Mechanical Engineer III (Propulsion Valves)

Firefly Aerospace; Cedar Park (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance and benefits package

Parental leave

Educational reimbursement

Short term disability

Flexible PTO

Job summary

Firefly Aerospace in Texas is seeking an experienced Senior Valve/Fluid Systems Engineer to lead design, analysis, and qualification of propulsion components for Alpha, Eclipse, Blue Ghost, and Elytra programs. The role covers end-to-end responsibilities from concept through production support.

The ideal candidate has 8+ years in valve/fluid systems, strong fundamentals, and a track record of cross-functional collaboration in a fast-paced aerospace environment.

Qualifications

• BS in Aerospace Engineering or related field.
• 8+ years of valve or fluid system design experience.
• Strong fundamentals in fluid mechanics, heat transfer, structural analysis.
• Understanding of valve design, instrumentation, and fluid fittings.
• Ability to manage complex projects and work in a fast-paced team.
• Interest in advancing ‘newspace’.
• Self-motivated with minimum direction.
• Ability to develop economical solutions.

Responsibilities

• Demonstrate extreme ownership of hardware.
• Conceptualize, design, develop and deliver propulsion components to high performance systems.
• Own development lifecycle and provide production support as the technical expert.
• Own a combination of Firefly developed and COTS valves, regulators and actuators.
• Prepare content for and lead CoDRs, MRR, PDRs, TRRs, data reviews and CDRs.
• Author and execute qualification, and acceptance test plans with hands on hardware problem solving.
• Work to standardize solutions across programs and product lines.
• Improve mission cadence by identifying and implementing cost saving and risk reduction measures.
• Lead cross-functional teams of analysts, manufacturing engineers, quality engineers, supply chain representatives, and test engineers to deliver tested hardware on time.
• Resolve non-conformances and implement design changes to improve product yield and manufacturability
• Work with the program teams to develop hardware upgrades in alignment with ambitious performance and cost goals
• Develop simulation-based design methods and validate using subscale and full-scale testing
• Lead failure investigations to determine root cause and implement mitigations
• Qualify existing and new product lines following guidance from SMC‑S‑016 and S‑080 as applicable
• Manage multiple projects and competing priorities

Skills

Valve design experience

Fluid systems analysis

Analytical modeling

Project management

Cross-functional teamwork

Education

BS in Aerospace Engineering

Tools

FEA

CFD

Job description

About Firefly Aerospace

As an end-to-end responsive space transportation company, Firefly Aerospace is on a mission to enable our world to launch, land, and operate in space – anywhere, anytime. Our launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles provide government and commercial customers with full mission services from low Earth orbit to the surface of the Moon and beyond. Headquartered in north Austin, Texas, Firefly is looking for passionate, hardworking innovators to join our team and help fuel our successful trajectory into space.

Summary

At Firefly, we believe that building a reliable and inexpensive launch vehicle requires the most reliable, production efficient valves available. On the propulsion components team, we design, build, test, and qualify high-performance, precision fluid components tailored to the specific needs of our Alpha launch vehicle, Eclipse launch vehicle, Blue Ghost lunar landers, and Elytra spacecraft. Our team of responsible engineers own their products for the entire product lifecycle; from initial conception through qualification and handoff to the production team.

Responsibilities

• Demonstrate extreme ownership of hardware
• Conceptualize, design, develop and deliver propulsion components to high performance systems
• Responsible for entire development lifecycle and production support as the technical expert.
• Own a combination of Firefly developed and commercial‑off‑the‑shelf (COTs) valves, regulators and actuators
• Prepare content for and lead CoDRs, MRR, PDRs, TRRs, data reviews and CDRs
• Author and execute qualification, and acceptance test plans with hands on hardware problem solving
• Work to standardize solutions across programs and product lines
• Improve mission cadence by identifying and implementing cost saving and risk reduction measures
• Lead cross‑functional teams of analysts, manufacturing engineers, quality engineers, supply chain representatives, and test engineers to deliver tested hardware on time
• Resolve non‑conformances and implement design changes to improve product yield and manufacturability
• Work with the program teams to develop hardware upgrades in alignment with ambitious performance and cost goals
• Develop simulation‑based design methods and validate using subscale and full‑scale testing
• Lead failure investigations to determine root cause and implement mitigations
• Qualify existing and new product lines following guidance from SMC‑S‑016 and S‑080 as applicable
• Manage multiple projects and competing priorities

Qualifications

Required

• BS in Aerospace Engineering or related engineering discipline
• 8+ years of experience in a valve or fluid system design‑related role.
• Exceptional comprehension of engineering fundamentals including fluid mechanics, heat transfer, structural analysis, materials, and processes.
• Strong understanding of fluid systems aspects such as fluids systems sizing, valve design and operation, instrumentation, flexible element design & integration and fluid fittings
• Skilled in creating analytical/numerical models of engineering devices and processes.
• Ability to successfully manage complex projects.
• Works well in a collaborative, fast paced, multidisciplinary environment.
• Demonstrated interest in advancing ‘newspace’.
• Self‑motivated with minimum direction required.
• Ability to creatively develop economical solutions.

Desired

• Served as a Responsible, Manufacturing or Test engineer for an aerospace development project in a fluids related subsystem.
• Component test experience.
• Proficient with GD&T
• Proficient with DFM
• Proficient with FEA and/or CFD analysis
• Knowledge of high‑pressure, cryogenic, hydraulic, and pneumatic systems
• Experience with valve and regulator design
• Experience with liquid oxygen or other cryogenic operations
• Experience modeling fluid networks
• Experience with rapid development techniques for hardware

Benefits

Firefly offers outstanding benefits for our employees, including generous health, dental and vision plans with low plan deductibles, parental leave, educational reimbursement, short term disability, and flexible PTO options.

Compliance

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Firefly is governed based on merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status