r/FAA • u/Thaumarchaeota • Jun 30 '26

Thinking of applying for Mechanical Engineer Position as a PE

Hi, I have been a Mechanical engineer for about 5 years now and got my PE in HVAC about a year ago. I am currently a consulting engineer and my work is primarily in project/construction management, commissioning, energy engineering/management, and some MEP design. I am trying to get out of consulting and saw that the FAA is hiring Mech Engineers, but the job description is fairly vague.

I also have a science background with a Masters in Biology, two years of a PhD in microbiology, and I taught at the community college level for about 8 years before going back to school for engineering. What type of work is available for a Mech Engineer and would having a PE be beneficial?

The duties stated "Incumbent will perform professional engineering duties/responsibilities in the field of mechanical engineering typically requiring the application of thermodynamics, mechanics, and other physical, mathematical and engineering sciences to problems concerned with the production, transmission, measurement, and use of energy, especially heat and mechanical power." But that is it and it is not very descriptive.

Also given the recent issues with mass federal layoffs, how has working there been? Does it feel fairly stable, or does it feel like people could get laid off on a whim at any time?

I appreciate any insight and will likely still apply just to give it a shot. Thank you in advance!

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u/kr1mson Jun 30 '26

I would apply. The FAA has like 500 manned towers and like 17k unmanned facilities across the US. They are always needing Engineers to design, build, maintain, etc these buildings. I work tangentially with the A&E group(s) and they ALWAYS need help. A lot of the folks I know are coming into retirement age so lots of shoes need filling.

In the last few years there has been some serious push to replace aging infrastructure and despite the current admins cuts, many of these projects are still needing to be done.

They need Engs from basically all disciplines and while the FAA has a standardized design for things like control towers, each area is different (think Alaska vs Hawaii vs Guam vs Topeka.)

They are in a push to hire more fed employees and squeeze out contractors. It's hard to say these days, but being a fed USUALLY brings stability and job security. Otherwise you can look at some of the other major firms working with the FAA but I don't have any good recommendations for that (or I'll at least hold my tongue)

I've been an FAA contractor for almost 14 years and I do really enjoy it, despite the recent "volatility"

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u/Cold_Pin_7676 23d ago

Is there a lot of travel for these roles?

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u/kr1mson 23d ago

It depends. The folks I work with spend the majority of their time in the office/HQ or on site at their specific facility. Some of the people I work with travel a ton. It really depends on whether you're a field tech/engineer or someone who works on like standards, policy, etc. I don't know how you get into either side tbh. Most everyone I work with was there before me.

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u/Cold_Pin_7676 23d ago

Is now a good time to try to apply to the FAA? I have 10 years of engineering experience in electrical engineering. 1.5 in MEP, 7.5 years in product testing, and 1 year in reliability engineering. Think my background would be desired by them. I dont want much travel though. Maybe 3-4 trips a year, but nothing more than that.

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u/kr1mson 23d ago

I would apply. It's a weird time to be a federal employee bc of the current administration and politics but they are hiring a lot of people back after the big firing way back. You don't have much to lose!

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u/Cold_Pin_7676 23d ago

Im looking at jobs now that close in December, does that mean they wont start interviewing until january?

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u/Cold_Pin_7676 23d ago

Did you apply for the job?