NASA APPEL Project Management and Systems Engineering Competency Model

Common

SystemsEngineering

Project Management & Systems Engineering

COMPETENCY MODEL

Begin your journey by clicking the competency areas to the left and learn more about advancing your career as a project manager and systems engineer at NASA.

Launching NASA’s workforce toward a new frontier.

Project Management

SE 2.1 Product Implementation

SE 1.0 SYSTEM DESIGN

SE 1.4 Design Solution Definition

SE 3.6 Technical Data Management

SE 3.4 Technical Risk Management

SE 2.5 Product Transition

SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

SE 2.0 PRODUCT REALIZATION

SE 2.2 Product Integration

SE 1.0 SYSTEM DESIGN Developing stakeholder expectations, defining technical requirements, performing logical decomposition, and defining design solutions to result in a validated set of requirements and a design solution that will meet requirements and satisfy the set of stakeholder expectations.

SE 3.2 Requirements Management

SE 3.3 Interface Management

SE 3.1 Technical Planning

SE 3.7 Technical Assessment

SE 3.8 Technical Decision Analysis

SE 1.3 Logical Decomposition

SE 1.2 Technical Requirements Definition

SE 3.0 TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT

SE 1.1 Stakeholder Expectation Definition & Management

SE 3.5 Configuration Management

SE 2.3 Product Verification

SE 2.4 Product Validation

SE 2.0 PRODUCT REALIZATION

SE 3.0 TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT

SE 1.0 SYSTEM DESIGN

Click below to see related courses for this competency.Related Courses Click below to see proficiencies for each role.Team Practitioner/Technical Engineer Team Lead/Subsystem Lead Project Manager/Project Systems Engineer Program Manager/Chief Engineer

SE 1.1 Stakeholder Expectation Definition & Management Eliciting and defining use cases, scenarios, concept of operations and stakeholder expectations. This includes identifying stakeholders, establishing support strategies, establishing a set of Measures of Effectiveness (MOEs), validating stakeholder expectation statements, and obtaining commitments from the customer and other stakeholders, as well as using the baselined stakeholder expectations for product validation during product realization.

SE 1.2 Technical Requirements Definition Transforming the baseline stakeholder expectations into unique, quantitative, and measureable technical requirements expressed as “shall” statements that can be used for defining the design solution. This includes analyzing the scope of the technical problems to be solved, defining constraints affecting the designs, defining the performance requirements, validating the resulting technical requirement statements, defining the Measures of Performance (MOPs) for each MOE, and defining appropriate Technical Performance Measures (TPMs) by which technical progress will be assessed.

SE 1.3 Logical Decomposition Transforming the defined set of technical requirements into a set of logical decomposition models and their associated set of derived technical requirements for lower levels of the system, and for input to the design solution efforts. This includes decompositioning and analyzing by function, time, behavior, data flow, object, and other models. It also includes allocating requirements to these decomposition models, resolving conflicts between derived requirements as revealed by the models, defining a system architecture for establishing the levels of allocation, and validating the derived technical requirements.

SE 1.4 Design Solution Definition Translating the decomposition models and derived requirements into one or more design solutions, and using the Decision Analysis process to analyze each alternative and for selecting a preferred alternative that will satisfy the technical requirements. A full technical data package is developed describing the selected solution. This includes generating a full design description for the selected solution; developing a set of ‘make-to,’ ‘buy-to,’ ‘reuse-to,’ specifications; and initiating the development or acquisition of system products and enabling products.

SE 2.0 PRODUCT REALIZATION Delivering the completed system of interest that meets the design specifications and stakeholder expectations. This includes producing products; acquiring, reusing or coding products; integrating products into higher level assemblies; verifying products against design specifications; validating products against stakeholder expectations; and transitioning products to the next level of the system.

SE 2.1 Product Implementation Generating a specific product through buying, making, or reusing so as to satisfy the design requirements. This includes preparing the implementation strategy; building or coding the produce; reviewing vendor technical information; inspecting delivered, built, or reused products; and preparing product support documentation for integration.

SE 2.2 Product Integration Assembling and integrating lower-level validated end products into the desired end product of the higher-level product. This includes preparing the product integration strategy, performing detailed planning, obtaining products to integrate, confirming that the products are ready for integration, preparing the integration environment, and preparing product support documentation.

SE 2.3 Product Verification Proving the end product conforms to its requirements. This includes preparing for the verification efforts, analyzing the outcomes of verification (including identifying anomalies and establishing recommended corrective actions), and preparing a product verification report providing the evidence of product conformance with the applicable requirements.

SE 2.4 Product Validation Confirming that a verified end product satisfies the stakeholder expectations for its intended use when placed in its intended environment and ensuring that any anomalies discovered during validation are appropriately resolved prior to product transition. This includes preparing to conduct product validation, performing the product validation, analyzing the results of validation (including identifying anomalies and establishing recommended corrective actions), and preparing a product validation report providing the evidence of product conformance with the stakeholder expectations baseline.

SE 2.5 Product Transition Transitioning the verified and validated product to the customer at the next level in the system structure. This includes preparing to conduct product transition, evaluating the product and enabling product readiness for product transition, preparing the product for transition (including handling, storing, and shipping preparation), preparing sites, and generating required documentation to accompany the product.

SE 3.0 TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT Managing technical activities during the project life cycle.

SE 3.1 Technical Planning Planning for the application and management of each common technical process, as well as identifying, defining, and planning the technical effort necessary to meet project objectives. This includes preparing or updating a planning strategy for each of the technical processes, and determining deliverable work products from technical efforts; identifying technical reporting requirements; identifying entry and success criteria for technical reviews; identifying product and process measures to be used; identifying critical technical events; defining cross domain interoperability and collaboration needs; defining the data management approach; identifying the technical risks to be addressed in the planning effort; identifying tools and engineering methods to be employed; and defining the approach to acquire and maintain technical expertise needed. This also includes preparing the Systems Engineering Management Plan (SEMP) and other technical plans; obtaining stakeholder commitments to the technical plans; and issuing authorized technical work directives to implement the technical work.

SE 3.2 Requirements Management Managing the product requirements, including providing bidirectional traceability, and managing changes to establish requirement baselines over the life cycle of the system products. This includes preparing or updating a strategy for requirements management; selecting an appropriate requirements management tool; training technical team members in established requirement management procedures; conducting expectation and requirements traceability audits; managing expectation and requirement changes; and communicating expectation and requirement change information.

SE 3.3 Interface Management Establishing and using formal interface management to maintain internal and external interface definition and compliance among the end products and enabling products. This includes preparing interface management procedures, identifying interfaces, generating and maintaining interface documentation, managing changes to interfaces, disseminating interface information, and conducting interface control.

SE 3.4 Technical Risk Management Examining on a continual basis the risks of technical deviations from the plans, and identifying potential technical problems before they occur. Planning, invoking, and performing risk-handling activities as needed across the life of the product or project to mitigate impacts on meeting technical objectives. This includes developing the strategy for technical risk management, identifying technical risks, and conducting technical risk assessment; preparing for technical risk mitigation, monitoring the status of each technical risk, and implementing technical risk mitigation and contingency action plans when applicable thresholds have been triggered.

SE 3.5 Configuration Management Identifying the configuration of the product at various points in time, systematically controlling changes to the configuration of the product, maintaining the integrity and traceability of product configuration, and preserving the records of the product configuration throughout its life cycle. This includes establishing configuration management strategies and policies, identifying baselines to be under configuration control, maintaining the status of configuration documentation, and conducting configuration audits.

SE 3.6 Technical Data Management Identifying and controlling product-related data throughout its life cycle; acquiring, accessing, and distributing data needed to develop, manage, operate, support, and retire system products; managing and disposing data as records; analyzing data use; obtaining technical data feedback for managing the contracted technical efforts; assessing the collection of appropriate technical data and information; maintaining the integrity and security of the technical data, effectively managing authoritative data that defines, describes, analyzes, and characterizes a product life cycle; and ensuring consistent, repeatable use of effective Product Data and Life-cycle Management processes, best practices, interoperability approaches, methodologies, and traceability. This includes establishing technical data management strategies and policies; maintaining revision, status, and history of stored technical data and associated metadata; providing approved, published technical data; providing technical data to authorized parties; and collecting and storing required technical data.

SE 3.7 Technical Assessment Monitoring progress of the technical effort and providing status information for support of the system design, product realization, and technical management efforts. This includes developing technical assessment strategies and policies, assessing technical work productivity, assessing product quality, tracking and trending technical metrics, and conducting technical, peer, and life cycle reviews.

SE 3.8 Technical Decision Analysis Evaluating technical decision issues, identifying decision criteria, identifying alternatives, analyzing alternatives, and selecting alternatives. Performed throughout the system life cycle to formulate candidate decision alternatives, and evaluate their impacts on health and safety, technical, cost, and schedule performance. This includes establishing guidelines for determining which technical issues are subject to formal analysis processes; defining the criteria for evaluating alternative solutions; identifying alternative solutions to address decision issues; selecting evaluation methods; selecting recommended solutions; and reporting the results and findings with recommendations, impacts, and corrective actions.

C 2.0 HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

C 3.1 Security

C 5.2 Knowledge Sharing

C 4.0 PROFESSIONAL & LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

C 2.1 Staffing & Performance

C 4.1 Mentoring & Coaching

C 1.1 Agency Structure, Mission, & Internal Goals Management

C 3.3 Safety & Mission Assurance

C 1.0 NASA INTERNAL & EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENTS

C 3.0 SECURITY, SAFETY, & MISSION ASSURANCE

C 1.0 NASA INTERNAL & EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENTS Understanding the three main components of NASA Internal and External Environments: agency structure, mission, and internal goals; understanding NASA project management/systems engineering procedures and guidelines; and understanding NASA's external relationships.

COMMON

C 4.4 Ethics

C 3.2 Workplace Safety

C 1.2 NASA Project Management/ Systems Engineering Procedures & Guidelines

C 4.3 Leadership

C 2.2 Team Dynamics & Management

C 5.0 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

C 4.2 Communication

C 5.1 Knowledge Capture & Transfer

C 1.3 External Relationships

C 2.0 HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

C 3.0 SECURITY, SAFETY, & MISSION ASSURANCE

C 4.0 PROFESSIONAL & LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

C 5.0 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

C 1.1 Agency Structure, Mission & Internal Goals Management Adapting one's work approach and style to match NASA’s functional, social, cultural, and political structure in order to achieve agency, mission directorate, field center, and program and project goals.

C 1.0 NASA INTERNAL & EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENTS

C 1.2 NASA Project Management/Systems Engineering Procedures & Guidelines Structuring activities to comply with relevant agency and center processes and guidelines, including NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR) 7120.5 and NPR 7123.1

C 1.3 External Relationships Maintaining cognizance of the policies and procedures of other organizations. This includes participating in professional societies or organizations; contributing to professional development activities; researching best practices from external sources (e.g., industry standards, procedures, regulations, universities); and developing applicable international partnerships and agreements and complying with International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) international agreements and standards.

C 2.0 HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT Managing all team personnel elements to achieve a coherent, efficient, and effective project team including: identifying, recruiting, selecting, managing, and evaluating team members.

C 2.1 Staffing & Performance Identifying, recruiting, selecting, managing, and evaluating the team members to achieve a coherent, efficient, and effective team. This includes vigorous open communications, decision-making processes, and working relationships.

C 2.2 Team Dynamics & Management Managing all team aspects of the workforce including: working cooperatively with diverse team members, designing, facilitating, and managing team processes, developing and implementing strategies to promote team morale and productivity, and motivating and rewarding the performance of team members. This includes managing relationships among team members, customers, stakeholders and partners, facilitating brainstorming sessions and team meetings, resolving conflict, negotiating and problem solving; communicating; collaborating.

C 3.0 SECURITY, SAFETY, & MISSION ASSURANCE Managing a project’s impact on external as well as internal elements to best ensure success.

C 3.1 Security Analyzing and evaluating projects’ ecological implications to ensure compliance with environmental regulations, and the safety of product users, the workforce, and the public. This includes developing an environmental impact statement and analyzing hazards.

C 3.2 Workplace Safety Applying systems safety analysis techniques throughout the project life cycle and integrating critical hazard elimination/mitigation measures into risk management and safety plans.

C 3.3 Safety & Mission Assurance Implementing activities associated with ensuring the safety of personnel, property, and success of the project. This includes environmental impact statements; hazards analyses, elimination, and mitigation; mishap investigations; failure review boards; the flight safety review process; and safety mission assurance as well as risk management planning.

C 4.0 PROFESSIONAL & LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Supporting the development of professional and leadership qualities among all members of the program/project team. This includes mentoring and coaching; supporting NASA culture and functional training opportunities; managing oral and written communication to ensure all individuals are aware of status and decisions that affect them; recognizing and rewarding individuals for their personal achievements; and behaving ethically and complying with federal government policies at all times.

C 4.0 PROFESSIONAL & LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

C 4.1 Mentoring & Coaching Acting as an advisor, sponsor, or confidant who shares knowledge about NASA’s functional, social, cultural, and political aspects. This includes counseling others to cultivate skills in order to enhance individual, team, and organizational performance and growth.

C 4.2 Communication Implementing strategies for clear and constructive communication—both internally within the project team and externally to stakeholders, technical experts, contractors, and others. This includes communicating decisions in a timely manner.

C 4.3 Leadership Influencing, inspiring, and motivating individuals and teams to accomplish goals; creating conditions in which individuals and teams can be effective; and recognizing and rewarding individual and team achievements.

C 4.4 Ethics Demonstrating integrity, ethical conduct, and acceptable behavior in all project activities in line with federal government principles.

C 5.0 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Capturing, documenting, and sharing lessons learned and best practices in an organized fashion to reduce risk and improve performance on future programs/projects through the use of NASA processes and systems.

C 5.1 Knowledge Capture & Transfer Identifying, capturing, evaluating, and transferring knowledge in an organized fashion to improve performance and reduce risk associated with future programs, systems, and projects.

C 5.2 Knowledge Sharing Sharing organizational practices and approaches related to generating, capturing, and disseminating know-how and other content relevant to NASA’s business and processes.

PM 13.0 Systems Engineering

PM 4.0 Acquisition Management

PM 17.0 Technology & Engineering Development

PM 3.0 Requirements Development & Management

PM 1.0 Project Proposal

PM 15.0 Project Control

PM 7.0 Risk Management

PM 12.0 Contract Management

PM 6.0 Cost Estimating

PM 8.0 Earned Value Management

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

PM 10.0 Project Lifecycle

PM 9.0 Safety & Mission Assurance

PM 16.0 Project Review & Evaluation

PM 2.0 Stakeholder Management

PM 18.0 Decommissioning /Disposal & Archival of Data

PM 1.0 Project Proposal Conceptualizing, analyzing, and defining program/project plans and concepts and using technical expertise to write, manage, and submit winning proposals; involving management of crosscutting technical and programmatic teams to develop functional, physical, and operational architectures, including life cycle costing.

PM 14.0 Tracking/ Trending of Project Performance

PM 11.0 Budget & Resource Management

PM 5.0 Project Planning

PM 2.0 Stakeholder Management Identifying, soliciting, and managing interrelationships with those individuals and organizations that are actively involved in the project, who exert influence over the project and its results, or whose interests may be positively or negatively be affected as a result of project execution or project completion.

PM 3.0 Requirements Development & Management Developing project requirements using defined systems engineering tools and processes, such as functional analysis, decomposition, mission and system trades, assessment and validation of assumptions, peer reviews, and risk balancing; identifying key and driving requirements; finalizing project requirements into the baseline; and managing project requirements so that scope is maintained within acceptable schedule, cost, technological, and risk boundaries; defining, developing, verifying, reviewing, and managing changes to program/project requirements.

PM 4.0 Acquisition Management Developing, implementing, and monitoring acquisition strategies, procurement processes, contract activities, and approval requirements to support flight hardware/software, service/support, or other project requirements.

PM 5.0 Project Planning Developing effective project management plans, including integrating elements of small, moderate, and complex projects (e.g., scope definition, governance structure, WBS, control plans, schedule and resource estimation and allocation) for all project phase activities, from concept to operation and disposal.

PM 6.0 Cost Estimating Developing credible cost estimates to support a variety of studies, affordability analyses, strategic planning, capital investment decision making, and budget preparation during project planning. This includes engaging and negotiating with line organizations and subcontractors to achieve sound cost and schedule estimates, establish appropriate UFE/Reserves and schedule slack to establish a credible estimate, and provide information for independent assessments as required.

PM 7.0 Risk Management Identifying and analyzing risks and their impact; developing and implementing strategies for risk mitigation; tracking risks and implementing continuous risk-management plans; knowing and applying risk-management principles in relation to the Risk-Informed Decision Making (RIDM) and Continuous Risk Management (CRM) processes consistent with programs/projects for selecting alternatives and for identifying, analyzing, planning, tracking, controlling, communicating, and documenting individual, aggregate risks for the purpose of meeting program/project objectives within stated risk tolerance levels. This includes communicating risk information to all project/program levels and all stakeholders.

PM 8.0 Earned Value Management This competency pertains to identifying and developing Earned Value Management (EVM) requirements for applicable major acquisitions (in-house and contract). This includes developing effective EVM Implementation Plans for projects with EVM requirements; establishing, assessing, and maintaining the project Performance Measurement Baseline (PMB); assessing reliability of supplier’s PMBs through the Integrated Baseline Review process; reviewing monthly EVM performance data/metrics; developing informed estimates of future cost and schedule performance; and taking appropriate actions to mitigate risks.

PM 9.0 Safety & Mission Assurance This competency pertains to understanding and applying Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) to NASA projects, including System Safety, Reliability & Maintainability, Quality Engineering & Assurance, Software Assurance, and Operational Safety in accordance with NASA Safety and Mission Assurance strategies, policies, and standards. This includes Integrating SMA into the program/project plans throughout the life cycle, with a responsibility to ensure personnel, assets, and flight and ground safety and mission assurance and ensuring SMA requirements are planned, estimated, and implemented into the life cycle of the project.

PM 10.0 Project Lifecycle Developing and executing plans to implement and manage the project life cycle phases, gates, major events (e.g., Key Decision Points, Life-Cycle Reviews), and principal documents that govern the conduct of each phase, including project closeout and decommissioning/disposal.

PM 11.0 Budget & Resource Management Executing NASA and center budgeting processes for annual (e.g., Programming, Planning, and Budgeting Execution (PPBE)) and life cycle budget projections ensuring consistency between resource availability and project resource needs (e.g., funding, civil servant Full Time Equivalent employees, contractor Work Year Equivalents, procurement, and facilities). This includes advocacy, budget and operating plan development and management, and allocation of financial, facilities, and other resources.

PM 12.0 Contract Management Performing acquisition management and monitoring contractor activities to ensure hardware/software components are delivered on time at projected costs and meet all contract requirements. This includes performing variance reporting, changing control functions, evaluation of contractor performance, control of contract changes, and determination and approval of contract award fees throughout the design.

Click below to see related courses for this competency.Related Courses

Click below to see proficiencies for each role.

Team Practitioner/Technical Engineer

Team Lead/Subsystem Lead

Project Manager/Project Systems Engineer

Program Manager/Chief Engineer

PM 13.0 Systems Engineering See Systems Engineering Competencies.

PM 14.0 Tracking/Trending of Project Performance Monitoring and evaluating cost, schedule, and technical performance metrics, project risks, and earned value data to analyze, assess, and report program/project status, technical, and programmatic performance of all activities. This includes establishing and monitoring leading indicators throughout the project life cycle.

PM 15.0 Project Control Performing technical and programmatic activities to control cost, schedule, technical content, and configuration ensuring the project’s performance is within approved baseline and that appropriate corrective action is taken for performance variances.

PM 16.0 Project Review & Evaluation Planning, preparing, conducting, and managing internal and external project integrated technical and programmatic reviews. This includes having awareness of review expectations and products, preparing review plans, such as developing entrance/success criteria, evaluating project progress against entrance/success criteria, gathering, tracking and the disposition of discrepancies noted during the review, and communicating the results of the reviews.

PM 17.0 Technology & Engineering Development Evaluating the feasibility, development, progression, readiness, cost, risk, and benefits of integrating new technology and engineering with project plans and schedules. This includes preparing backup plans for situations when technologies or engineering do not mature at the required rate.

PM 18.0 Decommissioning/Disposal & Archival of Data Assessing and decision making for the readiness to close out the project, including planning, support systems, safety/health/environmental hazards, risks, personnel transition, contingency plans, asset disposition, data archiving, and stakeholder approvals.