Fluids Engineer - Space Propulsion, Entry Level

Cowboy Space Corp.; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Medical insurance

401(k)

Paid time off

Holidays

Parental leave

Relocation assistance

Lunch in office

Job summary

Cowboy Space Corp. is seeking a Fluids Engineer Level 1 to own a critical fluid subsystem from concept through flight, collaborating with propulsion, structures, thermal, avionics, and manufacturing teams on valve, routing, and tank‑based systems for rocket engines and vehicles.

You will move quickly, iterate often, and take full ownership of fluid hardware impacting mission success, with a hands‑on role on prototype, testing, and flight hardware development.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, Chemical Engineering, or related field.
• 1+ years of experience designing fluid system hardware for flight vehicles or high‑performance hardware; internships count.
• Experience taking hardware from concept through build, integration, and test.
• Strong fundamentals in fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, structural mechanics, materials, and manufacturing processes.
• Experience with fluid system analysis: pressure drop and flow sizing, structural analysis of pressure vessels, or thermal‑fluid modeling.
• Proficiency with CAD (NX, SolidWorks, CATIA, or Creo) and creating engineering drawings to ASME Y14.5 GD&T standards.
• Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (Green Card) or legally admitted.

Responsibilities

• Own your fluid subsystem from concept through design, analysis, test, and flight.
• Drive fluid component and system designs for minimum mass while meeting pressure drop, proof, burst, leakage, cycle‑life, and operating‑life requirements across ground, ascent, and on‑orbit environments.
• Design valves, fluid routing architectures, and fluid storage hardware for propellant, pneumatic, and thermal fluid service on rocket engines and vehicle fluid systems.
• Balance performance, manufacturability, cost, and schedule in every design decision.
• Perform analysis — hand calculations, FEA, tolerance stack‑ups — and validate predictions with test and flight data.
• Own fluid subsystem layout and integration, ensuring compatibility across propulsion, thermal, and pneumatic systems.
• Define and execute qualification and acceptance test campaigns (proof, burst, leak, flow, cycle life, vibration); author procedures, acceptance criteria, and anomaly dispositions.
• Develop and maintain engineering drawings, models, specifications, interface control documents, and release documentation.
• Work directly on the factory floor with manufacturing and technicians to iterate quickly and resolve build issues in real time.
• Troubleshoot hardware anomalies, perform root cause analysis, and implement design improvements.
• Support engine and vehicle integration, hot‑fire and fill/drain operations, ground system interfaces, post‑test inspection, and refurbishment planning.

Skills

Fluid mechanics

Thermodynamics

Heat transfer

Structural mechanics

Materials

Manufacturing processes

Flight hardware experience

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

NX

SolidWorks

CATIA

Creo

Job description

Cowboy Space Corp. is seeking a Fluids Engineer Level 1 to own a critical fluid subsystem from concept through flight, collaborating with propulsion, structures, thermal, avionics, and manufacturing teams on valve, routing, and tank‑based systems for rocket engines and vehicles.

You will move quickly, iterate often, and take full ownership of fluid hardware impacting mission success, with a hands‑on role on prototype, testing, and flight hardware development.