Senior Propulsion Test Engineer

PAVE Space SA; Villeneuve (VD); Remote; CHF 95,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

PAVE Space SA in Switzerland invites engineers to join the LYOBA project, building a 45kN engine and leading propulsion test campaigns from planning to data-driven improvements. This role is on-site in Villeneuve (VD) with the test site in Chavalon, and involves coordinating across design, fluidics, controls, and manufacturing.

You will own test campaigns, define objectives, analyze data, and ensure safety and repeatability, turning hot-fire results into actionable design recommendations.

Qualifications

• 2+ years hands-on propulsion/test engineering experience.
• Experience planning/executing hot-fire or related tests.
• Strong understanding of rocket engine operation (combustion, feed, ignition, cooling).
• Experience with instrumentation, DAQ, controls, and safety practices.

Responsibilities

• Plan, prepare, and execute propulsion test campaigns end to end (combustion chambers, injectors, turbomachinery, and integrated engine systems).
• Define test objectives, success criteria, operating points, redlines, abort logic, instrumentation requirements, and countdown procedures.
• Analyze test data (pressure, temperature, flow, vibration, speed, strain); identify anomalies and lead root-cause investigations; turn results into design recommendations.
• Collaborate with propulsion design, fluidics, controls, test bench, and manufacturing teams to close the loop between hot-fire data and hardware improvements.
• Ensure every test is safe, repeatable, traceable, and useful for engineering decisions.

Skills

Propulsion testing

Test data analysis

Instrumentation/DAQ

Python

MATLAB

LabVIEW

English fluency

Job description

Do you want to fire, break, understand, and improve the hardware that makes a rocket engine real?

PAVE Space is building LYOBA, a heavy kick stage moving up to 4-ton payloads from LEO to high-energy orbits in under 24 hours.

So, why now?

We're moving from design into aggressive propulsion testing on our 45kN engine: combustion chambers, injectors, igniters, cooling systems, turbomachinery, and integrated hot-fire campaigns, all within the next 18 months. You'll be one of the key people turning test intent into safe, instrumented, executable campaigns. The goal is simple: learn fast, test safely, and make the engine better every campaign.

You will own

• Plan, prepare, and execute propulsion test campaigns end to end: combustion chambers, injectors, turbomachinery, and integrated engine systems
• Define test objectives, success criteria, operating points, redlines, abort logic, instrumentation requirements, and countdown procedures
• Analyze test data (pressure, temperature, flow, vibration, speed, strain), identify anomalies, lead root-cause investigations, and turn results into design recommendations
• Work across propulsion design, fluidics, controls, test bench, and manufacturing teams to close the loop between hot-fire data and hardware improvements
• Ensure every test is safe, repeatable, traceable, and useful for engineering decisions

What we are looking for

• 2+ years of hands-on experience in propulsion, rocket engine, turbomachinery, or high-performance test engineering
• Direct experience planning or executing hot-fire, cold-flow, pump, turbine, injector, or combustion chamber tests
• Strong understanding of rocket engine operation: combustion, feed systems, ignition, cooling, pressurization, and transient behavior
• Working knowledge of instrumentation, DAQ, controls, redlines, interlocks, and test safety practices
• Ability to write clear test procedures, test reports, anomaly reports, and technical recommendations
• Python, MATLAB, LabVIEW, or similar for data processing and test analysis
• Fluent English (our working language)
• Nice to have: liquid rocket engine hot-fire experience, turbopump development or rotating machinery test campaigns, combustion stability analysis or high-frequency pressure measurement, experience with regenerative cooling validation, knowledge of HAZOP/FMEA and hazardous operations safety reviews, French language skills.

You will fit if

You know that a good test starts long before ignition and doesn't end at shutdown.

You can distinguish a sensor problem from a real engine problem, and you stay calm until you know which it is.

You can work with designers without being theoretical and with technicians without being vague.

You want to see your decisions turn into hot-fire data, not documents.

This is hard, early, and fully on-site in Villeneuve (VD), with our test site in Chavalon about 20 minutes away. Some tests will fail. Some components will need redesign. Some assumptions will not survive first contact with hot-fire data. That is exactly why this role matters. What makes that worth it: you'll help qualify a 45kN rocket engine in one of the most scenic test environments in the world, on the most ambitious space program in Switzerland.

We are building to ship, grounded on real hardware, real funding, real milestones.