Senior Propulsion Engineer: Rocket Motors & Certification

Destinus; Payerne; On-site; CHF 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Destinus in Switzerland is seeking a Senior Propulsion Engineer to own the design and development of propulsion systems, ensuring performance meets customer requirements. You’ll work at the intersection of design, analysis, and testing to drive rocket motors from concept through certification.

This role requires a Master’s in Aerospace/Mechanical/Propulsion and 4–5 years in rocket motor development, plus hands-on testing, tooling development, and compliance with MIL-STD/STANAG standards.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, or Propulsion Engineering.
• 4–5 years of rocket motor development experience.
• Design and sizing of rocket motors and thermal protection systems.
• Experience coding and tool development.
• Experience qualifying rocket motors or initiation devices to NATO standards is a plus.
• Hands-on with static firing tests, propellant handling or motor integration.
• Familiarity with pressure vessel design and combustion analysis is beneficial.
• Strong analytical and documentation skills with clear test reports.
• Comfortable working across mechanical, thermal, materials and systems engineering.
• Willingness to travel to different Destinus sites in Switzerland (max. 20%).

Responsibilities

• Perform design, analysis, and development of rocket motor and pyrotechnic articles.
• Perform in-depth data and performance analysis with focus on iterative design and improvement.
• Prepare technical reports, qualification matrices, and compliance documentation per military and aerospace standards.
• Develop tools and methodologies for development, analysis or performance estimation of rocket motors.
• Support the development of TPS, nozzle and rocket motor sizing tools.
• Support the design for qualification and certification of rocket motors per MIL-STD and STANAG.
• Collaborate with design engineers on motor hardware design, insulation, and igniter integration to ensure certifiability.
• Support failure investigations and root-cause analyses and updates to design or test procedures.
• Coordinate with internal teams and external partners to align validation and certification timelines.

Skills

Rocket motor development

Data analysis

Technical reporting

Coding & tool development

Cross-disciplinary collaboration

Education

Master's degree in Aerospace/Mechanical/Propulsion

Job description

Destinus in Switzerland is seeking a Senior Propulsion Engineer to own the design and development of propulsion systems, ensuring performance meets customer requirements. You’ll work at the intersection of design, analysis, and testing to drive rocket motors from concept through certification.

This role requires a Master’s in Aerospace/Mechanical/Propulsion and 4–5 years in rocket motor development, plus hands-on testing, tooling development, and compliance with MIL-STD/STANAG standards.