Hypersonic Wind Tunnel Lead Engineer - REMOTE

Salary StatementEstimated Starting Salary Range: USD $136,850.00/Yr. - USD $228,100.00/Yr. Salary to be determined by the education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the applicant, internal equity, and alignment with market data.DescriptionThis person could work onsite in Alexandria, VA, St. Paul, Minnesota, or Full-Time Remote if not open to relocating.We are seeking an experienced Test Facility Lead Engineer to provide comprehensive technical oversight for the design, integration, operation, and maintenance of new and existing large-scale hypersonic ground test capabilities while providing technical leadership to ensure that once functional, the facility and its systems operate safely, reliably, and in alignment with performance requirements. The Department of War (DoW) Test Resource Management Center (TRMC) plays a critical role in ensuring our warfighters maintain a decisive edge. TRMC ensures that the DoW components possess the appropriate test and evaluation (T&E) infrastructure required to develop and field military systems. Scientific Research Corporation supports TRMC by providing a Systems Engineering and Technical Advisory (SETA) support staff. This team delivers specialized technical expertise, engineering oversight, program management, and acquisition support to help the government design, manage, and deliver complex systems, in this case unique test infrastructure. The ideal candidate will be a transonic and supersonic wind tunnel subject matter expert with strong documentation and communication skills, personal accountability, and a desire to work as part of a collaborative team. This role is a critical part of the government’s oversight team, serving as the technical lead and trusted technical advisor for a cutting-edge hypersonic T&E infrastructure project. You will be responsible for the government-side oversight of a state-of-the-art high-speed / transonic and supersonic wind tunnel test capability. Under the oversight of the Chief Engineer and in coordination with other Test Facility Lead Engineers and the Construction Lead, the candidate will:Providing Technical Oversight & Contractor EvaluationServing as the primary technical advisor to the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), overseeing the design-build prime contractor’s design and execution of a wind tunnel test capabilityServing as the authoritative technical Point of Contact (POC), providing critical feedback and strategic guidance to the contractor to ensure designs align with government safety, reliability, and performance requirementsLeveraging deep expertise of wind tunnel design, wind tunnel operations, and wind tunnel test planning to identify, own, manage, and communicate technical risk, developing mitigation plans in partnership with the Assistant Project Manager (APM)Representing the government program office while attending contractor-chaired Integrated Product Team (IPT) meetings, Technical Interchange Meetings (TIMs), technical design reviews, and milestone reviews applying subject matter expertise to provide insights and communicate government questions and concerns to the contractorConducting detailed technical reviews of contractor-developed designs, drawings, specifications, and analyses such as Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)Validating contractor technical findings by performing independent verification analyses and coordinating with external SMEs, FFRDCs, UARCs, etc., to assess risk and inform government decisions Possessing and applying a strong safety ethos, leading and contributing to safety reviews and auditsContributing to programmatic planning by developing Statements of Work (SOW), Independent Government Cost Estimates (IGCEs), and facility requirement documentationCollaborating seamlessly within a highly matrixed team of mechanical, electrical, aerothermal, controls and instrumentation, and systems engineers, program management, program controls, physical security, cybersecurity, and construction professionalsReportingTranslating complex project data into decision-ready insights; lead executive briefings to present technical summaries, risk assessments, and recommendations to support government action and decisionsAdhering to, and reviewing internal and external work products for adherence to administrative and sensitive data protection guidelinesRequirementsBachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical discipline and 10+ years of experience in the aerospace or defense industryDirect experience with the design, construction, operation, and/or modernization of large-scale Test and Evaluation (T&E) facilities such as wind tunnels, arc jets, rocket stands, turbine cells, etc. Proven ability to conduct comprehensive technical reviews and assessments, resolve complex technical issues, and oversee project phases from initial design through closeoutExceptional communication skills wi