Lead Propulsion AM Engineer — In‑House Metal 3D Printing

PAVE Space SA.; Villeneuve (VD); On-site; CHF 130,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

PAVE Space SA. is building LYOBA, a heavy kick stage moving over 4-tonne payloads from LEO to high-energy orbits in under 24 hours. The AM chain—from printer to post-processing and inspection—must be defined, procured, and qualified so flight parts can be produced on schedule.

You will own the metal AM platform selection, qualification, and full supply chain, driving part quality and audit readiness for propulsion hardware in a hands-on, on-site role at our Villeneuve site.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of metal AM engineering, with at least one programme qualifying parts for high-temperature or pressurised flight service.
• Deep hands-on with LPBF (DMLM, SLM, or equivalent), including parameter development from scratch.
• Material expertise relevant to combustion and regenerative cooling environments.
• Experience qualifying AM parts to ECSS, NASA, or equivalent standards.
• Post-processing competence; HIP, heat treatment, support removal, surface finishing, not just printing.
• Comfortable specifying and commissioning the full chain, not operating an inherited one.
• Reads engineering drawings fluently, including GD&T applied to additive.
• English, fluently
• Nice to have: French; rocket engine or turbopump part qualification experience; experience standing up an AM capability in-house at a series-production aerospace company.

Responsibilities

• Selection and procurement of the metal AM platform(s) for propulsion hardware; printer, post-processing equipment, inspection chain.
• Process qualification: parameter development, witness coupon strategy, material characterisation for combustion environments.
• The full build chain: build orientation, support strategy, slicing, machine operation.
• Post-processing: HIP, heat treatment, stock removal machining, surface finish, NDT.
• Material and supply-chain strategy for propulsion AM hardware.
• The qualification dossier that lets a printed part go into a fired engine and stands up to a customer or auditor's review.

Skills

Metal AM engineering

LPBF (DMLM/SLM)

GD&T

ECSS/NASA qualification

Post-processing (HIP, finishing)

Materials for combustion environments

English fluency

Tools

AM equipment selection

NDT inspection knowledge

Heat-treatment facilities

Job description

PAVE Space SA. is building LYOBA, a heavy kick stage moving over 4-tonne payloads from LEO to high-energy orbits in under 24 hours. The AM chain—from printer to post-processing and inspection—must be defined, procured, and qualified so flight parts can be produced on schedule.

You will own the metal AM platform selection, qualification, and full supply chain, driving part quality and audit readiness for propulsion hardware in a hands-on, on-site role at our Villeneuve site.