Aerospace Thermofluids Analyst - CFD & Thermal Design

Rocketlab; Auckland; On-site; NZD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Rocket Lab is seeking a ThermofluidsAnalyst in Auckland, New Zealand, to join the Thermofluids Analysis team responsible for modeling and simulation of internal thermodynamics and fluids across Electron and Neutron vehicles.

You will own propellant delivery, thermal design, and data-driven analysis, collaborating with design and test engineers to ensure margins and performance across ground, flight, and in-space operations.

Qualifications

• A degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering.
• 1+ years industry experience, ideally from the Aerospace, Automotive, or Marine industries.
• A keen physics and first principles-based approach to problem solving.
• Expertise with CFD packages: Fluent, CFX, STAR-CCM+.
• Experience in engineering programming, especially using Python (including numpy, pandas, scipy, matplotlib).
• Demonstrated ability executing to changing deadlines in a high-pressure and fast-paced work environment.

Responsibilities

• Own propellant delivery and management—covering temperatures and stratification, cavitation margin, transients, slosh, PMD design, settling, and in-space thermodynamics—and perform CFD of internal fluid systems (compressible and incompressible flow)
• Design RCS systems, including N2 budget, thruster specification, and flow modelling of valves and lines
• Own system thermal design across ground, flight, and in-space operations, including TPS response, compartment thermals, insulation, and component thermal modelling
• Perform heat transfer simulations (conduction, convection, radiation) and characterise thermal environments, developing design guidelines and mitigations
• Model HVAC and cavity conditioning (flow/temperature specification, pressure drop, flammability, cleanliness, humidity) and support payload integration and customer ITAs
• Work closely with design and test engineers to iterate design concepts, determine test requirements, and demonstrate positive margins through numerical analysis, and physical test
• Process and interpret ground test and flight data—confirming MPE bounds, detecting out-of-family results, and resolving sensor configuration issues

Skills

CFD software

Python

Mechanical engineering

Data analysis

Education

Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering degree

Tools

NX CAD

Teamcenter

Thermal Desktop

THERMICA

NX SST

Job description

Rocket Lab is seeking a ThermofluidsAnalyst in Auckland, New Zealand, to join the Thermofluids Analysis team responsible for modeling and simulation of internal thermodynamics and fluids across Electron and Neutron vehicles.

You will own propellant delivery, thermal design, and data-driven analysis, collaborating with design and test engineers to ensure margins and performance across ground, flight, and in-space operations.