Chief Medical Officer (CMO)

Quick Facts

Chief Medical Officer (CMO)

Description

Serve as Chief Medical Officer, providing health and medical technical authority for crewed spaceflight. Lead technical oversight and ensure consistent implementation of Health and Medical Technical Authority (HMTA) across developmental and operational spaceflight programs, including aerospace medicine, medical operations, and occupational health. Provide medical consultation for agency medical policy, mission risk posture, flight readiness decisions, and emerging areas such as precision medicine, AI, and medical risk assessment.

Responsibilities

• Lead monitoring of compliance with health and medical technical requirements and approve deviations
• Establish technical oversight and ensure consistent HMTA implementation across programs
• Oversee astronaut and aircrew medical certification and related medical operations
• Lead programs supporting occupational health, including infectious disease risk management
• Provide technical authority for biomedical engineering, environmental health, and human factors affecting crew health
• Recommend policy, standards, and risk posture for crewed spaceflight programs
• Provide HMTA expertise and medical risk evaluations for mission management and flight-readiness forums
• Review and sign hazard assessments for human-in-the-loop testing when requested
• Oversee astronaut occupational medical monitoring, medical data governance, and adjudication of applicable medical claims
• Serve as System of Records manager for astronaut medical and research data; ensure Privacy Act compliance
• Chair astronaut occupational health management and adjudication boards (including TREAT Astronauts Act Board)
• Represent NASA/JSC in international medical governance and coordinate medical policies with ISS and Artemis partners
• Advise on medical evacuations for JSC travelers under MedEvac5 contract procured by ISS Program

Requirements

• U.S. Citizen or National
• Active/Unrestricted physician medical license
• Board certification or eligibility in Aerospace Medicine
• MD/DO (or equivalent) from an accredited U.S. or Canadian school (or foreign equivalency)
• 1 year of supervised clinical experience after MD/DO (internship or first residency year in an accredited institution)
• 5 years of graduate training in the specialty OR equivalent combination of experience and training
• At least 1 year of directly related experience equivalent to GS-15 implementing, managing, and reviewing operational medical and occupational health programs
• Ability to obtain and maintain required security clearance; successful background investigation
• File OGE-278e Executive Branch Personnel Financial Disclosure Report within required timelines

Benefits

A federal career provides a comprehensive benefits package for employees and their families; eligibility depends on position type and work schedule.