Research Engineering/Scientist Associate I, II, or III

General Notes

US permanent residency or citizenship is required due to sponsor requirements.

About Us

The Center for Space Research (https://csr.utexas.edu) is an Organized Research Unit of the Cockrell School of Engineering. Our mission is to carry out scientific research from spaceborne platforms, in service to society, while educating all.

With over $10 million in annual funding from various federal sponsors, and working on four operating space missions, the CSR team is at the forefront of architecting, operating, and science analysis for space missions. These missions use tracking measurements of orbital motion or the measurements of the force field near the satellite to make inferences about planet Earth. For us, the satellite is the instrument, so that our understanding of the aerospace engineering of the space mission is intimately connected with our scientific data analysis. Our Earth science data products are recognized globally as setting the standard, and are utilized by geoscience investigators worldwide. Our staff and students engage and research the latest data science paradigms together with deep physical insights to carry out “parts-per-billion” discovery.

Situated in the heart of Austin — named “America’s Coolest City” by Expedia and “The Best Place to Live in the U.S.” by U.S. News and World Report — UTCSR embodies UT Austin’s pioneering history in spaceflight and discovery from space.

Join us and work on the complete life-cycle of space missions, in operation, in implementation, and in formulation phases. CSR employees work with mission teams at national labs and with international partners for the implementation of flight missions and scientific data analysis. For an early career engineer, this job offers an excellent opportunity to learn, to contribute, and to gain a variety of aerospace skills in a collegial, informal environment while visibly making a mark in the profession.

Benefits: UT Austin, recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Best Large Employers (https://www.forbes.com/colleges/university-of-texas-at-austin/?sh=79284d054eb6), provides outstanding employee benefits (https://hr.utexas.edu/prospective/benefits) and total rewards (https://hr.utexas.edu/current/services/my-total-rewards) packages that include:

• Competitive health benefits (employee premiums covered at 100%, family premiums at 50%),
• Voluntary Vision, Dental, Life, and Disability insurance options,
• Generous paid vacation, sick time, and holidays,
• Teachers Retirement System of Texas, a defined benefit retirement plan, with employer matching funds,
• Additional Voluntary Retirement Programs: Tax Sheltered Annuity 403(b) and a Deferred Compensation program 457(b),
• Flexible spending account options for medical and childcare expenses,
• Robust free training access through LinkedIn Learning plus professional conference opportunities,
• Tuition assistance,
• Expansive employee discount program including athletic tickets,
• Free access to UT Austin's libraries and museums with staff ID card,
• Free rides on all UT Shuttle and Austin CapMetro buses with staff ID card,
• For more details, please see Benefits | Human Resources (https://hr.utexas.edu/prospective/benefits) and UT Austin Employee Experience | Human Resources (https://hr.utexas.edu/current/services/my-total-rewards).

What Starts Here Changes the World
UTCSR is looking for a “good, sound, forward looking aerospace engineer”, at the title of RESA-I/II/III to join our team.

Purpose

The RESA I, II, or III is needed to carry out spaceflight engineering activities in support of our engagement with the GRACE Follow-On, GRACE-Continuity, and the QGG Pathfinder missions operated or in development by an international team led by Caltech/Jet Propulsion Lab. The needed work spans the gamut of spaceflight engineering including mission design, flight dynamics, requirements verification for flight systems, science traceability and requirements flowdown, and support for operations and science analyses.

Responsibilities

• Support spaceflight systems engineering activities, such as requirements development, interface definition, and verification & validation planning.
• Perform data analysis of flight telemetry and housekeeping data to monitor spacecraft health, evaluate system performance, and assess impacts of the space environment (thermal, radiation, orbital dynamics, etc.).
• Support the development of science data systems for upcoming missions, including data pipelines, analysis and visualization tools, quality analysis and quality control strategies, and integration with mission operations.
• Conduct trade studies to evaluate alternative mission design approaches.
• Prepare clear technical reports, presentations, and briefings to communicate results, recommendations, and project status to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Other related functions as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• RESA I: Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering or a related field.
• RESA II: Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering or a related field or BS and two years' experience in Aerospace Engineering or related field.
• RESA III: MS and two years’ experience in Aerospace Engineering or a related field, or BS and four years’ experience in Aerospace Engineering or related field.

For all levels:

• Familiarity with space flight environment and spaceflight systems engineering.
• Strong foundation in aerospace systems and space flight dynamics.
• Ability to carry out spaceflight analysis, including relevant data analysis.
• Programming and data analytics skills.

Relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.

Preferred Qualifications

Strong verbal communication and teamwork skills; technical writing skills; analytical, critical thinking and problem-solving skills; time-management skills to enable on-time project delivery.

Ability to take the initiative and drive for results, and to work effectively in an interrupt-driven, fast-paced and rapidly changing environment.

Proficiency in, or demonstrated ability to quickly become proficient in:

• Systems engineering practices (requirements, verification & validation, interface control).
• Ability to analyze flight telemetry and housekeeping data to assess spacecraft health and space environment effects.
• Proficiency in data analysis and programming (Python, MATLAB, FORTRAN, C++ or similar).
• Familiarity with database management systems, in particular TimescaleDB/PostgreSQL and/or MongoDB.
• Familiarity with visualization interfaces such as Grafana and Plotly.

Salary Range

• RESA I: $70,000+ depending on qualifications
• RESA II: $80,000+ depending on qualifications
• RESA III: $90,000+ depending on qualifications

Working Conditions

• May work around standard office conditions