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Software Assurance Engineer

Full Time Professional Wallops Island, VA, US

This position supports the ARES Safety and Mission Assurance Support (SMAS) III contract to provide onsite software safety assurance support for the NASA Safety & Mission Assurance (S&MA) Division at Wallops Flight Facility (WFF). This work involves expertise and skills related to software safety engineering, hazard analyses, and software engineering process review with a focus on Commercial launch AFTU checks, WFF safety-critical software analysis updates, oversight of Wind Weighting and Balloons avionics development, and evaluation of control systems modifications.

Provide software assurance and safety engineering support for NASA mission and project software, with emphasis on safety-critical systems and Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) operations. Support multiple small projects with compliance verification, hazard analysis, and lifecycle oversight in accordance with NASA standards (NPR 7150.2, NASA-STD-8739.8) and Range Commanders Council (RCC) requirements.

Key Responsibilities

• Software Assurance & Safety Analysis
• Classify software and assess criticality using NASA engineering requirements (NPR 7150.2, NASA-STD-8739.8)
• Develop and maintain software assurance plans, hazard analyses, and risk assessments
• Perform requirements, design, and implementation analyses for safety-critical systems, including code coverage, complexity metrics, and static analysis verification
• Maintain bi-directional traceability between requirements, design, implementation, tests, and hazard analyses
• Verification & Validation
• Conduct process audits for compliance with NASA and safety-critical software standards
• Analyze test plans, procedures, and verification activities; witness safety-critical tests
• Monitor product integration and confirm test sufficiency
• Track non-conformances, perform root cause analysis, and maintain risk/concern logs
• WFF Flight Safety Support
• Maintain safety-critical software inventory and support commercial launch provider evaluations
• Review and assess RCC 319 document tailoring and compliance plans
• Participate in Autonomous Flight Termination Unit (AFTU) development and provide launch operations support
• Evaluate proposals for flight systems modifications and new developments
• Program Support
• Participate in milestone and peer reviews representing software safety
• Collect and analyze software assurance metrics; report task progress
• Coordinate with government on project schedules and deliverables
• Technical Knowledge
• NASA software engineering standards and directives (NPR 7150.2, NASA-STD-8739.8, GSFC policies)
• Software safety criticality assessment methodologies
• Hazard analysis techniques and risk assessment frameworks
• Software development lifecycle (SDLC) processes and best practices
• Core Competencies
• Requirements analysis and traceability management
• Verification and validation (V&V) methodologies
• Process audit execution and compliance verification
• Code quality analysis (code coverage, cyclomatic complexity, static analysis)
• Safety-critical software identification and classification
• Analytical & Communication
• Technical writing (software assurance plans, hazard analyses, audit reports, assessments)
• Metrics collection, trending, and analysis
• Stakeholder coordination and presentation skills
• Root cause analysis and problem-solving
• Multi-project coordination and prioritization
• Will need to complete training courses on Software Safety for Practitioners, Intermediate Software Reliability, Systems Safety Engineering, and Software Failure Modes, Effects, and Criticality Analysis and Fault Tree Analysis as well as 392-WI-7150.4 Software auditor skills training in order to perform process audits

Preferred Qualifications

• Range Commanders Council (RCC) standards, particularly RCC 319 and Appendix A
• NASA Range Safety and Payload Safety requirements
• Autonomous Flight Termination Unit (AFTU) systems knowledge
• Flight safety systems and launch operations experience
• Commercial launch vehicle operations and oversight
• Government project support and contracting environments
• Experience with safety-critical embedded systems
• Familiarity with Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) operations
• Experience with antenna control units, avionics systems, or flight termination systems
• Software architecture and detailed design analysis for mission-critical applications
• Prior participation in milestone reviews as software safety representative

Education

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Computer Science or related field;
• 7 years of related experience preferred

ARES offers a competitive compensation and benefit package. Full time employees may participate in:

• Medical Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• HSA/FSA Accounts
• Life & Disability Insurance
• Critical Illness & Accident Insurance
• ESOP
• 401(k) Plan
• Paid Time Off & Holidays

ARES is an equal opportunity employer and complies with E-Verify. We believe in hiring a diverse workforce and fostering an inclusive culture. We are committed to non-discrimination on any protected basis, such as disability and veteran status, or any other basis covered under applicable law. ARES shall abide by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-1.4(a), 60-300.5(a) and 60-741.