Head of Analysis

Cowboy Space; San Carlos (CA); On-site; CAD 251,000 - 335,000; Full time

Job summary

Cowboy Space Corporation is hiring a Head of Analysis to lead the analysis organization within the Launch & Propulsion division. You will be the technical authority for structural, thermal, and CFD analyses underpinning design decisions and flight-readiness arguments.

You will define margins philosophy, set analysis standards, develop a toolchain for rapid iteration, and build a world-class team of analysts capable of substantiating aggressive designs with rigor and speed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace or Mechanical engineering or related field is required.
• Experience analyzing structural, thermal, and CFD aspects is preferred but not required in the basic listing.

Responsibilities

• Define and own the analysis philosophy for the program: margins, safety factors, model fidelity, and clearance standards for build, test, and flight.
• Develop the analysis-versus-test strategy with other leaders to ensure hardware within high-test cadence is understood and safe.
• Build, lead, and develop a team of structural, thermal, and CFD analysts with clear career paths and rigorous analytical culture.
• Lead structural analysis across engines and vehicle systems: static strength, fatigue, fracture, buckling, dynamics, and life assessment.
• Lead thermal analysis for propulsion components and vehicle systems: define models, boundary conditions, and correlation strategies.
• Lead CFD for internal and external flow: combustion modeling, injector analysis, nozzle performance, aerodynamic heating, and fluid system flow.
• Develop and maintain the analysis toolchain: ANSYS, Fluent, in-house solvers, automated workflows, and AI/ML methods.
• Establish documentation standards: model descriptions, assumptions, V&V evidence, and margin-of-safety reporting formats.
• Own correlation of analytics with test and flight data; update models and maintain lessons-learned database.
• Coordinate with design, test, manufacturing, and mission assurance to ensure timely delivery of analysis products.
• Present analysis substantiation at program milestones and represent the analysis organization with clarity.

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, or related engineering field

Tools

ANSYS

Fluent

Job description

About Cowboy Space Corp:

Mission

Cowboy Space Corporation is solving the global energy crisis by building the infrastructure for abundant, resilient space-based solar energy. We are tackling one of humanity’s most complex engineering challenges with a world-class team dedicated to delivering a revolutionary power platform. Cowboy Space Corporation is transforming how civilization powers, computes and connects - from orbit to Earth.

Background

Cowboy Space Corporation is building the infrastructure to power and connect the orbital economy. Our modular, scalable satellites collect sunlight in Low Earth Orbit to enable multiple integrated applications: transmitting energy via infrared lasers (space-to-earth and space-to-space), powering on-orbit high-performance computing clusters (GPU/TPU), and providing secure, high bandwidth optical data transport.
Current energy and data systems rely on complex logistics and outdated infrastructure. Cowboy Space Corporation overcomes these challenges by enabling direct, on-demand, secure, and scalable energy distribution and data processing from space. This will revolutionize how we operate in orbit and on Earth, supporting the rapidly expanding space industrial base, ISAM (In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing) operations, remote regions, and military bases.
Baiju Bhatt founded Cowboy Space Corporation in 2024. Inspired by his father’s work with NASA Langley Research Center, Baiju earned his B.S. in Physics and M.S. in Mathematics at Stanford before co-founding Robinhood, now a public company that has helped over 20 million Americans access the financial system. Cowboy Space Corporation has raised ~$365 million from Index Ventures, Interlagos, Construct Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, NEA, and others.
This is an ambitious mission that demands extraordinary talent. Cowboy Space Corporation’s team has worked at places like SpaceX, Blue Origin, Stoke Space, Astranis and NASA, and is based in San Carlos, CA. If you're ready to solve complex technical challenges and help build the most important energy company in the world, we want to hear from you.

About the Role

We are looking for a Head of Analysis to build and lead the analysis organization within our Launch & Propulsion division. Reporting to the Head of Launch & Propulsion, you will be the technical authority for all analytical substantiation of our engines and vehicle structures—owning the methods, tools, standards, and team that produce the structural, thermal, and fluid dynamics analyses underpinning every design decision and flight-readiness argument. You will set the margins philosophy, define what “analyzed” means for this program, develop the toolchain that lets your team move at hardware speed, and build a world-class group of analysts who can substantiate aggressive designs with confidence and rigor.

Responsibilities

• Define and own the analysis philosophy for the program: factors of safety, margin policy, model fidelity requirements, and the standards that govern when a design is analytically cleared for build, test, and flight.

• Develop the analysis-versus-test strategy with other leaders to make hardware within a high-test cadence understood and safe.

• Build, lead, and develop a team of structural, thermal, and CFD analysts; establish roles, hire across experience levels, set career paths, and create a culture of analytical rigor when needed paired with engineering speed.

• Lead structural analysis efforts across engines and vehicle systems—static strength, fatigue, fracture, buckling, dynamics, and life assessment—ensuring methods are appropriate to failure mode, hardware criticality, and program phase.

• Lead thermal analysis for propulsion components (combustion devices, turbomachinery, nozzles, valves, etc) and vehicle systems (cryogenic insulation, TPS, avionics thermal management); define thermal models, boundary conditions, and correlation strategies.

• Lead CFD efforts for internal and external flow: combustion modeling, injector analysis, nozzle performance, aerodynamic heating, base environments, and fluid system flow characterization.

• Develop and maintain the analysis toolchain—commercial codes (such as ANSYS, Fluent, others), in-house solvers, automated workflows, and AI/ML-augmented methods to enable rapid iteration and keep analysis cadence matched to design cadence.

• Establish and analysis documentation standards: model descriptions, assumptions registers, verification and validation (V&V) evidence, and margin-of-safety reporting formats that support design reviews and flight-readiness arguments.

• Own the correlation of analytical predictions with test and flight data; drive model updates when predictions diverge from reality, and maintain a lessons-learned database that prevents repeated errors.

• Coordinate with design, test, manufacturing, and mission assurance teams to ensure analysis products arrive on schedule, inform design trades early, and close action items from reviews without bottlenecking hardware flow.

• Present analysis substantiation at program milestones (PDR, CDR, TRR, FRR); represent the analysis organization to leadership, customers, and certification authorities with clarity and technical authority.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, or related engineering field