Propulsion Fluid Systems Engineer I — Full Lifecycle

Firefly Aerospace; Cedar Park (TX); On-site; USD 85,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental and vision plans

Parental leave

Educational reimbursement

Short term disability

Flexible PTO

Job summary

Firefly Aerospace in Austin, Texas, seeks a Responsible Engineer for the Propulsion Fluid Systems team to own the full lifecycle of spacecraft fluid subsystems from requirements to flight. You will lead CAD design, analysis, and collaboration with fabrication, testing, and launch operations.

The role emphasizes hands-on hardware experience, cross-functional collaboration, and driving design-for-manufacturability improvements to ensure reliability and mission success.

Qualifications

• B.S. in Mechanical, Aerospace, or related engineering
• 1+ years of experience in fluid systems engineering and/or propulsion
• Thorough understanding of fluid dynamics and thermodynamics
• Experience with tube or pipe design and layout
• Proficiency in modeling and analysis tools (e.g., CAD, FEA, CFD, MATLAB, Python)
• Deep knowledge of engineering fundamentals and a demonstrated history of applying first principles to arrive at simple, robust solutions
• Excellent problem-solving, communication, and technical writing skills.
• Hands-on experience with hardware design, fabrication, and testing
• Working knowledge of manufacturing, fabrication, integration, and quality control relevant to fluid components (such as machining, inspection, assembly, testing, etc.)
• Knowledge of fluid components such as valves, regulators, pressure transducers, tubing, pressurized hardware, seals, and instrumentation and experience performing fluid systems sizing analysis with such components

Responsibilities

• Demonstrate full ownership of spacecraft fluid system requirements, design, and analysis from concept through flight.
• Lead development of innovative design concepts for propulsion integration and operations that reduce complexity and maximize reliability within program constraints.
• Serve as the primary technical point of contact for all spacecraft fluid systems.
• Author and present detailed design review presentations to internal and external stakeholders
• Plan, coordinate, and execute development, qualification, and acceptance testing of flight hardware, including data analysis and reviews.
• Implement design-for-manufacturability improvements to increase production efficiency and vehicle reliability.
• Identify system-level risks, perform trade studies, and drive decisions to ensure successful vehicle operation.
• Develop and maintain automation tools and test data analysis capabilities.
• Support vehicle test and flight campaigns by providing console operations support.
• Collaborate with manufacturing and integration teams to develop processes, work instructions, and test procedures, and provide direct build support
• Drive development of efficient test and flight operations for fluid systems and assist with troubleshooting during vehicle operations

Skills

Fluid systems engineering

Problem solving

Communication

Technical writing

Hands-on hardware experience

First principles thinking

Education

B.S. in Mechanical, Aerospace, or related engineering

M.S. or Ph.D. in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering (preferred)

Tools

CAD

FEA

CFD

MATLAB

Python

Job description

Firefly Aerospace in Austin, Texas, seeks a Responsible Engineer for the Propulsion Fluid Systems team to own the full lifecycle of spacecraft fluid subsystems from requirements to flight. You will lead CAD design, analysis, and collaboration with fabrication, testing, and launch operations.

The role emphasizes hands-on hardware experience, cross-functional collaboration, and driving design-for-manufacturability improvements to ensure reliability and mission success.