualifications:

This position has been posted at multiple levels. Depending on the candidate's experience, requirements, and business needs, we reserve the right to consider candidates at any level for which this position has been advertised.

• 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.

Requisition Preferences:

• 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 loads 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.

Why Join Our Team?

In addition to exciting career opportunities, we also have:

• Excellent personal and professional career growth
• 9/80 work schedule (every other Friday off), when applicable
• Onsite cafeteria (breakfast & lunch)
• Much, much more!

Additional Information

• Proof of U.S. Citizenship or US Permanent Residency may be a requirement for this position.
• Must be able to complete a U.S. government background investigation.
• Management has the prerogative to select at any level for which the position is advertised.

Essential Functions

Work Environment

Generally, an office environment, but can involve inside or outside work depending on task.

Physical Requirements

Work may involve sitting or standing for extended periods (90% of time). May require lifting and carrying up to 25 lbs. (5% of time).

Equipment and Machines

Standard office equipment (PC, telephone, printer, etc.).

Attendance

Regular attendance in accordance with the established work schedule is critical. Ability to work outside normal schedule and adjust schedule to meet peak periods and surge requirements.

Other Essential Functions

Professional behavior that enhances productivity and promotes teamwork and cooperation. Grooming and dress must be appropriate for the position and must not impose a safety risk/hazard to the employee or others.

US EEO Statement

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, disability, veteran status, age, marital status, pregnancy, genetic information, or other legally protected status.

Salary Range Statement