Spacecraft Contamination Control Engineer (Part Time)
Columbus Technologies and Services· Information Technology And Services· Sep 15, 2026 · 1mo ago
Greenbelt, MD, US
In office
Part-time
Principal
$75–$150
10+ years exp
Job description
OVERVIEW
Must be a U.S. Citizen and successfully complete a U.S. Government background investigation.
Location: Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD
JOB DESCRIPTION
CTS is seeking an experienced Spacecraft Contamination Control Engineer to support advanced spaceflight programs at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD.
The engineer will provide subject matter expertise in the analysis, assessment, and verification of spacecraft contamination requirements and controls throughout the spacecraft lifecycle. The role includes contamination sensitivity assessments, contamination budgets and mitigation strategies, molecular and particulate transport analysis, and evaluation of contamination controls for flight hardware, payloads, and mission operations.
POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES
The qualified Candidate will:
• Evaluate contamination sensitivities, requirements, controls, budgets, and mitigation strategies for spacecraft, payloads, and associated hardware.
• Analyze molecular and particulate contamination sources, transport, and deposition, including potential impacts to spacecraft, payloads, instruments, and docking surfaces.
• Review and assess contamination control plans, analyses, verification approaches, and technical documentation throughout design, manufacturing, integration, testing, transportation, and operations.
• Support the development, review, and refinement of contamination-related requirements and verification approaches, including assessment of proposed compliance methods and verification evidence.
• Evaluate contamination risks associated with materials, hardware processing, cleaning, inspection, storage, transportation, and cleanroom environments.
• Participate in qualification, acceptance, and other testing activities and evaluate test results and demonstrated performance.
• Investigate contamination issues and anomalies, perform or support root-cause analysis, and evaluate proposed corrective actions.
• Apply flight and test experience, lessons learned, and engineering analysis to assess contamination risks, hardware acceptance criteria, and proposed design or process changes.
• Collaborate with thermal, fluids, propulsion, materials, systems engineering, mission design, and other disciplines to evaluate contamination interactions and integrated spacecraft performance.
• Provide independent technical assessments, identify risks and uncertainties, and develop recommendations for engineering and program leadership.
• Participate in technical reviews and engineering activities with spacecraft developers, test organizations, and other technical partners.
• Provide technical guidance and mentoring in spacecraft contamination control methods, analysis, and practices.
REQUIRED SKILLS
• B.S. degree in Engineering or related discipline and 10+ years of relevant experience, or M.S. degree and 7+ years of relevant experience.
• Experience determining contamination sensitivities and evaluating or developing contamination requirements based on instrument, payload, or system performance characteristics.
• Experience evaluating contamination controls across design, manufacturing, integration, test, and inspection activities.
• Experience with molecular and particulate contamination, outgassing, transport/deposition, cleanroom practices, materials, vacuum systems, and hardware cleaning and inspection methods.
• Experience with aerospace contamination control processes for spacecraft, launch systems, or other contamination-sensitive flight hardware.
• Must be a U.S. Citizen and successfully complete a U.S. Government background investigation.
• Strong technical communication and collaboration skills with the ability to work effectively across multidisciplinary engineering teams.
DESIRED SKILLS
• M.S. or Ph.D. in Engineering or related discipline.
• Experience with spacecraft docking contamination control, ISS, or other contamination-sensitive spaceflight systems.
• Experience applying NASA and industry contamination control standards and practices.
• Experience with contamination testing and characterization, including ASTM E595, E1559, E1216, or E1235.
• Experience with contamination modeling and analysis using tools such as Thermal Desktop, MATLAB, or specialized contamination analysis software.
• Experience with spacecraft or commercial spaceflight hardware through design, integration, qualification, test, or operations.
• Experience evaluating hardware acceptance criteria, verification evidence, technical risks, and corrective actions.
Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action
Columbus is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, marital status, age, national origin, veteran status, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. As a federal contractor, Columbus participates in the E-Verify Program to confirm eligibility to work in the United States.
Application prep
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- Platform
- adp-workforce-now
- Effort
- medium