Network Engineer - NASA Lunar Surface Analogue Field Testing

Houston, TX

Full Time

Mid Level

We are seeking a talented Network Engineer with experience in traditional TCP/IP networking and especially in wireless 3GPP cellular networking to join a small team working on challenging and unique (primarily wireless) network test environments. These wireless networks are intended to be deployed around NASA Johnson Space Center as well as "Lunar Surface"-like remote environments in the United States and abroad. This role will have you acting as a secondary (but independently capable) subject matter expert on the design, development, and integration of 3GPP (4G, 5G cellular), Wi-Fi, satellite Internet, and wired networking technologies in support of NASA's Joint Extravehicular Activity & Human Surface Mobility Test Team (JETT). Candidates with experience in wireless networking, Linux, scripting, and troubleshooting in unique, challenging environments are encouraged to apply. For traditional network engineers who are willing to travel periodically and deploy networks in non-traditional environments, this is an opportunity to adapt your expertise to the unique challenges of space missions. For experienced junior engineers with a strong drive for self-learning, this is a chance to learn about niche, difficult wireless networking problems and technologies for use in a location where 'the Internet' as we know it might not exist.

Key Responsibilities:

Maintain an existing 5G-SA cellular network using a variety of COTS equipment
Work with a senior engineer on designing and deploying a variety of different 3GPP, Wi-Fi, and wired network architectures as needed to support NASA's JETT testing
Travel 4-5 times per year in support of NASA JETT tests: Travel may range from days to weeks, both CONUS and OCONUS
Serve as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for research, development, and verification of wireless networking, both on the infrastructure side as well as wireless nodes/endpoints (Wi-Fi stations, 3GPP UEs, etc.)
Maintain and improve on existing Linux SBC wireless clients that function as Wi-Fi stations, 3GPP UEs, and wireless hotspots
Collaborate with additional NASA partners to ensure network requirements for successful field tests
Develop scripts and implement automation to handle disaster recovery, network failover, and redundancy
Stay current with the newest wireless technologies, Linux single board computers, and especially 3GPP-related software/hardware

Required Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent industry experience.
Excellent oral and written communication skills, capable of interacting with stakeholders in all roles and levels of the organization.
Experience in independent, unsupervised management and maintenance of wireless networks, particularly in challenging, possibly internet-disconnected environments
Experience in headless Linux environments, strong command line skills needed

Desired Qualifications:

Hands on experience with any of the following:
- Nokia RAN
- Airspan RAN
- Druid Raemis core
- Any enterprise Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) deployment/management experience
- Any 3GPP RAN/core experience
- Wi-Fi network site surveying, design, and deployment
- Networking and routing in hierarchical networks
- Bash command line interface experience and management of systems over SSH
Networking technologies such as: VLANs, QoS, QCI/5QI, routing, and subnetting
Comfort in working in potentially difficult environments and semi-frequent travel
- You will be asked to support NASA JETT tests as a field engineer, these tests can be in sandy, hot environments as well as cold, rough environments

Citizenship or lawful permanent resident required due to federal position.

About METECS:

We are a high-performance team providing advanced engineering, software, and analysis solutions for human space flight and terrestrial applications. We develop and integrate custom software for NASA and other government and commercial customers utilizing a wide variety of in-house, commercial, and open-source technologies. Our specialties include robotics automation, embedded systems, hardware/software integration, multibody dynamics simulations, immersive computer graphics, XR systems and advanced web-based tools.

METECS is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability/vets.

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Network Engineer - NASA Lunar Surface Analogue Field Testing

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