Airworthiness & Certification Engineer

Founded in 1918, Kearfott Corporation, a global Aerospace and Defense supplier for over 100 years, is a leader in the design and manufacture of precision motion control products and inertial navigation components.  Kearfott has a very long history of innovation and excellence and is the go-to brand for many of our global clients. Kearfott is trusted, respected and plays a vital role in the success of America’s aerospace and defense industries. With over a century of expertise & experience, Kearfott is dedicated to providing quality, reliability, and cutting-edge technology to customers worldwide to meet their sea, land, air, and space navigation and guidance requirements.

We are looking for talented individuals who want to be part of a world-class work force. Join Kearfott and become part of a company that is recognized for technical expertise and respected world-wide as a ‘full service’ provider.

For more information visit our website at www.kearfott.com

Airworthiness & Certification Engineer

The Airworthiness & Certification Engineer will support the development, verification, and certification of safety-critical airborne systems and products. The role works across systems, software, hardware, safety, quality, and program teams to plan, coordinate, and execute airworthiness and certification activities throughout the product development lifecycle.

The primary need is someone who can contribute to and, with experience, help manage the overall certification effort, including certification planning, compliance matrices, lifecycle data, verification evidence, audits, and certification documentation. Candidates with significant direct certification experience may take ownership of these activities; candidates with a strong aerospace engineering foundation and meaningful certification/design-assurance exposure may be developed into broader responsibility.

• Help plan and execute airworthiness and certification activities for safety-critical airborne systems and products.
• Work with engineering and program teams to identify certification requirements and required compliance evidence based on the applicable Airworthiness Certification Basis.
• Develop, maintain, and support certification plans, compliance matrices, verification evidence, lifecycle data, and certification documentation.
• Coordinate certification activities across systems, software, hardware, safety, quality, configuration management, suppliers, and program teams.
• Support preparation and maintenance of Airworthiness Certification Criteria Reports (ACCRs) and other required certification artifacts.
• Review engineering lifecycle data for traceability, completeness, and compliance with applicable requirements.
• Support certification reviews, audits, inspections, and interactions with customers, certification authorities, or delegated engineering organizations.
• Identify certification gaps, risks, and corrective actions and work with engineering teams to resolve them.
• Support safety-critical requirements and verification activities within MBSE and digital engineering environments.
• Contribute to improvements in airworthiness and certification processes, tools, templates, and practices.

• Support certification activities associated with RTCA/DO-178C for airborne software and RTCA/DO-254 for airborne electronic hardware.
• Support the development and/or review of certification planning and accomplishment documentation, including PSACs, PHACs, Software Accomplishment Summaries (SAS), Hardware Accomplishment Summaries (HAS), compliance matrices, and supporting lifecycle data.
• Assist with planning development and verification activities based on applicable Design Assurance Levels (DALs).
• Review requirements, design, verification, configuration management, quality/process assurance, and other lifecycle evidence for certification compliance.
• Support Software Quality Assurance (SQA), Software Configuration Management (SCM), hardware process assurance, supplier surveillance, and certification audits as applicable.
• Participate in selective lifecycle data reviews and audits against applicable DO-178C and DO-254 objectives.

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace, Electrical, Computer, Software, Systems, Mechanical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• Meaningful engineering experience supporting safety-critical aerospace or airborne products, including experience in systems, software, hardware, system safety, verification/validation, quality/process assurance, or certification.
• Direct exposure to airworthiness, certification, or design-assurance activities as part of an aerospace product development or certification program.
• Practical experience working within a safety-critical development environment governed by standards such as RTCA/DO-178C, RTCA/DO-254, ARP4754A/B, or ARP4761. Experience should extend beyond general familiarity or awareness of these standards.
• Experience contributing to or reviewing engineering lifecycle data used to demonstrate compliance, such as requirements, design data, verification/test evidence, traceability, configuration records, quality/process assurance records, compliance documentation, or certification artifacts.
• Understanding of requirements-based development, verification, traceability, configuration control, and/or process assurance as applied to safety-critical aerospace systems.
• Ability to review technical documentation and work across engineering disciplines to identify requirements, compliance evidence, gaps, and risks.
• Strong technical communication, organization, and documentation skills.
• Must be a U.S. Citizen and have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government Security Clearance.

• Direct experience supporting airworthiness or civil certification of airborne systems.
• Experience producing or formally reviewing PSACs, PHACs, SAS, HAS, certification plans, compliance matrices, accomplishment summaries, or similar certification artifacts.
• Working knowledge of both RTCA/DO-178C and RTCA/DO-254, including DALs, lifecycle data, verification, configuration management, and process assurance.
• Experience supporting certification audits, Stage of Involvement (SOI) reviews, or lifecycle data audits.
• Familiarity with ARP4754A/B and ARP4761.
• Experience with DOORS, MBSE, SysML, Cameo, or other digital engineering environments.
• Experience working with certification authorities, customers, DERs, ODAs, or military airworthiness organizations.
• Experience supporting multiple aircraft platforms, product variants, or integration spirals.

While this role is ideally based in our Pine Brook, NJ office, we are open to a remote arrangement for the right candidate. On-site participation is preferred to support close collaboration with engineering and program teams. Remote candidates with strong relevant experience may also be considered based on their ability to effectively support the certification effort and collaborate with the broader engineering organization.

In compliance with pay transparency requirements, the salary range for this role in New Jersey is $120,000 - $170,000 annually.  This is not a guarantee of compensation or salary, as final offer amount may vary based on factors including but not limited to job-related knowledge and skills, experience, and internal consistency.

Additionally, we offer a medical, prescription, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance, a 401(k) plan with company match, tuition assistance, paid vacation and sick days, paid holidays, and a 9/80 work week with every other Friday off. Our work environment embraces our people as we enjoy monthly employee events that celebrates our workplace culture.

Equal Opportunity Employer/including Disabled/Veterans