Certification Engineer
Location: Newport News, VA
Job Type: Contract
Starting Pay: $60/hour, with higher pay available based on experience
Position Overview
We are seeking a Certification Engineer to support aircraft modification, repair, and certification programs. This role coordinates certification activities from initial planning through testing and approval, ensuring engineering work and supporting documentation meet applicable regulatory, military, customer, and airworthiness requirements.
You will work across Mechanical, Electrical, Design, Stress, Production, Quality, and Program Management teams while coordinating with FAA representatives, DERs, ODA organizations, customers, suppliers, and military authorities.
Key Responsibilities
- Establish certification strategies, plans, and means of compliance for aircraft modifications, repairs, and certification programs.
- Identify applicable FAA, military, customer, and airworthiness requirements.
- Prepare and maintain compliance matrices, certification plans, engineering reports, Instructions for Continued Airworthiness (ICA), and related certification records.
- Coordinate technical reviews, conformity inspections, regulatory approvals, and certification activities with internal and external stakeholders.
- Review engineering drawings, analyses, reports, test plans, specifications, and other technical data for compliance.
- Develop and coordinate ground tests, flight tests, conformity inspections, and compliance demonstrations.
- Support fabrication, installation, troubleshooting, testing, and aircraft modification activities.
- Participate in engineering design reviews and advise on certification strategy, regulatory compliance, continued airworthiness, and project risks.
- Maintain certification information under configuration control.
- Support improvements to certification procedures, engineering standards, and lessons-learned programs.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
- Experience supporting aircraft certification, modifications, repairs, or aerospace product development.
- Working knowledge of FAA regulations, STC processes, FAA Form 337 major alteration processes, and ICA.
- Experience developing or reviewing compliance matrices, engineering reports, test plans, conformity documentation, and certification artifacts.
- Familiarity with regulatory guidance, military airworthiness requirements, and aerospace industry standards.
- Ability to interpret engineering drawings, analyses, specifications, and technical documentation.
- Strong analytical, organizational, written, verbal, and technical communication skills.
- Ability to coordinate effectively with Engineering, Production, Quality, Program Management, customers, suppliers, FAA representatives, DERs, ODA organizations, and military authorities.
- Ability to work in office and aircraft hangar environments.
- U.S. Citizenship or Permanent Resident status.
Preferred Qualifications
- 5+ years supporting aircraft certification, STC programs, military airworthiness, or other regulated aerospace programs.
- Experience developing certification plans, means of compliance, and certification strategies.
- Familiarity with MIL-HDBK-516C and military aircraft modification programs.
- Experience coordinating conformity inspections, ground testing, flight testing, and compliance demonstrations.
- Experience preparing engineering reports, compliance documentation, ICA, and certification packages.
- Familiarity with aircraft systems, structures, avionics integration, and aircraft modification practices.
- Experience with configuration management, engineering release processes, and AS9100 quality systems.
- Experience supporting continued operational safety, post-certification engineering, certification scheduling, and project risk management.
Success in This Role
- Accurate and complete certification plans, compliance documentation, engineering reports, and supporting records.
- Certification deliverables completed according to project schedules and priorities.
- Effective coordination of regulatory reviews, testing, inspections, and certification activities.
- Compliance with applicable regulatory, military, customer, and company requirements.
- Timely response to engineering, production, testing, and certification needs.
- Effective identification, communication, and resolution of certification risks and compliance issues.
- Continued improvement of certification processes, engineering standards, and lessons learned.
