Aviation Inspector
Monitoring contractor aircraft production, inspections, and repairs transfers directly to evaluating aircraft work for conformance to standards and procedures.
How to prepare: Build an experience record mapping your production surveillance and maintenance responsibilities to the OPM 1825 specialty you intend to pursue. Under that standard, federal Aviation Safety Inspector (Airworthiness) maintenance positions require an FAA Mechanic Certificate with airframe and powerplant ratings plus qualifying maintenance experience, including responsibility for certifying airworthiness and maintenance work within the last 3 years; the Manufacturing specialty instead requires experience in manufacturing quality systems demonstrating the ability to assess design conformity and safe operation, or experience issuing airworthiness certificates or managing programs leading to original airworthiness certificates or original export airworthiness approvals, with no mechanic certificate requirement listed.
What the civilian work involves
- Inspect work of aircraft mechanics performing maintenance, modification, or repair and overhaul of aircraft and aircraft mechanical systems to ensure adherence to standards and procedures.
- Examine maintenance records and flight logs to determine if service and maintenance checks and overhauls were performed at prescribed intervals.
- Inspect new, repaired, or modified aircraft to identify damage or defects and to assess airworthiness and conformance to standards, using checklists, hand tools, and test instruments.
Civilian tools and software (examples)
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software