Senior Solid Rocket Motor (SRM) Engineer

Innovative Rocket Technologies Inc.; Town of Smithtown (NY); On-site; USD 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental &amp

Retirement Plan (401k, IRA)

Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary &

Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick &

Family Leave (Maternity, Paternity)

Short Term & Long Term Disability

Wellness Resources

Job summary

iRocket is seeking a senior Solid Rocket Motor Engineer to own SRM from concept through production, including design, build, and testing.

Based in New York or Texas, you will lead SRM development, integrate motor cases, propellant grains, insulation, igniters, and nozzles, and mentor engineers. The role requires an advanced degree and 5+ years (10+ preferred) of hands-on SRM experience and strong internal ballistics knowledge.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree (M.S. or Ph.D.) in aerospace, mechanical engineering, propulsion, or closely related field.
• Bachelor’s degree required with 5+ years SRM design/development; 10+ years preferred.
• Experience designing and building solid rocket motors with motor assembly and testing.
• Strong knowledge of SRM internal ballistics, grain geometry, materials, and integration.
• Ability to independently drive motor development in a fast-paced hardware environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead SRM IR&D portfolio from concept through production maturation.
• Design and integrate motor cases, propellant grains, insulation, igniters, nozzles and interfaces.
• Perform internal ballistics, thermal, structural and design-trade analyses.
• Create and review drawings, BOMs, specs, and data packages.
• Work with manufacturing to resolve producibility issues and build flight hardware.
• Plan motor assembly, static testing, data reduction, and design iteration.
• Drive design-for-manufacture and design-for-scale decisions for production readiness.
• Provide technical leadership and mentor engineers and technicians.

Skills

SRM design

Hardware execution

Team leadership

Engineering drawings

Problem solving

Education

MS or PhD in aerospace/ mechanical propulsion

Job description

Position Overview

iRocket is seeking a senior Solid Rocket Motor Engineer with demonstrated experience designing, building, and testing solid rocket motors. This position requires an engineer who can own an SRM from requirements and preliminary sizing through detailed design, hardware fabrication, motor build, static test, design iteration, and transition toward production. The successful candidate will be equally comfortable with analysis, engineering drawings, manufacturing decisions, test hardware, and hands‑on technical execution, with a good understanding of basic program management for pairing with other team members.

The defining qualification for this role is demonstrated ability to take a solid rocket motor from design into real hardware and through successful test.

Location:

New York or Texas (Candidate's Choice)

This position may be based at either iRocket's New York or Texas facility, depending on the candidate's preference.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead solid rocket motor IR&D portfolio, to include sizing, design, analysis, development, build, and test activities from concept through production maturation.
• Design and integrate motor cases (metal and/or composite), propellant grains (traditional and/or advanced formulations), insulation/liners, igniters, nozzles, closures, interfaces, and related SRM components and subsystems.
• Perform or direct internal ballistics, performance, structural, thermal, mass-properties, margin, and design-trade analyses appropriate to SRM development.
• Generate and review engineering drawings, specifications, bills of material, interface requirements, build documentation, and configuration-controlled technical data.
• Work directly with manufacturing personnel and suppliers to resolve producibility issues, select materials and processes, and build flight-representative hardware.
• Plan and support motor assembly, instrumentation, static-fire testing, data reduction, post-test inspection, anomaly resolution, and design iteration.
• Drive design-for-manufacture and design-for-scale decisions that improve repeatability, affordability, throughput, and production readiness.
• Provide technical leadership across multidisciplinary teams and mentor developing engineers and technicians.

Required Qualifications

• Advanced degree (M.S. or Ph.D.) in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, propulsion, or a closely related engineering discipline.
• Minimum of Bachelor’s but preferred advanced minimum 5 years of directly relevant SRM design/development experience; 10+ years strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience designing and building solid rocket motors, with meaningful involvement in motor assembly and static-fire or flight-test activities.
• Strong working knowledge of SRM internal ballistics, grain geometry, case/nozzle/insulation design, materials, manufacturing methods, and propulsion-system integration.
• Ability to independently drive a motor development effort while making sound technical decisions in a fast‑paced hardware environment.

Highly Desired Experience

• Rapid prototype-to-test development, tactical-class propulsion, advanced manufacturing, or high-rate SRM production.
• Motor case and nozzle design, thermal protection, igniter development, structural analysis, pressure-system design, or test instrumentation/data analysis.
• Qualification, production transition, supplier development, root-cause investigation, and technical risk management.
• Experience leading integrated teams through design reviews, build readiness, test readiness, and production-readiness milestones.

Accelerated Start: iRocket places a premium on candidates who can begin quickly. A signing / immediate-start bonus may be offered to highly qualified candidates who are available to start on an accelerated schedule, subject to final employment terms.

iRocket is an equal opportunity employer. Final responsibilities, compensation, bonus terms, work location, and employment conditions will be defined during the hiring process.

• Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
• Retirement Plan (401k, IRA)
• Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
• Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
• Family Leave (Maternity, Paternity)
• Short Term & Long Term Disability
• Wellness Resources