Director of Turbomachinery & Fluid Systems

Penn State University; University Park (IL); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

75% tuition discount

Job summary

Penn State University in State College, PA seeks a Department Head to lead the Fluids Machinery Department within the Fluid Mechanics Division at ARL. The role directs turbomachinery design, analysis and testing across projects for DoD and industry clients, with attention to mentorship, growth, and business development.

The position involves onsite leadership, DoD security considerations, and periodic travel to remote locations.

Qualifications

• Fluid mechanics or aerodynamics expertise.
• Experience taking an idea from concept through design to test-validated hardware.
• Proposal writing and securing funding.
• Past success in leadership of technical personnel.
• Past success in management of sponsored programs.
• Strong presentation and communication skills, both technical and inter-personal.
• Design and execution of experiments utilizing wind or water facilities.
• Active security clearance, at the Secret level or higher.
• Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering or related field.
• Numerical modeling of fluids using MATLAB or Simulink.
• Solid modeling and CAD systems.

Responsibilities

• Provide organizational leadership to a growing group of Engineers, including employee management, recruitment, development, retention, and technical direction.
• Direct technical excellence, cost control and on-time delivery of work.
• Lead the technical execution of research, design, development and testing of turbomachinery systems for U.S. Government and Industry customers.
• Provide subject matter expertise in turbomachinery, fluid dynamics and cavitation.
• Develop and maintain long-term professional relationships with sponsors and stakeholders.
• Oversee development of proposals for new programs.
• Embrace ARL’s mission to discover, demonstrate, transition and educate.
• Provide technical and managerial leadership for research and development programs and set technical vision and standards.
• Lead and oversee projects ensuring rigor, feasibility, quality, cost, and on-time execution.
• Guide concept development, design analyses, and problem resolution.
• Manage, mentor, and develop engineering staff.
• Serve as primary technical/managerial contact for sponsors and partners; support funding opportunities and proposal development.
• Review and author technical reports and presentations; represent in technical reviews and collaborations.
• Ensure compliance with DoD, University, safety, security, and export control requirements.

Skills

Fluid mechanics

Leadership

Proposal writing

Sponsored programs management

Communication skills

Wind/water facilities experiments

Security clearance

A turbomachinery expertise

Education

Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering or Aerospace Engineering

Tools

CAD systems

MATLAB/Simulink

Job description

Penn State University in State College, PA seeks a Department Head to lead the Fluids Machinery Department within the Fluid Mechanics Division at ARL. The role directs turbomachinery design, analysis and testing across projects for DoD and industry clients, with attention to mentorship, growth, and business development.

The position involves onsite leadership, DoD security considerations, and periodic travel to remote locations.