Propulsion Engineer

Firefly Aerospace; Cedar Park (TX); On-site; USD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player in space transportation is seeking a passionate Propulsion Engineer to innovate rocket engine designs. In this dynamic role, you will tackle complex challenges through the entire project lifecycle, from design to testing. Collaborating with diverse engineering teams, you will enhance propulsion systems while ensuring efficiency and reliability. This opportunity offers a chance to contribute to groundbreaking projects in a fast-paced environment, making a significant impact on the future of space exploration. If you are driven by creativity and a desire to push boundaries, this role is perfect for you.

Benefits

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

Parental Leave

Educational Reimbursement

Short Term Disability

Flexible PTO

Qualifications

• Strong fundamentals in fluids, thermodynamics, and mechanics are essential.
• Experience with CAD programs and data acquisition systems is required.

Responsibilities

• Develop innovative design concepts for propulsion components.
• Coordinate and execute testing of flight hardware and tooling.

Skills

Fluid Mechanics

Thermodynamics

Design Fundamentals

Data Analysis

Interpersonal Skills

Problem-Solving

Education

BS in Mechanical Engineering

BS in Aerospace Engineering

MS in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering

Tools

Siemens NX

Python

LabVIEW

GFSSP

Job description

ABOUT FIREFLY AEROSPACE

As an end-to-end 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

As a Propulsion Engineer you will leverage your creativity, ingenuity, and experience to produce the next generation of rocket engines for space exploration and accessibility. At Firefly we strive to make the world’s simplest rocket engine by decreasing complexity to increase reliability and performance while lowering cost. In this role you will produce innovative solutions to challenging problems throughout a project’s full life cycle, including design, analysis, manufacturing, testing, and operational support. You will take profound ownership of your projects, and will collaborate with other product groups (structures, fluid systems, avionics, vehicle/spacecraft systems) to make critical decisions. To be successful in this role, you should embrace challenging problems and be able to synthesize disparate pieces of information to establish best path forward. Your passion and determination will create leading edge propulsion systems in a fast-paced environment.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Work with the rest of the propulsion engineering team to develop new, innovative design concepts for propulsion components and experimental tooling, that reduce part count and complexity
• Execute design for manufacturability changes to enhance production efficiency
• Identify and trade strategies to meet design requirements of flight hardware and tooling
• Make development decisions based on technical merit, risk, cost, schedule, and/or quality assurance
• Assist in the development of manufacturing, integration, and test processes, including work instructions, test procedures, and early build support
• Coordinate and execute development, qualification, and acceptance testing of flight hardware
• Partner with engineering and production teams to generate ideas, designs, and improvements for current and next-generation liquid rocket engines

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• BS in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering
• Experience in Siemens NX or equivalent CAD program
• Comprehension of design fundamentals including tolerancing, ASME Standards, ASTM, and GD&T
• Strong engineering fundamentals in fluids, thermodynamics, and mechanics
• Experience with maturing a conceptual design

Desired

• MS or equivalent years experience in a related aerospace or mechanical field, with a focus in propulsion or fluid systems
• Experience leading technical reviews (design & analysis) or investigations (risk, anomaly, or trade studies)
• Proven experience in data review, data analysis, and report generation
• Understanding of P&IDs, fluid system sizing, fluid component and instrumentation selection, fluid dynamics fundamentals, cryogenic systems, and pressurized systems
• Strong interpersonal and organizational skills
• Familiarity with presenting trade studies, risks, schedules, requirements, and budget to program management or leadership
• Experience with liquid rocket engine development, design, test, or flight operations
• Experience with liquid rocket engine subcomponent or pressurized component (valves, regulators, tubes, pipes, etc.) development, design, or test
• A passion for product optimization design and rapid manufacturing
• Hands-on experience with integrating test articles and sub-assemblies for test or production
• Proven experience in working with data acquisition systems and test instrumentation including pressure transducers, thermocouples, resistance temperature detectors, flow meters, load cells, and accelerometers
• Familiarity with some or all of the following software packages: Python, LabVIEW, GFSSP, Winplot, or other control, data acquisition, and reduction software

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.

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.

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.