Senior Spacecraft Vibration Test Engineer

Midland, Texas (Relocation Assistance Provided)

About the Role

Senior Spacecraft Vibration Test Engineer – Sine Vibration Test Director

We are seeking an experienced Senior Vibration Test Engineer / Sine Vibration Test Director to take technical ownership of spacecraft vibration qualification and acceptance testing. This is a hands-on engineering leadership position focused on sinusoidal (swept-sine) vibration testing of spaceflight hardware. The successful candidate will be responsible for defining vibration test levels, determining notching strategies, authoring test procedures, leading Test Readiness Reviews (TRRs), and validating vibration test results. This is a Test Director position, not a shaker technician or purely analytical engineering role.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the Sine Vibration Test Director, providing technical direction throughout spacecraft vibration test campaigns.
• Establish and approve sinusoidal/swept-sine vibration test levels, profiles and acceptance criteria.
• Determine appropriate vibration notching strategies to protect flight hardware while satisfying qualification requirements.
• Author and maintain detailed vibration test plans, procedures and technical documentation.
• Lead Test Readiness Reviews (TRRs), ensuring hardware, instrumentation, procedures and test configurations are ready for execution.
• Direct test technicians during vibration testing, providing engineering decisions and technical oversight.
• Review and validate vibration test data to confirm test requirements have been satisfied.
• Generate, review and interpret pre-test and post-test low-level overlay plots to identify changes in structural response.
• Investigate vibration anomalies, unexpected resonances and deviations from expected hardware behavior.
• Collaborate with spacecraft structures, mechanical engineering, manufacturing and integration teams.
• Support spacecraft environmental qualification and acceptance campaigns.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering or a related engineering discipline.

Required Skills

• Demonstrated professional experience in sine vibration testing, including sinusoidal or swept-sine testing.
• Previous experience serving as a Vibration Test Director, Test Conductor or technical lead with responsibility for establishing test levels and determining notching.
• Proven experience authoring vibration test plans and procedures, rather than simply executing existing instructions.
• Demonstrated experience leading Test Readiness Reviews (TRRs).
• Experience reviewing and validating vibration test data.
• Direct experience creating and reviewing pre/post low-level vibration overlay plots.
• Ability to interpret vibration response data and make engineering decisions during testing.
• Experience providing technical direction to vibration test technicians.

Preferred Skills

• Spacecraft, satellite, launch vehicle or aerospace flight-hardware vibration testing experience.
• Experience with spacecraft environmental qualification and acceptance testing.
• Familiarity with random vibration, shock and modal testing.
• Experience interpreting frequency response functions (FRFs), resonance shifts and structural dynamic responses.
• Familiarity with vibration instrumentation, accelerometers and data acquisition systems.
• Knowledge of relevant spacecraft vibration test standards and qualification requirements.
• Experience investigating test anomalies and determining appropriate corrective actions.

We are particularly interested in engineers who have personally made these decisions during spacecraft or aerospace vibration qualification campaigns.