NASA contractors
I am looking actively for a job at NASA, after my internship there a few years ago I learned most of the employees are working for contractors and not as federal GS employees. Anyone have insight on what contractors hire at Johnson Space Center Texas ? I know Jacobs Engineering is one of them.
Boeing is a huge source of contractors for manned spaceflight stuff (esp Marshall where they're doing ISS and SLS rocket stuff). My center, JPL, uses Raytheon and Columbus heavily as a source for temporary people. Technically even full time JPLers are contractors to NASA, but we also hire on a significant chunk of temp labor as needed through those agencies and others. But literally searching Raytheon Pasadena jobs should return a bunch of JPL postings.
Hey , I manage several contracts at JSC and on the engineering side there’s SGT , Boeing , Spacex , TTI, ( Yulista for aircraft maintenance )and of course Jacobs ... there are more but I can’t think of any now ... Usually on the GS side the best way to get in is through pathways . We do hire in at the 14 and 15 level , but that’s usually for engineers with about 10 years of experience or more from my understanding .
Thanks for the information, I have looked at pathways but those positions are also posted on usajobs and are pretty rare since I started looking about the last 3-4 months. It sounds like a good way to become GS is go for a contracting position and gain the years of experience needed for then apply for GS.
Unfortunately that seems like the most feasible route . PM me if you have any specific questions .. I’m trying to get out ( Interviewing with FAANG currently )so I can give you more insight , lol .. I also have some engineering buddies who are trying to leave for better opportunities due to a myriad of factors .
Depends on the contract and/or group. Take a look at people's email addresses and you'll see what companies they work for, sometimes even the contract they're on. If you find the contract name, Google it to figure out what companies are working on it or what companies are bidding on that contract. NASA, as well as many government agencies, don't like hiring many GS employees these days due to mandatory quotas where HR priorities certain demographics over skills required for a job (often out of control of the group hiring), low pay bands (especially a problem at Ames and JPS due to CoL), and the inability to fire civil servants. Many contractors in the government actually make more than their GS counterparts, but this isn't always the case.