Senior Propulsion Systems Engineer

About the Team:

The Stage Fluids and Components team is responsible for all fluid systems and components on the Terran R launch vehicle. This includes systems for the liquid oxygen and liquid natural gas propellants as well as the supporting helium and nitrogen gasses. We also design the individual valves that are used within these systems on the stages and engines. This requires us to integrate our designs with those of the structures, propulsion, avionics hardware teams. It also requires us to work closely with the GNC and performance teams to ensure that our systems can meet the requirements of launching and landing a reusable rocket. Finally, we also work closely with the manufacturing and test teams to ensure our hardware is adequately built and tested.

About the Role: 

In this role, you will be responsible for the design and analysis of the fluid systems that ensure reliable and efficient operation of Terran R vehicles.

Specific responsibilities will include:

• Conducting trade studies to produce architectures and designs that satisfy system requirements
• Sizing at the system and component level
• Detailed fluid and thermal analyses including system performance prediction and characterization using a variety of analytical methods (1D steady-state, transient, fluid networks, etc.)
• Create tools to enhance our team’s analysis capabilities and streamline workflow
• Participate in design and manufacturing reviews
• Own and lead test campaigns to validate system design and performance
• Anchor models with data from test and launch

In order to be successful in this role, you should be someone who thrives in ambiguity and is able to lead their own projects into completion. A high degree of drive and autonomy is required. You must be flexible to changes in strategic direction and willing to push your understanding and intuition to ensure we as a company are producing the best possible product. You will be directly responsible for mission-critical systems and processes as a technical authority for one or multiple fluid systems and/or processes on the launch vehicle. Along with these high expectations comes the opportunity to have a significant influence on a fast-growing startup company and to oversee rapid progress in an environment that encourages growth and risk.

About You: 

• Bachelor’s degree (Mechanical Engineering or relevant)
• 5+ years of experience working with fluids systems
• Strong experience applying engineering fundamentals in system design, thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, and heat transfer
• Experience with one or more fluid or thermal modeling tools for internal compressible and incompressible analysis
• Experience with programming languages such as Matlab, Python, or C++
• Experience applying engineering fundamentals to solve real, complex hardware problems

Nice to haves, but not required: 

• Experience with launch vehicles and spacecraft