Propulsion Systems Engineer II

Blue Canyon Technologies; Town of Montana (WI); On-site; USD 80,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, vision benefits

Life insurance

401k with matching

Generous PTO and holidays

Parental leave

Job summary

Blue Canyon Technologies is seeking a Propulsion Systems Engineer to join our on‑site team in Lafayette, CO. You will develop and maintain spacecraft propulsion budgets, create subsystem designs, and drive requirements and verification across the lifecycle.

You will collaborate with customers and vendors, prepare technical documents, and guide subcontractors to deliver high‑quality propulsion hardware on schedule. A BS in engineering or related field is required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Science discipline, or equivalent.
• Good documentation and communication skills.
• Ability to work rapidly with some supervision on projects involving both small and large engineering teams.
• Experience with all phases of the program lifecycle (business development, mission formulation, requirements flow‑down, manufacturing, integration and test, and on‑orbit operations).
• System design balancing performance, cost, power, emerging technologies, etc.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain spacecraft delta‑v and/or propellant budgets, given mission requirements.
• Create/confirm propulsion subsystem designs.
• Develop and manage propulsion subsystem and component requirements and verification techniques.
• Develop tools for propulsion subsystem performance analyses.
• Oversee propulsion component and/or subsystem development, design, qualification, and verification efforts.
• Develop interface specifications, CONOPS, subsystem description documents, and other propulsion design documents.
• Author and manage propulsion hardware vendor specifications, RFIs, and SOWs.
• Assist with customer meetings and facilitate technical exchanges with customers and vendors.
• Assist with proposals and facilitate technical exchanges with the engineering team.
• Manage subcontract vendors to ensure high quality and timely delivery.
• Support program design reviews and cross‑domain collaboration.

Skills

System design

Trade studies

Communication

Teamwork

Rapid prototyping

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering or sciences

Job description

About Blue Canyon Technologies

Blue Canyon Technologies, RTX's small satellite manufacturer and mission services provider, is solving some of the toughest challenges in space. Our components and bus platforms have completed missions ranging from very-low Earth orbits to lunar and interplanetary journeys at a fraction of the cost of traditional space systems. We support premier defense, commercial and civil organizations including the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, NASA, MIT Lincoln Lab, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Colorado and more. Join our innovative and dynamic company as we build, test and operate the small spacecraft of the future.

Title: Propulsion Systems Engineer

Position Type: Full Time

Pay Range: $80,000 - $130,000

(Salary to be determined by the education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the applicant, internal equity, and alignment with market data.)

Work Location

On-site position at our Lafayette, CO location (work locations are subject to change based on business need).

Benefits

• Employer sponsored health, dental, and vision benefits effective the first of the month following hire date
• Life insurance
• 401k (matching 4% with a minimum 5% contribution)
• Generous PTO (3 weeks of vacation + 3 floating holidays, 2 weeks of sick time, 7 paid holidays throughout the year) and parental leave

Job Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain spacecraft delta-v and/or propellant budgets, given mission-level requirements
• Create/confirm propulsion subsystem designs
• Develop and manage propulsion subsystem and component requirements and verification techniques
• Develop tools for propulsion subsystem performance analyses
• Oversee propulsion component and/or subsystem development, design, qualification, and verification efforts
• Develop interface specifications, CONOPS definition, subsystem description documents, and other design documents related to propulsion subsystems
• Author and manage propulsion hardware vendor specifications, requests for information, and statements of work
• Assist with customer meetings and facilitate technical exchanges with customers and vendors
• Assist with proposals and facilitate technical exchanges with the engineering team
• Manage subcontract vendors to ensure high quality and timely product delivery
• Support program design reviews
• Collaborate closely with technical program leads across diverse domain expertise
• Support the allocation of driving requirements (both cost and technical)
• Support key trades (both cost and technical)
• Other responsibilities as assigned

Required Qualifications/Education

• 2+ years of relevant experience
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Science discipline, or equivalent
• Experience with all phases of the program lifecycle (business development, mission formulation, requirements flow-down, manufacturing, integration and test, and on-orbit operations)
• System design experience, balancing performance, cost, power, emerging technologies, etc.
• Ability to perform trade studies and parametric analyses
• Ability to develop procurement documents (specification, SOW) and manage subcontracts
• Good documentation and communication skills
• Ability to work rapidly with some supervision on projects involving both small and large engineering teams
• Must be able to work in a highly collaborative, fast-paced environment with emphasis in rapid prototyping and fielding of capabilities
• Related technical experience may be considered in lieu of education

Working Conditions

This job operates in a professional office environment, but in a manufacturing company. This role uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, scanners, filing cabinets and fax machines. BCT anticipates the application window closing approximately 40 days from the date the notice was posted. However, factors such as candidate flow and business necessity may require BCT to shorten or extend the application window.

Physical Demands and Work Environment

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit for long periods of time. The employee is occasionally required to stand, bend, reach, and walk. The position requires some light physical effort. This would require the ability to lift or move objects up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift or move objects up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities are required by this job which includes close vision, distance vision, and ability to adjust focus.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Blue Canyon Technologies is a drug-free workplace and an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other protected factor. Colorado Residents: In any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information. Blue Canyon Technologies is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. To request a reasonable accommodation, contact Melissa Po at [e-mail].