From Causewayhead to Mission Control, it’s safe to say that local lad Stuart Black’s life has taken him to the ends of the Earth – and beyond.
The 45-year-old has recently completed a two-year stint at the legendary NASA base in Houston, Texas, overseeing a $6billion programme to hire the very best in the world for the space programme’s future in his role of Director of Talent Acquisition.
His role, working for contractors KBR Science & Space, saw him in charge of hiring talent across 25 NASA space programmes in areas including space suit design and human health and performance of the astronauts.
It’s all a far cry from his days growing up and going to school in Dunblane, before spending time in Causewayhead while gaining a degree in marketing in 1999.
But after struggling to find work in Scotland, he took the plunge to migrate Down Under in 2001 – and ended up working for 12 years as a recruiter in the energy world.
After 12 years in Australia, he decided to move to the US with his Swedish wife, Asa, in 2013 – spending two years in Texas and two in Colorado before moving out of the energy industry and into something different.
That’s when Washington DC came calling in 2017 and a new career in space exploration began.
Stuart said: “I’d always been absolutely fascinated with NASA and space exploration, even now I often fall asleep in bed reading articles, marvelling at the images of the earth from outer space.
“I applied for a job with a company called KBR. I had decided to move away from agency recruiting and into corporate talent acquisition and I remember thinking KBR might work well seeing as they had been a client of mine in both Australia and the U.S.
“When I had the first telephone interview for a director position, I was informed the remit was not covering government infrastructure as I expected, it was heading up talent acquisition across about 25 NASA space programmes worth approximately $6billion.
“On my first day in the job, after about only 30 minutes in the office, I was asked to join an executive meeting and I remember being fixated on all the framed pictures in the corridor – rockets, astronauts, the International Space Station.
“I was pretty much in awe of the opportunity to do something much more meaningful. I’ll never forget the drive home after that first day.”
In his role, Stuart admits a heavy pressure in trying to recruit the best for the space programme’s future – but remembers some highlights of his time in Texas, all of which took place under the pressure of the Covid pandemic.
He said: “The highlight of my time running TA for NASA Mission Control was successfully campaigning for several months to the leadership team that they simply had to interview an incredibly talented young woman, a lifelong space exploration fanatic who was about to graduate from an aerospace course from a university in Texas.
“She was the chair of the university rocketry club and had invited me to a virtual monthly meeting with her club which was basically full of young geniuses.
“When I heard she had finally been interviewed and hired, it felt great that one day she might be the next woman to serve as a NASA Launch Director.
“I’ve never seen anyone so proud on their first day with NASA. What impressed me most was her self-belief and determination that one day she would become an astronaut.”
After the stresses of Covid, Stuart moved to Stockholm in July this year alongside Asa and their children in order to be closer to family in both Sweden and Scotland.
Stuart’s story comes at an exciting time for NASA, with last week marking the first test launch in Project Artemis, which will see the first male and female person of colour land on the Moon in 2024.
The test launch last week was directed by a black woman, with Stuart hoping the Artemis project will encourage young people from all backgrounds interested in space and engineering to stick with their dreams.
“Whilst NASA only hires U.S. citizens, many of the government contractors will hire U.S. permanent residents and there is a programme for international students to stay and work in the U.S. after they graduate which can then offer a pathway to permanent residency”, Stuart adds.
“The civil and commercial space sector will most certainly grow massively in Europe over the coming years though.
“In my experiences, the key to success is living outside your comfort zone, to the point where you feel uncomfortable inside your comfort zone. It’s also very important to remember that you can out-work your peers.
“The universe seems to twist and turn organically to miraculously reward hard work with the right opportunities at the right time. Don’t take any notice of the nay-sayers in life, find something you’re passionate about and then try to be great at it.”
