Senior Engine Cycle Engineer

isaraerospace; Parsdorf; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Share in company success

30 days vacation

Company pension plan with 20% employer

Subsidised lunches

Rental clothing with laundry

Job summary

isaraerospace seeks a senior propulsion engineer to own the engine cycle and top-level architecture of a pump-fed liquid rocket engine. You translate mission needs into integrated design, conduct trades, and ensure sub-systems converge on a testable solution.

You will lead cycle studies, perform sizing, own requirements, and drive cross-functional decisions with strong technical backing. Some travel for tests may be required.

Qualifications

• MSc in aerospace or mechanical engineering, or equivalent experience.
• Several years in liquid rocket engine development with cycle analysis or propulsion integration.
• Hands-on experience with high-pressure, pump-fed liquid rocket cycles.
• Strong understanding of engine cycles, thermodynamics, fluids and turbomachinery balance.
• Experience planning multidisciplinary engine development or test campaigns.
• Proficient in Python, MATLAB or comparable language.

Responsibilities

• Own engine cycle models for nominal, throttled and off-nominal conditions.
• Lead cycle trades studies to optimise performance and identify risks.
• Perform top-level engine sizing and define operating points.
• Drive architecture decisions across propulsion subsystems.
• Own engine requirements, interfaces and technical budgets.
• Document decisions with analysis and test evidence.
• Develop development roadmap and prioritise maturation activities.
• Coordinate reviews and provide recommendations to leadership.

Skills

Systems thinking

Technical ownership

Cross-functional collaboration

Fluent English

Education

MSc in aerospace/ mechanical engineering

Tools

Python

MATLAB

Job description

Mission Brief

You will own the engine cycle and the top level technical architecture of a pump fed liquid rocket engine. As the responsible engineer you translate mission and vehicle needs into an integrated engine design, establish the key performance trades, and make sure every major sub system converges on one coherent, testable and manufacturable solution.

Your Role in Our Space Mission:

• Build, maintain and validate engine cycle models across nominal, throttled and off nominal operating conditions, including start up and shutdown transients.
• Lead cycle trade studies and sensitivity analyses to optimise performance and identify design drivers, constraints and technical risks.
• Perform top level engine sizing and define the principal operating points and component interface conditions.
• Drive architecture and design trade offs across combustion devices, turbomachinery, valves, feed systems, ignition, controls, structures, thermal management and engine layout.
• Own the top level engine requirements, assumptions, interface definitions and technical budgets.
• Act as the technical decision driver for cross functional design issues, and keep decisions documented, traceable and backed by analysis and test evidence.
• Own the technical development roadmap and timeline: guide design iterations, prioritise maturation activities, and define the analyses, breadboards and tests that retire the highest risks.
• Coordinate technical reviews and give clear recommendations to Propulsion leadership and to the programme and vehicle teams.

Qualification Checklist

• MSc in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering or a comparable technical discipline, or equivalent professional experience.
• Several years in liquid rocket engine development, with real responsibility for engine cycle analysis, engine architecture or propulsion system integration.
• Hands on experience with high pressure, pump fed liquid rocket engine cycles: designing, analysing, developing or testing them.
• Excellent understanding of engine cycles, thermodynamics, fluid dynamics and turbomachinery power balance.
• Steady state cycle modelling, top level engine sizing and performance prediction.
• Experience planning and coordinating multidisciplinary engine development or test campaigns, and driving a technical roadmap to agreed timelines.
• Proficiency in Python, MATLAB or a comparable programming language.
• Strong technical ownership and systems thinking, and the confidence to decide with incomplete information.
• Fluent in English.
• Willingness to travel occasionally for test and launch operations.

Bonus Skills

• Experience with transient cycle modelling: start up, shutdown, throttling and off nominal conditions.
• Experience taking an engine design from cycle definition and system level trades into hardware and test.
• Experience analysing engine control, operability, stability or failure cases.
• Enough breadth across valves, feed systems, ignition, controls, structures and thermal management to arbitrate trade offs between those disciplines.
• Experience correlating models against hot fire test data.

Benefits

• Employee Participation Program: Share in our success through our virtual company share program
• 30 days of vacation: Enjoy the days off to relax and recharge
• Company pension plan: Secure your future with our company pension plan, featuring a 20% employer contribution after the probation period
• Subsidised lunch: Stay energised with delicious, subsidised lunches every day
• Rental clothing with laundry service: Enjoy hassle-